How Paul Heyman Turned Justin Credible From A Jobber Into An ECW Star
The legendary Paul Heyman has been known for making the most of the talents that struggled under different booking regimes. Justin Credible was coming off a failed WWE run and looked to rebuild his career when getting a chance in ECW. Heyman saw something special in Credible when he couldn’t get an opportunity in the bigger promotions.
The ECW success of Credible shocked the wrestling world when reaching the main event level and even winning the ECW World Championship. WWE was impressed enough to bring Credible back when he entered free agency. Heyman’s booking truly was remarkable in saving many careers and few were as obvious as the story of Credible.
Credible's Career Before ECW Was Underwhelming
WWE had Justin Credible on the roster long before breaking out when he played the Aldo Montoya character. Vince McMahon lost his touch with some absurd gimmicks given to wrestlers during the New Generation Era. Credible was tasked with playing a Portuguese Man O' War character wearing a silly mask and bizarre-looking gear that made him look silly from the start.
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Montoya was a character that many fans mocked and looked at as a joke due to the lack of credibility. Other wrestlers mocked him in promos comparing his unique mask to a jockstrap. Fans didn’t take to Aldo at all, and it led to his career reaching new lows. Credible hoped that signing with the biggest wrestling promotion at the time would lead to bigger success, but it ruined his reputation.
The matches typically resulted in losses for Montoya leading to his frustration building. Aldo’s biggest win in WWE came against Jerry Lawler, but he lost the rematch and continued to stay lower down the card. Credible requested his release from WWE since the gimmick was sinking his career. WWE worked out a deal to have him join the ECW roster instead of releasing him when he wanted to try to jump ship to WCW.
ECW Saved Credible's Career
The unexpected move of Justin Credible starting over in ECW helped him more than his ideal WCW move. Credible was holding out hope he could join the New World Order since he was tight with the Kliq in WWE, but it was unlikely he’d get such a role after the weak WWE stint. ECW allowed Credible to work closely with Paul Heyman to completely reinvent his career.
Heyman built up Credible by having him develop a winning streak lasting over the first few months in the new promotion. Fans started to take Justin seriously due to his impressive in-ring skills. Credible associating with Jason Knight and Nicole Bass added other layers to his character as he moved into relevant feuds with Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn.
The brash attitude of Credible was perfect in ECW to show his personality and in-ring skills were better than what fans realized in WWE. Technical wrestling master Lance Storm joined Credible to form a new tag team known as the Impact Players. Most ECW fans viewed them as the most successful tag team since the Dudley Boyz. Credible’s career was resurrected to the point where fans forgot about his failed WWE run.
Credible Eventually Became ECW Champion
The biggest accomplishment of Justin Credible’s career came when he won the ECW World Championship. Paul Heyman losing many of his biggest names to WWE and WCW meant that he had to take bigger risks with new main eventers. Credible defeating Tommy Dreamer for the ECW World Championship and having Francine as his new manager made him the top heel in the promotion.
ECW witnessed Credible not only become a success story, but he was among the most important talents in 2000. The title run was solid lasting five months before he dropped the gold to former rival Jerry Lynn. WWE took note of Credible’s success and showed interest in bringing him back after ECW went out of business in early 2001. The reputation of Credible was strong with multiple wrestlers vouching for him.
Unfortunately, ECW ending also signified Credible seeing the end of his momentum. WWE once again booked Credible poorly, even though he didn’t have to wear a silly mask this time. The Justin Credible name was used when he returned to the company as part of X-Pac’s new faction X-Factor with Albert. All three wrestlers suffered from the run together that turned into a huge flop. Heyman deserves credit for showing the full potential of Credible in ECW since no other major promotion did that.
