Paul Heyman might be done in WWE... at least for now.
Heyman's contract with WWE has expired, according to a report in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In the list of available talent for the WWE draft earlier this week, Brock Lesnar -- Heyman's "client" -- was mentioned without a manager, whereas other wrestlers with managers such as Rusev and The Miz had their managerial seconds listed.
As a manager, promoter and booker, Heyman has been a fixture in professional wrestling for more than a quarter century. Heyman's biggest to contribution to wrestling came as the promoter of ECW, producing storylines and matches that pushed the envelope and are considered the predecessor to WWE's extremely popular "Attitude Era."
After ECW went out of business, Heyman came to WWE where he has worked as a manager and commentator on camera, and a writer behind the scenes for both the Smackdown brand and Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental promotion at the time. He was part of WWE when the company revived the ECW brand and name in 2006. After a dispute with Vince McMahon over the booking of the ECW-brand December to Dismember pay-per-view, Heyman left WWE near the end of 2006.
Heyman returned in 2012 as the "legal advisor" and on-camera mouthpiece of Brock Lesnar, who was managed by Heyman when he first came to the WWE main roster back in 2002. Heyman would work with other wrestlers -- most notably CM Punk -- but remained linked to Lesnar up through Lesnar's most recent appearance for WWE, when he defeated Dean Ambrose at WrestleMania 32 in a street fight.
Lesnar currently is scheduled to face Randy Orton at Summerslam, but unless a new contract is reached, it appears that Heyman will not be present at ringside, as things stand.
By John Moorehouse
