Paul Heyman, the legendary ECW promoter, has opted MMA ahead of professional wrestling! The news may sound strange but it’s true. It has now been confirmed that Mixed Martial Arts is going to be Heyman’s next destination.

But Paul was having other options as well. WWE never had any doubt about his creative edge; it was only his self-esteem and pride that kept him away from arguably the biggest professional wrestling promotion today.  Recently he was also offered a “Giant deal” from TNA and the wrestling fans thought its only time that he accepts that offer. But Paul rejected the offer as TNA officials couldn’t agree with his vision.

Paul had a five year plan; He wanted to spend first 18 months to build the TNA roaster freshly and for the next 18 months, he wanted to exploit that new roaster. The next two years, he believed, he would have enjoyed the success that new TNA setup would have brought. But TNA was not impressed with his vision and he was not happy to be just another valuable member of TNA family. Paul believes the market of wrestling is gradually shrinking; so he wanted to present wrestling in a completely new package that could compete in today’s market. After the negotiation with TNA broke down, Paul wants to move to MMA and his close friend Brock Lesnar in UFC maybe a big influence.  Heyman also runs a production company along with Mitchell Stuart and has also started the second season of “The Heyman Hustle”.

TNA is fast moving to acquire globally acclaimed talents for their promotion. A number of former WWE and WCW stars are now working for Dixie Carter’s promotion. Popular superstars like Sting, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Hall, Jeff Hardy or Rob Van Dam are only a few to name. TNA has even acquired Vince Russo, the former creative head of WWE and WCW. Their last big draw for the promotion was Eric Bischoff, the mastermind that created WCW Monday Nitro and drew a lot of attention with the fascinating Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW. But it seems the brand can’t get enough acquiring talents as their most recent targets are former ECW promoter Paul Heyman and the “Voice of WWE”, good old Jim Ross himself!

The company officials are trying to do their best to get JR; but Jim is still under contract to WWE. However, the promotion doesn’t seem to be as interested to use JR as they used to be. In recent times, WWE has not used Jim in any of their house shows like Raw or SmackDown. In fact, the fans were shocked and disgusted to see WWE not using JR even in Wrestlemania XXVI, the grandest show of WWE. Jim is certainly not happy with this situation; neither are the fans. But WWE is now more interested in giving it a try to newbie like Josh Mathews but not Jim Ross. JR is with WWE since 1993 and is considered as a loyal member of WWE family; so he will never make any arbitrary comment on the brand. In his Twitter page, he stated that his absence in Wrestlemania XXVI was due to ‘other reasons’, but fans can smell something fishy over here. In his latest blog, Jim said he ‘doesn’t know’ what the future holds for him in WWE. If WWE decides to terminate or not to renew JR’s contract and TNA approaches, things unexpected may happen.

Paul Heyman, on the other hand, is contractually free. Nobody ever doubted his creative potential. TNA’s current head writer Vince Russo recently stated that he needs a break to revitalize himself. If Vince steps out, Heyman is the best possible person to fill up the position and even overshadow the former’s creative inputs. He has friends like Rob van Dam or Tazz already working for the promotion. But he hasn’t shown much interest in joining TNA in the past. TNA official Dave Meltzer believes Paul Heyman will soon be the new member of TNA; but his inclusion will be a big surprise as his past relationship with Eric Bischoff is more than bitter. They both were involved in several verbal battles against each other throughout the 90’s. But such speculations will surely draw TNA some attention from the wrestling fans worldwide.

Eric Bischoff was recently invited as a special guest on the live edition of “Monday Night Mayhem” this week. His appearance in this award-winning show was a special one as the questions he faced here were actually being asked by the wrestling fans. The questions were taken via Bischoff’s official Facebook page and phone calls on The Mayhem Line, the exclusive telephone line of the show. Bischoff here was in a great mood and commented on many current topics related to TNA and this great business.

TNA ReACtion: TNA has started a new wrestling television show called “TNA ReAction” and the program will feature exclusive back-stage scenarios of TNA and candid interviews of TNA stars like Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Sting, Rick Flair and others. Bischoff seems to be very excited about this new TNA show and said he is planning the best time of the year to debut the show.

“The American Dragon” in TNA: Bryan Danielson aka “The American Dragon” is currently a WWE star. But he is going through a “90 Day No-Compete Clause” from WWE and the rumor is Bryan is interested to join TNA after this 90 day period is over. Bischoff said nothing has been official yet as Bryan needs to confirm his interest in TNA first. He said he hasn’t discussed anything with Bryan about a TNA agreement but he is confident TNA officials will find a way out as it happened in case of other major signings in last six months.

Paul Heyman and TNA: Paul Heyman has recently been linked to TNA by many professional wrestling fans and experts. Paul recently made a comment after UFC 116 that professional wrestling needs “to get their sh*t together”. Bischoff said he doesn’t understand of what context Paul made this comment. Bischoff believes MMA and professional wrestling are just as different as “apples and bricks”. So modifying the professional wrestling business model based on MMA is a bad idea as two are “entirely different products”. Bischoff also said though Paul Heyman will be a great asset for TNA but he is not sure about his immediate plans.

TNA is certainly no competition to WWE yet. But the promotion is learning fast and taking smart professional moves to grow bigger and better. Recently, Dixie carter’s promotion had hired a consulting farm to get some professional support with their TV ratings and fans’ feedback. The results were overwhelming and surely will make Paul Heyman proud! The report stated that the memory of ECW, Paul’s brainchild, is still very strong in the males belonging to the age-group of 18-34. But for unknown reasons; WWE, who now owns ECW, have decided to shut down the promotion and TNA wants to cash in here. They now have plans to create an ECW like stable in TNA. In fact, Eric Bischoff has started working on the idea and with the roaster full of former ECW superstars; his job will not be difficult at all. As soon as the storyline gets ready, fans can see guys like Tommy Dreamer, RVD, Dr.Stevie, Team 3D, Raven and Taz teaming up together, once again! Mick Foley will also join the group once he returns to the storyline.

But TNA authorities believe, the stable angle will not look realistic without the Paul Heyman, the most prominent ECW character. As long as his joining TNA is concerned, there have been no confirmed reports. Some of his close buddies believe he may join TNA but others don’t see it happening any sooner. In the recent Impact tapings, his name has been discussed a lot in backstage. Heyman is now reportedly busy in writing two books, one of them is his autobiography.