During the most recent episode of the "Grilling JR" podcast, Jim Ross discussed how Vince McMahon viewed Paul Heyman and Extreme Championship Wrestling back in the day:

"I think it was the fact that Vince recognized talent, and for any of us to try to argue the point that Paul Heyman didn’t have significant talent, would be ridiculous. He did a lot with The Little Engine That Could. Paul did a phenomenal job – motivating or whatever you wanna say. Bubba [Dudley] talks about ECW in glowing terms, even though his pay was late seemingly more often than not and he had to wear multiple hats to pay the rent. There’s still a strong feeling of loyalty to the brand by some of their alums. I don’t have a problem with that because I’m very loyal to Mid-South Wrestling because that’s where I got my start.

"So, Paul did a good job with the us against the world mentality. The brand was very defiant in its presentation. They had a very unique brand and very unique comradery within the locker room. We wanted to get a lot of their guys because we needed to freshen up our roster. We kind of knew what we wanted to get out of ECW. But if the only person we had got out of that deal was Paul Heyman and no talent, we’d win because he’s a brilliant TV writer and great creative guy. One of the smartest I’ve ever been around, and I’ve been around some smart guys."