Former WWE Producer Bruce Prichard spoke candidly on his most recent episode of his podcast, Something To Wrestle With, about the rise of Paul Heyman in the WWE. Pirchard revealed why Heyman was removed from his position as the head writer of SmackDown, Heyman's dislike for John Cena's rap gimmick and how he thought it would kill his character and an interesting story about how The McMahons offended Heyman when he visited their vacation home.Â
Removing Paul Heyman as head-writer of SmackDown:
âHe didnât make deadlines. Heâd be late for Vinceâs meetings. It was a combination of things that Paul was almost begging to be off of the team and begging to just be a talent and not have to worry about writing the show from week-to-week because writing the show from week-to-week also came with heat.â Prichard recalled, âPaul argued at every chance he got! Paul and Vince were oil and water and Paul just didnât know when to quit!
âYou would think it was over, and then youâd get [imitating Heyman], âallow me one more volley, sir.â There had to just be some point when Vince said, âIâm done. No more. Iâm done. I donât want to see him anymore. I donât want to hear him anymore. I donât want him on the plane anymore. I donât want him in the writersâ meeting anymore. Iâm done.â As far as having a five-year no-cut contract, I donât know of anybody that had a no-cut contract at any time.â
Disliking John Cenaâs rapper gimmick:
âTo quote Paul Heyman, âyou put the rap gimmick on Cena and you will kill John Cenaâs career. Paul felt that the rap gimmick was going to be the death knell of John Cena and that it would stereotype him and pigeonhole him and he would never be able to work his way out of it. Hated the idea, went to Cena and told Cena, âtheyâre killing your careerâ, âdonât do itâ, âitâs going to be badâ. And [Heyman] went to Vince and told Vince itâs going to kill [Cena] and the fact that Paul petitioned so hard against it probably helped Vince [decide], âyeah, letâs try it.â And I think it worked out alright for him.â
Aligning himself with Brock Lesnar:
âOverall, Iâm going to say him aligning himself with Brock Lesnar is without a doubt one of the most genius things Paul ever did for himself and Paul did for Brock Lesnar. Theyâve done very well by each other.â
Being offended by the McMahons when Stephanie offered the writers cash to go get lunch, and when Linda offered Heyman water from their dispensary:Â
âWe were downstairs deciding where to go and they had suggested this really nice restaurant down the road and Paul is like, âI guess weâre not good enough to eat in the family domicile! Weâre just the help. Send the help out to get lunch. Send a few dollars their way and send them away to get their own lunch while we dine on fine cuisine prepared by the chef and have the staff wait on us!ââ Prichard recalled, âso everybody except Paul and Dave Lagana went to this nice restaurant, little Italian place down the street, great food, a little pricey, but we werenât paying for it! Paul and David go to Burger King and just pocket the rest of the money! Just classic Paul.â
âLinda just makes the comment, âso guys, thereâs this water dispensary here â the water is ice cold. Itâs all filtered and good, so you donât have to keep going in to get a bunch of bottles of water. There [are] cups here, big cups, and everything, or just refill your water bottle, whatever you need, whatever is faster, easier, better, whatever, and youâre not having 50 water bottles all over the place.â Well, Heyman took exception to that! [Imitating Heyman] âI guess weâre not good enough to drink their water. I will just bring my own water from now on, so for the rest of the trip, Paul brought like a big bottle of water, which normally he never would have drank, but because he was told, and he wasnât told, âdonât drink our waterâ, it was just, âhey, thereâs this other water over here.â âI will bring my own water. Thank you, maâam.ââ
Follow us on X @WNSource
Follow us on Instagram & THREADS
LIKE us on Facebook
⥠News tip? Email ben@wrestlingnewssource.com