Many ECW fans may have had déjà vu while watching Roman Reigns’ phone call to Paul Heyman in last Friday’s episode WWE Crush. Bloodline’s ongoing story arc reached its most interesting development when Reigns attempted to call his all-knowing defender and Wiseman, only to discover the number was disconnected.
As Bubba “Bully” Ray Dudley expressed in Open Radio Presaand in a follow-up X post, Roman Reigns’ phone call to Paul Heyman on WWE SmackDown echoes another storyline from Paul Heyman’s extreme alma mater, ECW, in a storyline involving Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk. Dreamer would corroborate Bully’s sentiment in a X post of his own, adding that while the WWE storyline was heading to Survivor Series: WarGames, Dreamer’s similar storyline was heading to ECW in November 1996.
Dissecting both stories for similarities and differences highlights the importance of bringing wrestling’s past into the present, something WWE seems interested in doing these days.
Roman Reigns’ phone call to Paul Heyman remakes a classic ECW storyline
ECW Hardcore TV November 5, 1996
ECW is notable for being extreme, and one of its most extreme rivalries began at ECW Heat Wave 1996. There, Shane Douglas won the ECW World Television Championship in a Four-Way Dance with Chris Jericho, 2 Cold Scorpio and Pitbull #2. To make matters worse (literally, as a DDT to Pitbull #1’s belt would legitimately break his neck), Francine – the Pitbulls’ manager – would turn her back on the tag team, aligning herself with the franchise. The TV champion would spend weeks mocking Pitbull #1’s injury, evoking a one-on-one rivalry with Pitbull #2.
Their rivalry would culminate in what was being promoted as a “Dream Partner Match” for November to Remember, ECW’s equivalent to WWE’s WrestleMania. All of this meant that Shane Douglas and Pitbull #2 would face off in a tag team match with partners of their choosing. In the weeks leading up to the show, Pitbull #2 chose his longtime friend Tommy Dreamer as his tag team partner. Before choosing one for himself, Douglas would place a bounty on Pitbull #2’s head, in the words of Joey Styles, “an undisclosed amount of money” for anyone who could eliminate Pitbull #2 before the PPV.
The Bounty would be answered by “Primetime” Brian Lee on the November 5 episode of Hardcore TV. Douglas and Lee mercilessly attack the Pitbull until it turns it into a bloody pulp. The fight would end with Lee delivering a chokeslam to Pitbull #2 from the top of the ECW production truck and onto three tables set up on the floor. Douglas would then apply the Full Nelson to Pitbull immediately afterwards. Dreamer would come down to make the save, but the damage was done. Dreamer would then be attacked by the heel duo following his main event title match with Douglas that night.
Because he received the reward, Lee was chosen as Douglas’s partner, but now, the babyface dream partner needed a partner of his own. Lee and Douglas demand that Dreamer call an unidentified man “legend” for help. Hardcore TV ends with beaten and bandaged Dreamer leaving the hospital for his car’s corded phone hesitantly asking the operator to connect him to Double Cross Ranch before ECW goes black. Although he was never mentioned in the episode, ECW fans knew that this ranch in Texas belonged to a certain Terry Funkand behold, Funker emerged as Dreamer’s partner on pay-per-view.
How WWE takes inspiration from the ECW storyline
A desperate call before a dark
Bully Ray would draw attention to this forgotten ’90s storyline by comparing it to current developments in WWE’s Bloodline storyline. Right now, Roman Reigns is facing a similar desperate situation to Tommy Dreamer. Solo Sikoa’s lineage grows in number as the original continues to be dismantled by the opposition. With no one else to turn to, there’s only one man left to call. A hesitant Roman Reigns takes out his phone and tells Siri to call Paul Heyman, only to be immediately informed that the number is no longer in service.
Bully admitted that he was entertained by the Roman segment on several levels. It showed an unusual vulnerability for the OTC, which contributed to the audience’s huge reaction to seeing the look on Roman’s face upon learning that Heyman’s phone was disconnected. As Bully and Dreamer have said many times on Busted Open, it’s very important for babyfaces to show vulnerability to make the audience connect with them, and this segment achieved that and more.
WWE Beauty Remaking Classic Angles
What’s old is new again
Many wrestling fans, especially ECW faithful, will probably roll their eyes when WWE remakes a scene from nearly 30 years ago, but there’s actually more good that can come from remaking a story than bad. Remakes of movies and TV shows get a bad rap for the same reason, but they allow the opportunity to take what worked decades before and recontextualize it with modern sensibilities while introducing the original to a new audience. The same logic should be applied to professional wrestling, as rehashing a storyline allows new fans to discover something incredible that they otherwise would never have heard about.
Simultaneously, it also allows an opportunity for a modern company like WWE to add something great to a storyline that worked for another in the past, or in the case of Roman Reigns’ call ending with Paul Heyman’s number disconnected, putting a new twist on a classic angle. It’s also how classic and beloved tropes are created in the wrestling space. Before Shane Douglas placed a bounty on Pitbull #2’s head, Ric Flair placed a bounty on Dusty Rhodes before that, and Triple H placed a bounty on Goldberg years later in the Era of Relentless Aggression.
Of course, this won’t always produce the same effect, as AJ Styles’ fake retirement against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes didn’t resonate as much as the angle that inspired it, Mark Henry’s iconic salmon jacket promo. However, this angle of ECW is largely underrated and unknown to anyone under 30. Not only does this help a similar, rebooted angle feel fresh, but it also introduces younger fans to the classics. WWE Leveraging ECW’s influence for Roman Reigns’ phone call to Paul Heyman is a positive move for pro wrestling.
Source: Open radio caught on SpotifyX (Intimidating, Tommy)