By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Paul Heyman appeared on The Roku Channel’s “The Rich Eisen Show” on Thursday. The following are the highlights of the interview that can be viewed below or via YouTube.com.
Heyman on whether he has a speech prepared for the WWE Hall of Fame: “No, I’m going to figure this out as we go along. I’m going to take the pulse of the room that night. I’m going to wing this, because I don’t know what the crowd is expecting from me. Is this a crowd that wants me to talk about the modern day WWE, Roman Reigns, The Bloodline, the WrestleMania main event of Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes? Is this a crowd that in Philadelphia wants to talk about ECW? Is this a crowd that’s looking for some inspiration in a speech about pursuing your own dreams? I really won’t know until I take the temperature of the room that night.”
Heyman on meeting Roman Reigns for the first time: “I first met Roman Reigns when he was three years-old and his father Sika of the Wild Samoans brought him into the locker room at Panama City, Florida. Even at three years-old, he had so much charisma. I thought he was going to become a child star like Ron Howard or whomever. Roman had so much charisma even at three years-old… He had that intangible It Factor. You knew you were in the presence of someone special even though it’s a three year-old kid running around.”
On how Heyman and Reigns decided to work together “Well, Roman and I had been talking about working together for many, many years. The timing was never right in that WWE was presenting him as The Big Dog, as the big hero, this WrestleMania main eventer to follow in the steps of John Cena. And I was the advocate for Brock Lesnar, and just leaving that position would have been insane. And I was also then became the executive director of Monday Night Raw. Now the pandemic hits and Brock Lesnar wraps up his time in WWE and he goes off to Saskatchewan to hunt and kill whatever he puts on the family’s dinner plates.
“The entire landscape of sports and entertainment and sports entertainment was changing, and Roman Reigns had taken time off because his wife had given birth to another set of twin boys, and also because of the pandemic and his health concerns regarding staying safe for his family during this unfathomable health crisis that was gripping the entire world. So in August 2020 when I’m Brock Lesnar-free, I’m no longer the executive director of Raw, so I’m in the ocean of obscurity at that point, and Roman Reigns agrees to come back to WWE if he’s allowed to portray himself and we get a chance to work together. He rescued me from the ocean of obscurity, pulled me onto the island of relevancy with him, and we’ve been together ever since.”
Powell’s POV: A fun interview. Heyman told the story of how he got his break as a pro wrestling photographer, which led to him becoming an on-air performer. Heyman promoted the A&E Biography that he produced on Roman Reigns that will debut on Sunday night. He also talked being hired at Studio 54 at just age 19, The Rock’s return to WWE, Emmy Awards, and more.
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