Paul Heyman gushes over the wealth of talent on the current WWE roster.
Paul Heyman has worked in the professional wrestling industry for decades. Through the years, Heyman has worked with many of the most decorated performers of their era. From Rick Rude and Bobby Eaton to Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman has worked with the best of the best. However, one of his greatest strengths throughout his time in wrestling has been his ability to cultivate stars from wrestlers who might have otherwise been overlooked or underappreciated.
A shining example is the group of wrestlers known as the SmackDown Six. In 2002, WWE entered its first brand extension. The brand extension saw Paul Heyman become the head of creative of the WWE SmackDown brand. During the early days of the roster split, Heyman took six wrestlers: Edge, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle, and put them in a rivalry for the WWE Tag Team Championship. These six wrestlers would be paired off interchangeably for numerous classic matches during SmackDown's early days as its own brand. To this day, the performers and Heyman, the mastermind behind everything, are still answering questions about that time in wrestling.
During a recent interview with Jeremy Hanna of Newsweek, Heyman was asked to create a lineup from today's WWE roster that could capture that same magic. Heyman took the opportunity to put over the depth of talent on the WWE roster today, saying he believes he could create multiple lineups that rival what he created in 2002.
"Every member of The Bloodline. Every member of Solo's bloodline, obviously, because there's a lot of money to be made there," said Heyman. "Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Bron Breakker, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory."
Paul Heyman, always keeping his eyes on the future of the product, also put over the current WWE NXT roster. He'd say that he feels a good portion of the developmental crew is ready to be called up now and that finding the right packaging for the appropriate talents is the key.
"A third of the NXT roster, which I think is ready to be called up into action now; it's just the timing has to be right. The presentation has to be right. The packaging, the marketing has to be right. Why rush it?"
Turning his attention back to the main roster, Heyman continued running down the list of stars he felt he could build a promotion around, including Logan Paul, Charlotte Flair, and Pat McAfee as an energetic commentator.
"I mean, there is a plethora of talent right now. If you told me I can't have any of those people, any of them, I can still build a magnificent roster," he said. "I mean, give me Pat McAfee on as a commentator to just keep the energy level at nuclear. Look at Logan Paul. I mean, you can certainly build a promotion around Logan Paul. LA Knight. I mean, there's just so much talent out there. Dominik Mysterio. My God, the wealth of talent that -- Charlotte Flair, who is right on the cusp of just being labeled a legend, and still has so much more to accomplish."
"I could probably put together four or five rosters of SmackDown sixes with today's crew," Heyman continued. "One of the things that really clicked about the SmackDown Six is that they weren't main eventers. They weren't perceived as main eventers. Kurt Angle had been in a few main events, but he was always considered semi-main event until then. The Guerreros, Edge, Mysterio, these people were not headlining, and now all of a sudden, they were. So that's another thing. Who do you move up the ladder? Who moves up? Who becomes the next big star? Is it from NXT? Is it from Smackdown? Is that person from Raw?
Continuing on, Paul Heyman He also touted the abilities of Bronson Reed and Jacob Fatu for stepping up in major ways in recent weeks. Paul Heyman says the philosophy behind the original SmackDown Six was elevating talents that should have been considered main-event players. That is the same philosophy he would apply today.
"Is it Bronson Reed? What a star-making performance against Seth Rollins," he said. "So here's Bronson Reed, who was not considered a main eventer. I'd love to see what the box office would be right now if we went to Chicago and announced tickets that Seth Rollins' first match back is against Bronson Reed in Chicago, or Detroit, or Des Moines, or San Francisco, or Los Angeles, or Houston, or Dallas, or Saudi Arabia, or Auckland, New Zealand, or anywhere in the world. Right now, Bronson Reed stepped up, the same way Jacob Fatu debuted, stepped up, and forced everyone around him to step up.
"That was the beauty of the SmackDown Six: we took people who weren't considered main eventers and made them main eventers," he added. "So, you know, SmackDown Six, I could put in today, 'Roman Reigns and this person, that person,' but also, the concept would be, who's not a main eventer right now that can be and should be and will be, and that over-delivers on an under promise."
Paul Heyman has not been seen on WWE television since he was assaulted by Solo Sikoa's Bloodline at Madison Square Garden on June 28. Roman Reigns recently returned at WWE SummerSlam, setting his sights on Solo and his crew.
It is not known when Paul Heyman will return to WWE television.
Fans can read Edge's thoughts on the SmackDown Six at this link.
At this link, fans can read Paul Heyman's thoughts on what's next for Roman Reigns now that he's returned.
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