After WrestleMania 39, Ariel Helwani spoke with Paul Heyman. When asked how this Roman Reigns title defense against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39 ranked, Heyman responded as follows:
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to digest it yet. I like the fact that everyone walks in now thinking this is the last title defense. I experienced this before with something I had a hand in ending, which was The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Every year you sat there and you said, ‘Oh, this is it.’ During the match, the audience is actually anticipating and salivating for this to be the moment that they get to witness the historical three count on The Undertaker to which the streak would finally end. Then of course when The Undertaker would defend the streak, they said, ‘Oh yeah, I don’t want to see this end. I can’t wait for the next chapter’, and then it finally ended and the audience was shocked because they thought they would see it. They thought they would see it. They thought they would, and no they didn’t get to see it. This was year after year after year, and then they finally got to see it.”
“I think that’s the same thing with Roman Reigns’ title defenses now. You hope this is the one. You think this is the one. You’re sure this is the one. You watch the match happening and you go, ‘You know this is the one’, and then it turns out not to be the one. ‘Oh, man. I can’t wait to see the next chapter.’”
“The response tonight to Cody Rhodes, which was louder than the response last week to Cody Rhodes, which was a response more passionate tonight for Cody Rhodes, which was a response of an audience that believes in Cody Rhodes this week more than they did last week when they hung their hopes and their dreams on him. He didn’t disappoint them. We disappointed them. We took that away from Cody Rhodes. Roman Reigns took that away from Cody Rhodes and the audience and they blame Roman Reigns for it. They appreciate how close Cody came and they know now, they know, the next time Cody Rhodes steps in the ring with Roman Reigns, this will be the one.”
“That’s the business. That’s the business at its very best. That’s promotion at its very best. That’s storytelling at its very best. That’s what you want. You want the challenger to come out a bigger star than he would have been if he had won the championship because then where do you go from there? What’s the story to tell? Now you know the story. It’s Cody’s redemption. He’s coming back from what was just taken from him from the defeat that he suffered that he didn’t deserve to have inflicted upon him.”
On what he says to those who believe Cody Rhodes should have won the WWE championship from Roman Reigns now:
“We’ll be hearing this all summer long, won’t we? ‘Oh, it’s perfect. The stars are aligned. Here it is. It has to happen now.’ We’ve been hearing this the whole time. I was hearing this two years ago. I heard it last summer at SummerSlam with Brock. I heard it at the Royal Rumble With Kevin Owens. I certainly heard it in Montreal with Sami. I did hear it in Cardiff as well with Drew McIntyre. I heard it two SummerSlams ago with John Cena. ‘Oh, This is where John Cena gets number 17. Oh, wouldn’t it be perfect if he beats Roman Reigns for it? Oh my God, this is it. John Cena becomes the most decorated heavyweight champion of all time. Perfect. Everything’s in line for it.’ Of course it’s in line for it. That’s how you make a challenger. If the challenger is like, ‘Well, I guess this would be okay’, well, nobody’s gonna buy that. ‘Oh, this is it. It’s perfect. It has to happen now.’ That’s the promotional business.”
On whether he ever believed Vince McMahon would sell the WWE:
“Yes and no. Vince McMahon loves every micro moment of his life because the most passionate relationship he’s ever had in his entire existence is with building the WWE business and the brand that goes along with the business. It’s the thrill of building the business. He is truly the ultimate disrupter. He disrupted the professional wrestling industry to the point where it’s now called sports entertainment. Then every time he found a niche pattern, every time he found what he was looking for in the industry, he then disrupted that whole game plan and went to something different. They were making hundreds of millions of dollars on Pay Per View and he went streaming. We have this whole concept about streaming and then he makes the television license fees the true bread and butter of the company. Then he builds the stock to such an extent that the company is valued at nine and a half billion dollars. He’s constantly disrupting his own business plan and marketing plan. So to that degree, you know, strategic partnerships, mergers, etc, etc. I could see Vince doing whatever he felt was going to build this to being bigger, better, stronger, more resilient to any kind of storms that could happen in the future, the collapse of television itself, streaming is taken down by a foreign government who’s infiltrated the systems of the United States. Whatever happens, we’re going to survive and we’re going to thrive. So can I see that? Yeah. This particular move? No, but that’s what makes Vince, Vince. I mean, that’s why he has a company that was valued at nine point something billion dollars because he will see things that we common folk don’t.”
In response to Conor McGregor calling him grandpa and tweeting that if he got too lippy, he would break his jaw in three places:
“I’m not a grandfather, but I appreciate the fact that I’m old enough to be one, number one, and I’m still thriving on top. I would like to see if Conor McGregor at 57 is still thriving at the very top of his entire industry. We’ll see if he’s even relevant at 57. We’ll see if he even lives to 57 with his lifestyle now, number two. Number three, it’s not that he tweeted to me, I picked the fight with him. Let’s be honest about this. He, as a Roman Reigns wannabe, did the Paul Heyman style, you know, title on each shoulder, and, you know, gave a shout out to himself, of course he did. You know, the ultimate self promoter in Conor McGregor, you know, standing nine feet tall and weighing 155 pounds and five foot four. So, with that in mind, I said, ‘Look at Conor McGregor, a Roman Reigns wannabe’, and of course, you know, he said, ‘Oh, be careful grandpa. I’ll break your jaw in three places.’”
“My father who was a pretty street savvy guy from the Bronx, you know, my father used to say, ‘If you’re going to hit somebody, you don’t want to go up and go, I’m going to punch you in the face. I’m going to beat you up. I’m going to come get you.’ You know what they do if they want to beat you up? They walk up to you and they hit you.”
“He’s talking a good game but he isn’t coming after The Wise Man, and even if he did come after The Wise Man, what if I landed a lucky shot like the lucky shot he hit Aldo with? (Jose) Aldo clipped him and busted him open on a knockout punch that he threw. What if I had a lucky punch on Conor McGregor? Right? What if I did? If he beats me up, who cares? I’m a 57-year-old Wise Man. I’m a Jew boy from the Bronx. This is a tough fight for Conor McGregor? I don’t see him picking a fight With Roman Reigns, but then again, listen. You know, little people do what little minds tell them to do, and that’s okay, because I like the little guy. He’s funny to me. Like a clown. You know, like a clown. He’s here for my amusement.”
You can watch the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
