Say what you will about WWE Chairman Vince McMahon (and he's certainly not at his best creative-wise these days), but he has had a lot of great ideas over the years.
As it happens, one of the best ones in recent memory was his decision to pair Roman Reigns up with Paul Heyman when the Tribal Chief returned to WWE in 2020. It was a shocking moment for fans and their partnership both rocked the foundations of the company and led to the creation of The Bloodline.
During a recent podcast interview with Tetragrammaton, Heyman looked back at what led to his unexpected alliance with the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Explaining that Brock Lesnar has essentially left WWE without those high-paying Saudi Arabia shows on the table during the pandemic, Heyman acknowledged that he was in limbo after being removed as RAW's Executive Director.
"I thought I had a bunch of months left on my contract, and I was gonna ride it out, and we'll see where we go from there," he explains. "There were limited options in my agreement as to whom WWE could put me with."
"One of the few names on this list was Roman Reigns. Another was Brock Lesnar, obviously. Another was Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey was having a baby. Brock Lesnar wasn't coming back with Saudi being down. That kinda left Roman Reigns in there."
Heyman revealed that he was under the belief Vince would make him a commentator again, but instead, he came out with a suggestion which changed WWE forever.
"I'm thinking, 'Ronda is pregnant. Brock's not coming back with Saudi down. He's certainly is not putting me with Roman,' and he goes, 'I'm envisioning Roman Reigns with Paul Heyman.' I'm thinking, 'Oh my God. He's gonna pull the trigger on this. He would never pull it with Cena. He would never have allowed Cena to come to the dark side."
The entire three-hour interview is an absolute must-listen if you're a pro wrestling fan, and Heyman shares insights from across the course of his runs with both Reigns and Lesnar along with some surprisingly personal admissions.
We acknowledge you, Wise Man!