Jacob Heyman sat down with his father Paul Heyman during WrestleMania 42 week in Las Vegas for a conversation that covered scrapped main event plans, nine years of WrestleMania main events, and the one piece of advice Heyman wants his children to carry for the rest of their lives.
Jacob opened by asking his father directly whether it pisses him off to not be part of the WrestleMania main event for the first time since 2019. Heyman did not hold back.
“Yeah, it pisses me off. I don’t think it’s a big secret that everything was driving this year to be Seth Rollins versus Roman Reigns, and then that fell apart. And then it was going to be Bron Breaker versus CM Punk, and that fell apart. So I was in line to be a part of the main event this year, and fate intervened, not once, but even twice.”
Heyman said he still takes pride in what he considers the most anticipated match on the card.
“I’d be less than candid if I didn’t admit I take great pride in the fact that the most heavily anticipated match this year is what I call the real main event of WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar versus Oba Femi. But history won’t record that as a main event.”
Rather than dwell on the disappointment, Heyman said the situation has only motivated him to plan further ahead.
“It’s inspiring to me. Just makes me work harder for next year’s WrestleMania main event, and to make sure that I have more than one or two contingency plans in place. It’s rarefied air, and I live for that rarefied air. I’m not good at a lot of things in my life, but I’m real good at that.”
Jacob then listed his father’s full WrestleMania main event history: WrestleMania 31 (Lesnar vs. Reigns), WrestleMania 34 (Lesnar vs. Reigns), WrestleMania 36 (Lesnar vs. McIntyre), WrestleMania 37 (Reigns vs. Edge vs. Bryan), WrestleMania 38 (Reigns vs. Lesnar), WrestleMania 39 (Reigns vs. Rhodes), WrestleMania 40 Night One (Reigns and The Rock vs. Rhodes and Rollins), WrestleMania 40 Night Two (Reigns vs. Rhodes), and WrestleMania 41 (Rollins vs. Punk vs. Reigns). Nine main events in total.
Jacob also pointed out that his father was up until 2AM the night before working on various projects, including the Larry or Hustle Booty Temp Tats brand and collaborations with MGM, and had to be up again at 6AM. He asked what drives that kind of schedule.
“It’s kind of like you’re in a Super Bowl and it’s the last play of the game, and your team is ahead by five, and they’re on the one-yard line, and you’re a linebacker. What’s that adrenaline rush? What’s that dopamine fix? That’s this whole week for me.”
Heyman said the week extends far beyond WWE, encompassing his work building an agency with Mitchell Stewart, his son’s involvement, and other ventures.
“It’s just the week, and it’s the rush of it all. It’s the adrenaline kick. It’s being vibrant. It’s being relevant, and it’s cherishing every single moment of it. Why would I want to sleep through that? I can sleep next week, but I’m living a life that people can only fantasize about. When people say their prayers and say, this is the life that I want, this is it.”
Jacob then asked the question that drew the most revealing answer of the conversation: if there is one thing Heyman wants Jacob and his sister Azalea to learn from watching him this week, what is it?
“Follow your passions. It’s not about the money. It is, but it’s not. The money comes along with it. If you follow your passions and you find something that you do better than anybody else on the face of this planet, the money will follow you along with that. But you don’t do it for the money. You do it for the passion.”
Heyman said he could not sustain the schedule he keeps if money were the only motivator.
“I couldn’t do this job if it was just for the money, and if I did, then I would make the money and then blow it finding my passion. So when you marry them both together, when your passions lead you to fulfilling your dreams and enable you to dream out more dreams to chase in life, and that’s the exhilaration that you seek, you’ll have a very fulfilled life.”
He closed with a message directed at both of his children.
“As long as your children are healthy, everything else is relative. Being that my children are healthy, I have the blessing of chasing after whatever the hell I’m chasing after. Chase after your passions. Don’t sit there like an accountant and nickel and dime yourself. Go for it. Just find what you love. And even if I don’t approve of it, be willing to fight me for it, and that’s how I’ll know you found your passion the same way I found mine.”
Brock Lesnar faces Oba Femi in the opening match of Night Two of WrestleMania 42 this Sunday, April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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WrestleMania 42 Full Card
Night One — Saturday, April 18 (Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)
- Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
- Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
- Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal Four-Way: Lash Legend and Nia Jax (c) vs. The Bella Twins vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
- Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
- Six-Man Tag: IShowSpeed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory vs. LA Knight and The Usos (ESPN 2 first hour)
- Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre in an Unsanctioned Match (ESPN 2 first hour)
Night Two — Sunday, April 19
- World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
- WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
- United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams
- Demon Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
- Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rey Mysterio (ESPN first hour)
- Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar (ESPN first hour)
John Cena hosts WrestleMania 42. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place Friday, April 17. Both nights of WrestleMania will stream on the ESPN app through the Unlimited plan, with the first two matches each night airing on ESPN 2 (Saturday) and ESPN (Sunday).
