- 3 days ago
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00:00Oh
01:33You damn right, I deserve it.
02:07I didn't prepare anything tonight, because as I said in the media, I really wanted to
02:24feel the room, and I'm not very good at just speaking as me.
02:30So I asked somebody who's been up here, Rob Van Dam.
02:37And I said, Rob, I'm just a Jew boy from the Bronx.
03:01How do I reveal myself just as me?
03:06I haven't done it in 40-something years except at home.
03:10And Van Dam says in his eloquent manner...
03:13So I figured, I gotta figure this out.
03:29I gotta ask someone who would understand what I, myself, you know, just Paul, no middle name
03:35Haman is like.
03:36So I asked my son, Jacob, who's sitting right there, next to his sister Azalea, my daughter.
03:49And they're sitting next to a man for whom I have indescribable respect, C. M. Pong.
04:01And I said to my son, Jacob, how do I present myself as me?
04:23And Jacob picked his head up and he said, ask Van Dam, Dad.
04:35The rest of the stash is in the car.
04:38I'm the beneficiary of mass praise for doing with my life exactly what I wanted to do with
05:00I get to work with the men and the women in this beautiful performance art known as sports
05:19and professional wrestling.
05:30I am the first pick, the first person announced, the first headliner in a class completely picked
05:41by Paul Levesque.
05:44Only one person can drive the car out of chaos, only one person can assume true control of
06:11the locker room and the leadership that was sorely needed by the men and the women in this
06:18beautiful performance art has been bestowed upon us by that man sitting right there, Paul
06:26Levesque.
06:26Of course, I always break the rules when I come out here and do these promos.
06:41And the one thing that Paul Levesque asked me was, hey, please don't speak about me.
06:45But the way that this man has assumed the pencil of this company and has led us to a creative
06:59freedom backstage where more are emerging into the main events in front of your very eyes.
07:09And the manner in which he will let me tell you for prosperity into that camera for the rest
07:22of my life, I will be a Paul Levesque guy.
07:27A.
07:42I will also call to your attention that his lovely bride, Stephanie, is here this evening.
08:12If my daughter grows up to be half the woman that Stephanie is, I assure you I will have
08:23raised a great lady in my household.
08:30I would also like to call to your attention that Stephanie is wearing a cap adorned with
08:37the letters ECW.
08:44I think at this point, after all these years, it's time for Stephanie to admit she married
08:51the wrong Paul.
09:11If you'll indulge me for just a moment, and then we'll get to ECW.
09:30To my children, this is what I want you to do with your lives.
09:51It's not about the money.
09:52I don't mean to do it on television.
09:54And I don't mean that you get to sit in the front row with these luminaries whose accomplishments
10:03in life and in this industry pale by comparison to what I've done.
10:10And by the way, if anybody here screws with you, you're two seats down from Haku.
10:32It's not about the money.
10:36It's about being worthy of people's respect.
10:41It's about being worthy of their admiration.
10:45It's about pursuing your dreams and failing and going after them again and again and again
10:52and failing 101 times and succeeding on the 101st.
11:05It's about waking up the next morning and you can't wait to get into it because the world
11:10just isn't fucking ready for you.
11:17Pursue your dreams.
11:19Pursue your happiness.
11:21And I promise you one day you will be standing on a podium in front of a group of your peers
11:29and your fans and your friends and your family and your children and you will hear the love
11:38for the body of work that you put together with the true passion of your lives.
11:48I have been an orator for 40 years of my life.
11:52My father was a far greater orator than I could ever hope to be.
11:58And I will never find the words to convey to the two of you how much I desperately love
12:06you both.
12:15If you'll indulge me for one more moment I would just like to publicly say I so wish my mother
12:24was here tonight to see this.
12:31I so wish my father was here tonight to see this.
12:51I so wish your father was here tonight to see this too.
13:20I love me too.
13:45I love me too.
13:46Well, I think that covers all the mush, right?
13:47I guess now it's time to talk about ECW.
14:22I hope you enjoyed it.
14:23I love you too.
14:24I love you too.
14:26I love you too.
14:29I love you too.
14:33Holy
14:48The real one
14:50I think I broke this over the head
14:54Of Sting
14:55When Rick Rude
14:59Became the United States
15:00Heavyweight Champion
15:03Fucked up company called WCW
15:33There comes a time
15:37In the life
15:40Of every man
15:42Where he has to accept reality
15:45The reality
15:47To this man
15:48Is that in 1993
15:51This industry
15:53Sucked
15:54Oh we had your plumbers
15:58And we had your garbage men
16:00And we had your clowns running around
16:03But what happened
16:04To the love
16:06Of the art
16:06Of professional wrestling
16:09I was a kid
16:12Running around
16:13Bullshit
16:13Into the back
16:15Of Madison Square Garden
16:16And all I could think of was
16:18Man
16:19Let me get my hands on this
16:21And I will show them away
16:24I will show them the way
16:26This business
16:27Shut up kid
16:28Shut up kid
16:29Shut up kid
16:30Yeah alright
16:31Here's what happened
16:32I go to WCW
16:34They wouldn't listen
16:35To your wise man
16:36And I said
16:37Well
16:37Okay
16:38We need to find some place
16:40That will accept these ideas
16:41That will accept this vision
16:42That will look into the future
16:44That will bring hip hop
16:46Into wrestling
16:47That will bring heavy metal
16:49Into wrestling
16:50That will bring sexy women
16:52Fighting each other
16:53And real men
16:54Bashing each other
16:55Right in the face
16:56We need to put people
16:57Through tables
16:58We need to climb the ladder
17:00All the way up to the top
17:01We need to create
17:03The tribe
17:04Of the extreme
17:06And it would never have happened
17:12Any other place
17:14But in Philadelphia
17:15Where did Stone Cold Steve Austin
17:27Drink his first beer
17:29Right down the road
17:31In a bingo hall
17:32On the corner
17:33Of Swanson and Rittner
17:35Called the ECW Arena
17:38Where did Eric Bischoff
17:44Get the whole idea
17:45For Cruiserweights
17:47Ray Mysterio
17:48And Sikolsic
17:50Where
17:50Right down the road
17:52On the corner
17:52Of Swanson and Rittner
17:53On the wrong side
17:55Of the train tracks
17:55Called the ECW Arena
17:58Where did the Dudleys say
18:03You're going through
18:04The table tonight
18:05And everybody's
18:07Going to like it
18:08So D-Von
18:09Get the f***ing
18:10Able
18:11Where did Rob Van Dam
18:19Light up an audience
18:20As much as he was
18:21Lighting up the joints
18:22Backstage
18:23In ECW
18:26Bubba Ray Dudley
18:36Says it best
18:37ECW wasn't meant to last
18:40We were meant to go out
18:40In a blaze of glory
18:41We were Napster
18:42We were here to change
18:43The business
18:44We were here to disrupt
18:45The industry
18:46And it's exactly
18:47What we did
18:48For those of you
18:50Who say
18:51That the concept
18:52Of extreme
18:53Died
18:54On the corner
18:55Of Swanson and Rittner
18:56I beg to disagree
18:59I beg to disagree
18:59For those of you
19:01Who will say
19:02That ECW lives no more
19:06I respectfully disagree
19:10With your assessment
19:11And for those of you
19:13Who don't realize
19:14That ECW is alive today
19:16In the matches
19:18That are performed
19:19In front of you
19:20In the concepts
19:21That have been adopted
19:22By the entire industry
19:23In the passion
19:25Of the fan base
19:26That still comes today
19:27To WWE
19:29And any other wrestling promotion
19:31On the face of this planet
19:32If you think
19:35That the spirit
19:36Of ECW
19:38Died
19:39In a bankruptcy court
19:41In 2001
19:42You can
19:43S-
19:45C.M. Punk just leaned over to my son
20:15and said, your dad just got himself canceled again.
20:22And here's the funny part of it all, ladies and gentlemen.
20:27They ain't going to cancel me because they know if they do,
20:30I'm coming back bigger, badder, stronger than ever before.
20:37They canceled me in WCW.
20:40I became the manager of the Samoan SWAT team.
20:45They canceled me with the Samoan SWAT team.
20:48I became the manager of Mean Mark,
20:50who I then passed on to Bruce Prichard behind WCW's back,
20:54and he is forever the Undertaker.
20:58They canceled me with Mean Mark,
21:01and I become Jim Ross's color commentator
21:03because somebody had to show that, Oki, how to do announcing.
21:07When they canceled me as a commentator,
21:11I came back with the Dangerous Alliance.
21:14When they canceled me out of WCW,
21:17I came back with ECW.
21:22When they canceled ECW, I came to WWE,
21:26and who do I end up with?
21:28The one in 21-and-1,
21:33Barack Lesnar!
21:36And when the entire world got canceled out by the zombie apocalypse
21:51that we've come to know as the pandemic,
21:54and Brock Lesnar went home to Saskatchewan
21:58to kill things that he could put on the plate to feed his family,
22:03that wasn't a knock on Hardcore Holly.
22:07For those of you who don't understand,
22:13Google it, bitches.
22:14I'm not here to educate you tonight.
22:19And then I got canceled as the executive director of Monday Night Raw,
22:24and here I am in my mid-50s,
22:27and my 800-pound gorilla is home in Saskatchewan,
22:30and I'm out of any creative influence,
22:33and you think I've been canceled.
22:36And I'm swimming in the ocean of obscurity,
22:42and I'm rescued onto the island of relevancy
22:46by your tribal chief,
22:50the head of the table,
22:52the goat,
22:53the greatest of all time,
22:57Roman Reigns.
23:00For the young men and women sitting around this ring
23:12and up on that stage,
23:14the message tonight is simple.
23:19They can't cancel you.
23:20Only you can cancel you.
23:24Only you can stop yourself
23:26from living out your dreams.
23:30Only you can let them cancel you.
23:34I've been canceled a hundred times in this business.
23:37I'll come back a hundred and one.
23:38They canceled me on a hundred and one.
23:40I'll come back bigger, badder, stronger,
23:42more extreme and wiser in a hundred and two.
23:48I have the honor and the privilege
23:52of working not only with Roman Reigns
23:56and the Usos and Solo
23:59and a Samoan dynasty
24:01that will rule for hundreds of years to come.
24:05I work with the future of this business.
24:10I get to work with Braun Breaker.
24:13I get to work with Rhea Ripley.
24:21I get to work with Carmelo Hayes.
24:23I get to work with Trick Williams.
24:26I get to work with Jade Cargill.
24:29And I see the things in them
24:35that I saw the generation before them
24:38with Steve Austin and The Undertaker
24:41and Rikishi and CM Punk
24:44and Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.
24:49And she's sitting behind me
24:51and I'm probably next to her wonderful husband,
24:55her biggest fan in the world.
24:56I've gotten to work with Charlotte Flair.
24:59So let's take this bitch home, shall we?
25:13Ladies and gentlemen,
25:17my name is Paul Hayman.
25:22Welcome to the class of 2024,
25:27for Paul of Fame.
25:30I stand before you,
25:32not only as the former advocate
25:34for Barack Lesnar,
25:38I stand before you as the best friend
25:41and biggest fan
25:42of Chicago's very own
25:44CM Punk.
25:47and I stand before you as special counsel
25:52and a wise man
25:53to the reigning,
25:55defending,
25:56undisputed,
25:58WWE
25:58universal
26:00heavyweight champion,
26:03Roman Reigns.
26:06I'm blown up.
26:14I have to pee.
26:16I've taken too long.
26:18and I assure you of this.
26:20This is not a lifetime achievement award.
26:24I know everybody says,
26:25I'm just getting started.
26:26You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:27Yo, bitches,
26:28I'm just getting started.
26:30You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:33There's more disruption
26:35of this industry
26:36pumping through this heart.
26:38And I guarantee you,
26:41we're gonna disrupt it
26:43all over again.
26:47And that's not a prediction.
26:52That's a spoiler.
26:54You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:55You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:56You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:57You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:58You ain't seen nothing yet.
26:59You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:00You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:01You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:02You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:03You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:04You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:05You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:06You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:07You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:08You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:09You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:10You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:11You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:12You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:13You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:15You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:16You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:17You ain't seen nothing yet.
27:18You ain't seen nothing yet.
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