One of the greatest minds in the history of professional wrestling, there is no doubt that Paul Heyman can elevate a wrestler. Perhaps Heyman's biggest talent is his ability to hide a performer's weaknesses and magnify their strengths.
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But even someone as great as Paul Heyman is not always right. And in a career that has spanned over three decades, there have been quite a few people that he was wrong about. Some were 'Paul Heyman Guys' but ended up not achieving much in wrestling. While others were not highly rated by him but ended up proving him wrong.
9 Matt Morgan
Matt Morgan is someone who seemingly had everything needed to be a top star in the WWE, but things did not quite add up for him. Initially, it had looked like the company was going to push him and he was handpicked by Paul Heyman to be a part of Brock Lesnar's Survivor Series team in 2003.
The wheels would soon start to fall off though and he was handed the infamous stuttering gimmick. Safe to say he never recovered from that and was gone from WWE soon.
8 Heidenreich
Another major flop who was once associated with Paul Heyman, Heidenreich was making waves on SmackDown with a psychopathic gimmick. And it was clear that the company had big plans for him as he would start a feud with The Undertaker.
He would soon start to slide down the pecking order though and found himself in a tag team with Road Warrior Animal not too long after. The team did manage to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship, but that was the highest point of Heidenriech's wrestling career.
7 Cesaro
It is no fault of Cesaro or Paul Heyman that he was never a main event player in the WWE. Nobody has ever doubted his talent, but the company would just never take the chance on him.
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At one point he had managed to get himself over and the fans even had a 'Cesaro Section'. Very often, he would get one of the strongest reactions from the crowd. Soon Paul Heyman became his manager and he would even predict WWE World Championship glory for Cesaro. As we know though, his career never quite managed to reach those lofty heights.
6 Curtis Axel
Another wrestler who the WWE appeared to have huge plans for was Curtis Axel. He spent the early portion of his WWE career as Michael McGillicutty before being repackaged as Curtis Axel and being given Paul Heyman as his manager.
And things appeared to be looking up for the son of Mr. Perfect, as he would destroy Triple H in his very first match since returning and would even capture the Intercontinental Championship soon after that. The push would fade away though when he became an after-thought in Heyman's feud with CM Punk and his career never quite recovered.
5 Lita
While many fans might not know this, but Lita was part of ECW. The company did not have a women's division though and, as a result, she was reduced to playing the character of Miss Congeniality, the on-screen girlfriend of Danny Doring.
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Clearly, she deserved a much more prominent role than that and it was probably the opportunity for ECW to start a genuinely strong women's division, building it around Lita. Her time in ECW was not a complete waste though as this is where she would meet Terry Funk, who would train her and then help her get a job in the WWE.
4 New Jack
Say what you want about New Jack but in his prime, he was as over as anyone on the ECW roster. Yes, he has had his fair share of controversies over the years but that is also true about half the ECW roster from the time.
New Jack was a pioneer of hardcore wrestling and deserved to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. He never achieved that though and would remain a tag team wrestler for the majority of his run there, which is quite a shame.
3 Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey Whipwreck has one of the best feel-good stories in wrestling. He went from being a part of ECW's ring crew to a wrestler. He came into the company as the tag team partner of Mick Foley and was booked as an underdog who did not have any offense of his own.
His popularity would soon soar among the fans and Paul Heyman took the decision to crown him the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. In fact, he was only the second champion they had had since the company had been rechristened as Extreme Championship Wrestling. The only problem was that he was never good enough to be a world champion.
2 Sandman
Sandman was easily one of the most popular stars in ECW and is one of the wrestlers that fans most associate with the company. He was just perfect for their audience and would go on to hold the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on five occasions.
When the company shut its doors and Paul Heyman joined the WWE, he allegedly advised the company against hiring Sandman. Heyman probably believed that he would not work in any other environment. But during that period of time, the WWE was an edgy company in its own right and Sandman could very well have fit right in for at least a couple of years. The Sandman's eventually made his way to WWE for their revived ECW brand in 2006 and made his presence known as a member of Monday Night Raw for a brief period in 2007, but he only stayed in the company a year before being released.
1 Rob Van Dam
Here's a fun fact: Rob Van Dam never won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship! Of course, he would be awarded the ECW Championship when it was revived under the WWE banner, but he never won the title in the original ECW.
Van Dam was one of the hottest names in wrestling at the time and brought something very unique to the table. Heyman would never put the world title on him although he did enjoy a legendary 700-day reign as ECW World Television Champion.
Still, we will never get to know what he could have achieved as the ECW World Heavyweight Champion in the original Land of Extreme. Could he have saved the company from going under? Probably not. But it was surely worth the try. For whatever reason, Heyman never positioned RVD at the top in his promotion. Van Dam can clearly fly high when given the chance and is a better candidate for world champion than plenty of other ECW stars who got the title.
NEXT: Every Version Of Paul Heyman, Ranked From Worst To Best
