Source: MMAFighting.com
In a recent interview, Paul Heyman commented about how close he was to going to TNA Wrestling earlier this year. Heyman also commented on what some of the details of the deal would have been (including stock ownership in the company, a partnership with Spike TV, and a 5-year exit plan). Here are the quotes from the interview that deal directly with Heyman’s relationship to TNA Wrestling:
“When I shook Vince McMahon’s hand in that room in December 2006 and I walked out the door, I said to myself, ‘That’s it.’ I put in my time. I had the most extraordinary experience that a human being can have. I lived out every possible dream I could possibly live out in that industry and now I want to pursue other things.
“It came real close with TNA. To me, it was more of a deal with Spike TV and then a stock and ownership deal involving TNA. I had a five-year plan. I was going to spend 18 months building the roster, the next 18 months exploiting that built roster, that’s three years in, go public in three, stay for two more running it and get out at 50 [years old]. That was my plan. I had an exit plan. I had a five-year plan and I clued everyone into it. I told TNA what my plan was and I told Spike TV what my plan was and how we would capitalize on it and how we would make this thing move and an acknowledgment that wrestling is a diminishing market and it’s not perceived as cool and here’s how you, if not change course, at least present it differently so that at least you have a chance in today’s marketplace to at least compete.
“When that didn’t happen, that was it. I didn’t have any other interest in doing it. It was close. I would have done it for that particular deal and that’s it. That time passed. Now I’m looking at taking my abilities elsewhere and the logical step for me is this entry point right now both into MMA and into also just the branding world.”
