WWE chose not to block TUF1 post RAW time slot
Paul Heyman, the mastermind between the pro wrestling industry-changing ECW promotion in the 90s, revealed Monday that the WWE had…
Paul Heyman, the mastermind between the pro wrestling industry-changing ECW promotion in the 90s, revealed Monday that the WWE had the option to not allow The Ultimate Fighter 1 to follow Raw and didn’t take it.
“I was there in the room when we decided whether to let The Ultimate Fighter come on after Monday Night Raw,” Heyman told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “They had the right to approve or decline any programming that followed them.”
After all, the UFC ended up benefiting greatly from having the ratings winner Raw as a lead-in and its The Ultimate Fighter 1 deal with Spike TV in 2005.. Nowadays, the UFC has taken over the pay-per-view market, with UFC’s domestic buys exceeding those of the WWE’s globally, .
“I told [the WWE], they better not let [the UFC] on … You should be afraid of anything that will take away from your pay-per-view dollar. They are going to reach into your pocket, rip it open, and all those dollars are going to flow right there. … Yeah, I’m the a–hole that almost turned it down,” Heyman said with a laugh.
WWE head Vince McMahon, although a powerful and successful businessman, is also notorious for a huge ego. Here’s Heyman attempt at explaining McMahon’s need for control.
“Here’s the best way I can tell you about Vince McMahon. It’s the ultimate Vince control story,” Heyman said. “If you’re in the room with Vince McMahon and he sneezes, go on your Blackberry for the next 20 minutes because nothing you say to him is going to get through … Cause he gets really p—–d off. Cause he can’t control the sneeze.”