A lot of ECW fans may have gotten déjà vu while watchingRoman Reigns' phone call to Paul Heymanon last Friday’s episode ofWWESmackDown.The ongoing Bloodline story arcreached its most interesting development, when Reigns tried to callhis all-knowing advocate and Wiseman, only to learn the number is disconnected.
As Bubba “Bully” Ray Dudley expressed onBusted Open Radio, and in an accompanyingXpost, Roman Reigns' phone call to Paul Heyman on WWE SmackDown echoes another storylinefrom Paul Heyman’s extreme alma mater, ECW, in a story involving Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk.Dreamer would corroborate Bully’s sentiment in anXpost of his own, adding that while WWE’s storyline heads into Survivor Series: WarGames, Dreamer’s kindred storyline was heading into ECW November to Remember 1996.
Dissecting both storylines for their similarities and differences highlights the importance of bringing wrestling’s past into the present, something that WWE seems keen to do nowadays.
Roman Reigns' Phone Call to Paul Heyman Remakes a Classic ECW Storyline
ECW Hardcore TV, August 19, 2025
ECW is notable for getting extreme, and one of their more extreme feuds began at ECW Heat Wave 1996. There, Shane Douglas won the ECW World Television Championship in a Four-Way Dance with Chris Jericho, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Pitbull #2. Adding insult to injury (quite literally, as a DDT onto the title belt on Pitbull #1 would legitimately break his neck), Francine - manager to the Pitbulls - would turn her back on the tag team by aligning herself with The Franchise. The TV Champion would spend weeks mocking Pitbull #1’s injury, evoking a one-on-one rivalry with Pitbull #2.
Their feud would culminate in what was being promoted as a “Dream Partner match” for November to Remember, ECW’s equivalent to WWE’s WrestleMania. All this meant was that Shane Douglas and Pitbull #2 would face off in a tag team match featuring partners of their choosing. In the weeks leading to the show,Pitbull #2 had chosen his longtime friend Tommy Dreamer as his tag team partner. Before he’d pick one for himself, Douglas would put a bounty on Pitbull #2’s head for, in Joey Styles' words,“an undisclosed amount of money"to anyone who could take out Pitbull #2 before the PPV.
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The bounty would be answered by “Primetime” Brian Lee on the November 5th episode of Hardcore TV. Douglas and Lee proceed to mercilessly assault the Pitbull to a bloody pulp. The brawl would end withLee delivering a chokeslam to Pitbull #2 from atop the ECW production truck and onto three tables set up on the ground. Douglas would then apply the Full Nelson on the Pitbull immediately after. Dreamer would come down to make the save, but the damage was done. Dreamer would then be attacked by the heel duo himself after his main event title match with Douglas later that night.
The full June 05, 2025 episode of ECW Hardcore TV can currently, exclusively be found on Peacock’s streaming service.
Because he collected the bounty, Lee was chosen as Douglas' partner, but now, the babyface dream partner needed a partner of his own. Lee and Douglas both demand that Dreamer call on an unnamed"legend” for help. Hardcore TV concludes with Dreamer, beaten and bandaged, exiting a hospital to his car’s corded telephone,hesitantly asking the operator to connect him to the Double Cross Ranchbefore ECW fades to black. Although he was never namedropped in the episode, ECW fans were familiar thatthis Texas ranch belonged to one Terry Funk, and lo and behold, the Funker emerged as Dreamer’s partner at the pay-per-view.
How WWE Borrows from the ECW Storyline
A Desperate Call Before a Fade to Black
Bully Ray would bring attention to this forgotten 90s storyline by comparing it to the current developments in WWE’s Bloodline storyline. At this point in time,Roman Reigns is facing a similar desperate situation as Tommy Dreamer was.Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline grows in numberswhile the original one continues to be dismantled by the opposition. With no one else to turn to, there’s only one man left to call. A hesitant Roman Reigns pulls out his phone and tells Siri to call Paul Heyman, instantly being told that the number is no longer in service.
Bully admitted that he was entertained by the Roman segment on multiple levels. It showed unusual vulnerability for the OTC, which contributed to the audience’s great reaction when they saw the look on Roman’s face after learning Heyman’s phone was disconnected. As Bully and Dreamer said many times on Busted Open, it’s very important for babyfaces to show vulnerability to make the audience connect with them, and this segment has achieved that, and more.
The Beauty of WWE Remaking Classic Angles
What’s Old is New Again
Many wrestling fans, ECW faithful especially, are likely to roll their eyes at WWE remaking a scene from almost 30 years ago, but there’s actually more good that can come from remaking a storyline than bad. Remakes for movies and TV shows get a bad rep for the same reason, but they allow an opportunity to take what worked decades prior and recontextualize it with modern sensibilities, whilst introducing the original to a new audience. The same logic should apply to professional wrestling, as remaking a storyline allows new fans to discover something great that they would’ve never heard of otherwise.
Simultaneously, it also allows an opportunity for a modern company like WWE to add something great to a storyline that worked for another in the past, or in the case of Roman Reigns' call ending with Paul Heyman’s number disconnected, puta new twist on a classic angle.It’s also how classic, beloved tropes in the wrestling space are created. Before Shane Douglas put a bounty on Pitbull #2’s head, Ric Flair put a bounty on Dusty Rhodes before that, and Triple H on Goldberg years after in the Ruthless Aggression Era.
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This obviously isn’t always going to produce the same effect, as AJ Styles' fake retirement against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes didn’t resonate as much as the angle that inspired it,Mark Henry’s iconic salmon jacket promo. However, this ECW angle is largely underseen and unknown by anyone under the age of 30. This not only helps a similar, rebooted angle feel fresh, but it introduces the classics to younger fans.WWEtaking ECW’s influence for Roman Reigns' phone call to Paul Heyman is a positive move for professional wrestling.
