Brian Gewirtz on Paul Heyman

Former WWE RAW head writer Brian Gewirtz recently spoke with Sportskeeda’s Riju Dasgupta and revealed what led to he and Paul Heyman receiving 7-day suspensions several years back.

Heyman and Gewirtz were lead writers of SmackDown and RAW, respectively, back in the early 2000s, but it’s been reported how on one occasion both men received a 7-day suspension after a creative disagreement led to a minor physical confrontation. Gewirtz downplayed reports that he and Heyman engaged in a fist fight.

“That’s a very, very generous way of putting it. I think that’s an insult to fist fights! I don’t think fists were ever actually involved. I think perhaps some light swatting for a few seconds was the extent of it,” Gewirtz said.

A protégé of Heyman once pitched a bizarre storyline idea that would’ve ended with WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson appearing naked on WWE TV. Gewirtz strongly opposed the idea and had no problem voicing his opinion in a production meeting.

“The 2002-2004 era of WWE, both on-screen and backstage, it was a little bit more Wild West than what we’re accustomed to seeing and experiencing today. We had split writers’ teams. Paul was the lead writer of SmackDown, myself was RAW, and sometimes you work so closely with someone… tensions mount,” Gewritz said.

Gewirtz admitted that he probably said something unwise to Heyman.

“There was an incident. Paul took offense to something I did, and not necessarily unjustified. I’m sure I was the quintessential wiseass at the time. As you can see by the baseball souvenirs behind me, I’ve matured so much since then!,” Gewirtz said.

Gewirtz added that he thought the idea involving Wilson was “disrespectful” and “ludicrous,” which is why he reacted so passionately. He added that he felt like there was disrespect being shown to Wilson, which led to the “pitch fight heard around the world.”

Gewirtz went on to praise Heyman for his work with The Bloodline, noting that he’s a compelling character and actor, one who can hype a match like no other. Gewirtz also compared Heyman to a modern day version of WWE Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan, and said he hits a grand slam every time.