Imagine, for a moment, a world in which Paul Heyman is an evil mastermind with a crew of blue-chip competitors under his guidance (a shocking notion, we know). Think The Nexus as run by a cult leader instead of a general; a many-armed entity of destruction with a silver-tongued devil and master strategist as its leader.
Of course, wrestling historians will know that this is no mere fever dream or wild speculation, but instead a history lesson in the ways of the Dangerous Alliance. For years Heyman operated with a crew of feverish acolytes that carried out the mastermind’s bidding, capturing championship gold through intimidation and trickery and blazing a trail across sports-entertainment history. The Alliance (so named after Heyman’s original nickname, Paul E. Dangerously) existed in several incarnations and organizations throughout the ’80s and ’90s — permutations of the group peppered the AWA, WCW and ECW — but always seemed to burn out just as fast as they ascended to dominance, with some kind of internal dispute typically tearing the group asunder (for example: The WCW version disbanded when Heyman departed the company; the ECW incarnation fell by the wayside thanks to Tazz sustaining injury and Sabu’s dismissal from The Land of Extreme). Frankly, these dissolutions were a blessing in disguise, as the only thing more ominous to a locker room than the notion of the old Dangerous Alliance is the possibility of its resurrection.
Oddly enough, the idea isn’t such a far-fetched notion anymore.
The possibility exists that Heyman is (or was, anyway) seeking to reform his signature stable with a new crop of talent. First, Heyman did, in fact, collaborate with Brad Maddox and The Shield to keep the WWE Championship fastened around CM Punk’s waist. Plus, Brock Lesnar sent Mr. McMahon into surgery in defense of his former mouthpiece moments before Heyman was to be fired.
The implications are — in a word — formidable. Punk (a Heyman guy from the get-go) has already shown himself to be a capable leader of men with The Straight Edge Society and New Nexus, two groups that terrorized WWE in years past. Lesnar (another Heyman disciple) is the wrecking ball who could be dispatched to destroy anything in his path. The Shield have perfected the art of hiding in plain sight, and their value as seek-and-destroy mercenaries would be literally immeasurable. Maddox, if he and Heyman can make amends, would be the ace in the hole, a crooked ref who could singlehandedly alter the course of a contest without ever laying a finger on a Superstar.
Lesnar may have inadvertently blown the lid off the whole thing by showing up unannounced, but since when has that stopped Heyman? Assuming he can finagle a way to re-sign the former WWE and UFC Champion to a contract (and assuming he can lock down The Shield full-time), the mad scientist has all the ingredients necessary to bring his experiment to WWE for the first time.
The only question remaining is, to what end would Heyman create a new Dangerous Alliance? Taking out The Rock and restoring Punk or installing Lesnar as WWE Champion? Attempting to dismantle McMahon’s legacy and place WWE in Heyman’s control? How does a stable of followers play into what appeared to be a relatively narrow game plan by Heyman — keep Punk as WWE Champion — as recently as this past Sunday?
Then again, maybe this is the wrong question. Why would a man like Paul Heyman reform the Dangerous Alliance, if that is indeed what he’s trying to do? Given his proclivities, schemes and general desire to watch the world the McMahons built burn around him, perhaps the better question is: Why wouldn’t he?
Of course, wrestling historians will know that this is no mere fever dream or wild speculation, but instead a history lesson in the ways of the Dangerous Alliance. For years Heyman operated with a crew of feverish acolytes that carried out the mastermind’s bidding, capturing championship gold through intimidation and trickery and blazing a trail across sports-entertainment history. The Alliance (so named after Heyman’s original nickname, Paul E. Dangerously) existed in several incarnations and organizations throughout the ’80s and ’90s — permutations of the group peppered the AWA, WCW and ECW — but always seemed to burn out just as fast as they ascended to dominance, with some kind of internal dispute typically tearing the group asunder (for example: The WCW version disbanded when Heyman departed the company; the ECW incarnation fell by the wayside thanks to Tazz sustaining injury and Sabu’s dismissal from The Land of Extreme). Frankly, these dissolutions were a blessing in disguise, as the only thing more ominous to a locker room than the notion of the old Dangerous Alliance is the possibility of its resurrection.
Oddly enough, the idea isn’t such a far-fetched notion anymore.
The possibility exists that Heyman is (or was, anyway) seeking to reform his signature stable with a new crop of talent. First, Heyman did, in fact, collaborate with Brad Maddox and The Shield to keep the WWE Championship fastened around CM Punk’s waist. Plus, Brock Lesnar sent Mr. McMahon into surgery in defense of his former mouthpiece moments before Heyman was to be fired.
The implications are — in a word — formidable. Punk (a Heyman guy from the get-go) has already shown himself to be a capable leader of men with The Straight Edge Society and New Nexus, two groups that terrorized WWE in years past. Lesnar (another Heyman disciple) is the wrecking ball who could be dispatched to destroy anything in his path. The Shield have perfected the art of hiding in plain sight, and their value as seek-and-destroy mercenaries would be literally immeasurable. Maddox, if he and Heyman can make amends, would be the ace in the hole, a crooked ref who could singlehandedly alter the course of a contest without ever laying a finger on a Superstar.
Lesnar may have inadvertently blown the lid off the whole thing by showing up unannounced, but since when has that stopped Heyman? Assuming he can finagle a way to re-sign the former WWE and UFC Champion to a contract (and assuming he can lock down The Shield full-time), the mad scientist has all the ingredients necessary to bring his experiment to WWE for the first time.
The only question remaining is, to what end would Heyman create a new Dangerous Alliance? Taking out The Rock and restoring Punk or installing Lesnar as WWE Champion? Attempting to dismantle McMahon’s legacy and place WWE in Heyman’s control? How does a stable of followers play into what appeared to be a relatively narrow game plan by Heyman — keep Punk as WWE Champion — as recently as this past Sunday?
Then again, maybe this is the wrong question. Why would a man like Paul Heyman reform the Dangerous Alliance, if that is indeed what he’s trying to do? Given his proclivities, schemes and general desire to watch the world the McMahons built burn around him, perhaps the better question is: Why wouldn’t he?
