Paul Heyman is very good at his job. On Monday, June 13th, WWE announced a return to Philadelphia for October’s Extreme Rules. This will be the second time in 13 iterations of the event that Philadelphia will host the so called ‘most extreme night of the year’ with the first time coming in 2019. More importantly though, Extreme Rules marks the first time WWE is returning to Philadelphia for a PPV/premium live event since March 2020. Little did fans in attendance that night know, Elimination Chamber would be the last WWE major event prior to the pandemic-forced Thunderdome. Little did fans also know, they would have to wait over two years to see another premium live event at the Wells Fargo Center.
30 months to be exact, which is the longest time WWE has gone in between holding major events in Philadelphia in 10 years. That’s a long time for a city with as rich a wrestling history and as passionate a fanbase as Philadelphia. Paul Heyman knows this. He spent the better part of a decade selling a wrestling product unlike any other to that very fanbase. That’s why on Monday, in an interview published with Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Heyman did his part to sell pro wrestling to Philadelphia fans once again. And to his credit, he did a bang up job as his Inquirer interview put over Philadelphia in a big way. So big, that it will likely put more butts in seats than any other marketing or reveal of the card that WWE does in the lead-up to the big event.
That’s because Heyman knows how to draw a crowd, especially a crowd from a city that he knows oh-so-well.
“It’s not about the four walls that host you, it’s about the audience that’s in there,” Heyman said, referring to his comfortability not just in the old ECW Arena, but in the entire city of Philadelphia. Heyman then went on to perfectly characterize a sports fan base that is often the topic of criticism, but one that is also known for its diehard passionate fandom.
“There’s an honesty from the Philadelphia sports fan that comes through, that permeates through the television set when you watch these events on television. There’s no BS from a Philadelphia crowd. If they like you, they will reward you and bestow on you an affirmation that is quite — no pun intended — extreme and if they don’t like you and don’t like what you’re presenting, their negative reaction is quite — no pun intended — extreme. You’re going to know where you stand when you perform in Philly.”
– Paul Heyman as quoted by Matt Breen in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
No truer words have been spoken. Unlike many fanbases, Philadelphia is not afraid to let players/wrestlers know how they feel. Even players on the city’s own beloved sports teams aren’t immune from boos if the situation warrants it. The same is of course true of wrestlers. WWE learned that lesson the hard way when even the Rock couldn’t prevent Roman Reigns from receiving a chorus of boos normally only reserved for the Dallas Cowboys or New York Mets, after he won the Royal Rumble in 2015. The reaction was so negatively strong that there were even rumors after the fact that WWE was never going to bring another one of their marquee events back to Philadelphia. But then 2017 brought Battleground to the city and the following year, the Rumble (which featured the history-making first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match) returned, and with it four days of live WWE TV (NXT: TakeOver, Royal Rumble, Raw, and SmackDown).
WWE is not the only wrestling company that has embraced the Philadelphia wrestling fan and all that comes with it. In recent years, almost every major televised company including Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, MLW, AEW, and New Japan Pro Wrestling through both their flagship brand and NJPW Strong, has held events in Philadelphia. With those shows, there is almost always a nod to the place that put Philadelphia wrestling fans on the map: E-C-W. Philly street fights are common as are appearances from ECW Originals, especially when shows emanate from the 2300 Arena. Even Heyman himself made a special appearance at the Evolve 10th Anniversary Show airing live from the old ECW haunt, receiving a hero’s welcome in the process.
[pickup_prop id=”24189″]
Because while Heyman isn’t a born-and-bred Philadelphian, he is an honorary one nonetheless. He has seen firsthand just what sports/wrestling fans are like in this city, having worked tirelessly to market to them for the better part of a decade. Heyman has had a front row seat to the passion, intensity, and as he calls it, “honesty,” that embodies a Philadelphia sports fan. That puts him in a unique position as an outsider to categorize and characterize the depths of this city’s fandom in a way others may not quite understand. As Heyman knows, there is a reason all of these promotions keep coming back to Philadelphia year-after-year. It’s the fans.
“I can’t say enough about the Philadelphia sports fan and the character in and of itself that the sports fan plays,” Heyman said in the Inquirer article. “The star of the show when you play Philly is the crowd. They will make sure that a global audience understands that its WWE Extreme Rules in Philadelphia starring the Philadelphia crowd. That’s why it’s so famous.”
They say you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar and someone like Heyman certainly knows how to bring together an audience. He was successful at doing so in Philadelphia for years and now, he’s using that same charm and authenticity to do so for WWE. Only this time, Heyman isn’t selling the same kind of extreme wrestling he made his name off of. He’s selling WWE’s watered down version of ‘extreme.’ As fans know, Extreme Rules hasn’t lived up to that billing in quite some time. But perhaps that will change as WWE tries to bring extreme wrestling back to the city that made it famous.
“The Philadelphia mindset, the Philadelphia sports fan ushered in a mindset that is still to this day not only clamored for but desired by fans worldwide but it can never be duplicated outside of Philly,” Heyman said. “Anytime there is an Extreme Rules pay-per-view or premium live event as they’re called now outside of Philadelphia, it’s a crime.”
Heyman knows the way to a Philadelphian’s heart. His praise alone will put butts in seats as WWE looks to regain a presence in one of its former strongholds. In order to do so, WWE will need to put on a card worthy of the event’s moniker. If they don’t, they’ll no doubt hear it from a fanbase that knows a little bit about the definition of extreme wrestling.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock. Tickets for Extreme Rules go on sale July 15th.
