According to Shane Carwin’s twitter and the Wrestling Observer former pro-wrestling promoter Paul Heyman is producing Spike TV’s UFC 131 Countdown show. Heyman originally was scheduled to assist with Brock Lesnar and now is helping Carwin.
According to the Wrestling Observer (subscription required), Heyman was hired by the production company producing the UFC Countdown shows and not by the UFC. Heyman’s relationship with Lesnar probably helped in getting him the job. Heyman last produced spots for EA Sports MMA featuring the likes of Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez.
Payout Perspective:
Since Lesnar was forced out of UFC 131, Spike asked if Heyman could help with Shane Carwin. As the Wrestling Observer noted, it couldn’t hurt that Heyman, a master of promotion from his pre-WWE, ECW days, help UFC guys with cutting promos. While it appears that Heyman’s involvement is limited to this one show, it will be interesting to see how different it is from other Countdown shows. Is this a move by Spike to bring more of an entertainment aspect to its UFC content? TUF ratings have been down and a part of the reason is the lack of characters for viewers to follow. Of course, Heyman’s involvment could have been as a favor for Lesnar.
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