During a recent interview with Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribute, WWE’s Paul Heyman addressed ECW, the future of sports media and WWE 2K26.
Heyman talked about the first time he went to WWE Headquarters and worked out a deal with then company head Vince McMahon for ECW to invade Monday Night Raw. Heyman added it that this was not a partnership, but a collaboration of sorts.
“I would never call it a partnership. It was sort of a collaboration. Isn’t that the word today? Collaboration. There are no real partnerships anymore. It was just something where we were plotting against Eric Bischoff and WCW.”
Heyman was recently at WWE headquarters in Stamford promoting the new WWE 2K26 video game and to unveil new details on MyRISE, which is the game’s story-driven mode that puts the player in the center of a ‘dramatic comeback’ by Heyman. The game is now available to purchase. He also worked with the video game publisher for over 15 years in various capacities, such as in-game performances, voice overs, producing spots, ads, PR, social marking, just to name a few. However, specifically for WWE 2K26, Heyman recorded voice-overs for over three hours and is featured in the launch commercial.
Heyman is also the co co-founder of the L4L – Looking4Larry Agency, which has merged with MCM Studios to create New York’s largest midtown production space, complete with LED walls and AI technology.
Heyman himself has had to find ways to adjust in order thrive. When asked about the future of sports media and how the industry can survive at time when sports itself has never been more popular and profitable.
“By taking it seriously as you do. I am, in all candor, a fan of your work because you take what you do seriously. And you’re not looking for the punchline; you’re looking for the headline. Too many people try to make themselves the story, and therefore they water down the newsworthiness of things that should be discussed among sports fans. They muddy the waters. They infest your credibility with their lack of it. In terms of credible sports journalism, it’s just a matter of letting your credibility shine way over those who have no credibility at all.”
The report also focuses on how the future of sports media lies on telling the same stories with the same seriousness and credibility, but using multiple platforms for delivery. Sports reporters must take that same reporting and storytelling, using social media and podcasts immediately following an event, instead of the more traditional method of waiting until the next day’s morning newspaper or next day’s terrestrial radio show.
Heyman stressed how it is all in the platforms, as they are a microphone to today’s younger generation.
“It’s all in the platforms. “It’s a microphone to the youth. In the same way that no one looks to traditional media anymore. How many people actually listen to terrestrial radio? Platforms continue to change. To me it’s a platform of communication to a younger demographic that I’m going to reach greater than through traditional methods.”
Heyman added that it is irrelevant on how the older generation feels about social media platforms, as it is the way it is, and he himself has to accept it, whether he agrees or not, learn how to use it, move forward and sees it as an opportunity.
“However you or I feel about it is totally irrelevant,” Heyman said. “That’s the way it is. So I have to accept it. Would I do it that way? No. But that’s me, and I’m not the one driving the train. I can sit here and say, ‘Back in my day.’ But my day is forward. My day is today. My day is tomorrow. My day is next year. My day is five years from now. That train is leaving the station. I can either let it leave without me, or I can get on that train. In 40 years, I’ve never been a passenger. I’ve always been a conductor. So I want to be one of the conductors of the train. I have to get aboard it, whether I agree with it or not. I have to understand how to use it, how to present with that in mind and how to exploit the opportunity.”
