Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman were opposites in the wrestling industry in the ’90s, when Heyman ran his promotion ECW and was WWE’s second-largest competitor behind WCW. Although their rivalry was legitimate, the two men were ultimately on the same side when Heyman signed with WWE in 2001, becoming a renowned manager.
However, things weren’t rosy between the two wrestling promoters, according to former WWE star Matt Hardy. In his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, he claimed that McMahon and Heyman once had a blowout backstage during ECW’s December to Dismember pay-per-view in 2006.
“We heard that there was a big argument between Paul Heyman and Vince. And I guess as the show went on there were some big arguments and I guess the show, as the show went on, “It was going on, Vince wasn’t happy about it,” Hardy said. “There has always been a lot of tension between VKM and Paul Heyman, and I think a lot of that comes from professional pride.”
He further suggested that McMahon sees himself as the bigger promoter while Heyman sees himself as a “revolutionary promoter” and that these two ideologies would naturally clash, especially at an infamous PPV, like December to Dismember.
“I feel like there was probably a little bit of, you know, personal pride about it too, and then, you know, Vince made him eat the bullet because the show wasn’t good.” , Hardy said.
Heyman eventually left WWE in late December 2006, but returned six years later and has since played a prominent role on WWE television.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” and provide an a/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
