Paul Heyman claims he told Vince McMahon not to allow Spike TV to air The Ultimate Fighter after Raw

by David Bixenspan on Aug 16, 2010 3:58 PM EDT

Ray Hui has an interesting post up at MMAFighting.com about an Ariel Helwani interview with Paul Heyman where Heyman claimed that he told Vince McMahon to use the control over Raw's lead-out to not allow the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to air after Monday Night Raw. From the article:

"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."

"I told [the WWE], they better not let [the UFC] on ... Yeah, I'm the a--hole that almost turned it down," Heyman said with a laugh.

Heyman recalled telling McMahon, "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."

"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."

While it's a subject that's come up often since the UFC boom started, this is the first time that a former WWE office worker has commented on the decision-making process. Since it's Heyman, he could just be making it up to make himself look prescient, but he's also someone who really is that aware, so...yeah...

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So Heyman could foresee the huge boom the UFC experienced because of the Ultimate Fighter? I don’t think I can buy that.

Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com

by Geno Mrosko on Aug 16, 2010 4:15 PM EDT reply actions

I can as Meltzer tells a similar story.

In quieter moments Vince has said that letting TUF after Raw is one of his biggest mistakes.

by rovert on Aug 16, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Right

but how could they know that before hand? The UFC was in the shitter before that show.

Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com

by Geno Mrosko on Aug 16, 2010 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

The UFC wasn’t really anything to be scared of at the time.

I write about basketball players with Ridiculous Upside. I know you'll love it.

by Scott Schroeder on Aug 16, 2010 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

i don’t think many people could have foreseen that it would get as big as it has, but this was going to be exposing the wwf audience to a different product that they may be interested in.

he may not have known it would get this big, but he could have seen that if the UFC was going to grow at all then, it would come from their fans.

by Phildo on Aug 16, 2010 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

You make a good point. Vince’s ego probably told him it wouldn’t matter.

Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com

by Geno Mrosko on Aug 16, 2010 7:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Paul Heyman is the ultimate salesman

If there’s one thing to know is that Heyman speaks in half truths and turns anthills into believable magic mountains.

I don’t think TUF was the sole reason for UFC’s PPV success but it does deserve some credit. Lead in shows are a big deal for any broadcasting company so his statement is a valid point. I think Heyman knows his sh*t but I’ll take this with a grain of salt and be thoroughly entertained by his words as always.

FighterHayabusa.com

by FighterHayabusa on Aug 16, 2010 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

There should be more of an article on how awesome the 90+ minutes of Heyman and Helwani were

I’m glad I got to see it live, and am bummed I have to wait until Tuesday for the recording to be up. It really was a must see interview on how to promote a fight and really how interconnected pro wrestling and MMA really are.

by KJ Gould on Aug 16, 2010 4:58 PM EDT reply actions