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I read along with everyone else the news that Paul Heyman had been fired. I was at work last night and read it on the computer. I gasped. I felt bad for the guy. In the end, my emotions were divided into two "extremes" if you'll excuse the pun. The first was intense anger for the WWE and their sabotage of ECW. The second was of profound respect and admiration for Paul Heyman. I will explore both of these in this article.

WWE whored Paul Heyman out. They used him as a name just as much as they used Rob Van Dam, the Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer as names. They knew that ECW wouldn't be "ECW" without these guys, and without keeping Heyman on board as a writer. So, they put ECW on television and then slowly, began shoving these guys in the backdrop and started bringing in new talent - the B-stars of the company, with the exception of CM Punk. It became painfully clear on Sunday night that WWE never believed in ECW. What they believed in was ECW's ability to draw fans. Those bastards are doing exactly what they are doing with Monday Night Raw. Once they suck fans in, they now have permission to put on a sub-par show. Only difference is that RAW has been doing it for 13 years. Why is that" It's because the fans of RAW and ECW are always hoping for things to get better, so they'll watch every week. They hope that slowly, they will gain a strong fan base for the new talent and lose the ECW fans of old, phasing out stars such as Sandman, Stevie Richards CW Anderson and Rob Van Dam. They are slowly giving up on Extreme Rules matches. Bobby Lashley as the ECW champion" We were all duped, folks. We've been fooled and tricked. We've been teased and taken advantage of. Vince McMahon never had plans of giving ECW the attention it deserved. I'll give ECW a year before Vince changes the name - by then, Sandman and Sabu should be gone, too.

I have a profound respect for Paul Heyman for speaking his mind. I have no doubt that Heyman booked the Pay Per View a lot better than it came off. I can imagine Heyman, sitting in the back, biting his nails, rolling his eyes and sighing thinking, "I can't do this anymore." There is no doubt in my mind that Heyman is in love with ECW. He has a passion for those three letters. He was scratching and clawing to keep life in it. Mr. Heyman, I respect you for knowing that it wasn't worth it anymore. Your efforts this time around were in vein, and you cannot blame yourself for that. My hope is to see Paul Heyman appear in TNA as a manager, but I doubt it. Whatever he ends up doing, I hope he is happy knowing that what he is watching on TV every Tuesday is not ECW - it's Smackdown's bastard child.

Paul Heyman is a genius. He revolutionized the wrestling industry in ways that Vince McMahon couldn't - and that scared Vince. That is why Vince wanted control. That is why Vince brought in Lashley and Big Show as champs. Vince knew that if Paul were given a budget and free reign, ECW could have been more popular than RAW and certainly more popular than Smackdown. So, enjoy your release, Mr. Heyman. I, like many others, applaud you and your contributions to this sport. ECW will be missed, but never forgotten. Thank you for your years of hard work, and WWE should be ashamed of themselves for what they did to Paul and the rest of the people involved in his vision.

by Chris Evans