Paul Heyman appeared on this week’s episode of “After The Bell” with Corey Graves to discuss staying ahead of the curve in wrestling, as well as who he feels has a bright future.
Paul Heyman was asked how he stays ahead of the curve in wrestling:
“I’m not looking at the next six months, I’m looking at the next six years,” Heyman said.
“2022 is already spent, and if you look at what’s going to be hot in 2022, you have to do it from the perspective of what’s going to be hot in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. I’m not even thinking of next year. I only think of next year as the lead up to the year after the year after that the year after that.”
“If you can have some sort of vision that can change on the fly, short term and long term. But if you look at a trajectory of where the industry is headed, and where it will be in 2026 and 2027, and therefore your short term plans are merely the next logical step towards the long term trajectory, then you’re going to always stay ahead of the curve.”
“If I’m trying to navigate the system for this year’s Wrestlemania, I’m too late, and if I’m trying to navigate the system and understand where the audience is going to be for next year’s Wrestlemania, I’m pretty much on the cusp of being yesterday’s news.”
Heyman on who he feels has a bright future in WWE:
“You haven’t seen the best of Roman Reigns yet. A year from now he will be far greater than Roman Reigns is today. That’s his goal. Roman Reigns this Friday will be better than Roman Reigns last Friday. Roman Reigns next Friday, he will be able to look back at this Friday’s appearance and say, ‘I can do that so much better’, and he will,” Heyman said adamantly.
“I’ll include The Usos in that as well. The Usos as a tag team are so infinitely better than they were six months ago, and six months ago, they were already the best tag team in the past 20 years.”
“I think you look at Brock Lesnar evolving as a persona on television. Here he comes down now as you know, Captain Caveman fresh off the farm in Saskatchewan where he’s a pure killer and butcher. He’s evolving? He’s gonna only be better.”
“I don’t think you’ve seen the best of Charlotte Flair. She’s just getting started,” he continued. “I think Charlotte Flair in her heart will not argue with this statement. There will come a day in this industry if Charlotte Flair can capitalize on the opportunities that she creates for herself, where Ric Flair is known as Charlotte Flair’s father and not Charlotte Flair as Ric Flair’s daughter. She’s that good.”
“I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface with the physical abilities of Matt Riddle. Riddle gets better every match that I see him in. I think, after his initiation with the audience, demonstrates just how capable he is.”
“Riddick Moss is going to be a star. I don’t think anyone has a clue just how capable he is. He’s demonstrated he can walk into any personality that he’s assigned as a task at the moment. When Riddick Moss has the emergence out of his shell, into his next incarnation, the same way the Big Dog elevated his game, upgraded his status, morphed into and evolved into the tribal chief, Riddick Moss next incarnation in WWE, there’ll be no stopping Riddick Moss.”
“Bron Breakker is a no brainer. Wow. Wow, and picking it up faster than most people. I mean, he’s in rarefied air.”
“Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA division one heavyweight champion, the first heavyweight in 20 something years to win the Hodge trophy, which even Brock Lesnar didn’t win. So Brock Lesnar’s claim to fame as an amateur wrestler is the NCAA division one Heavyweight Championship. Gable Steveson got that. Kurt Angle’s claim to fame in amateur wrestling was an Olympic gold medal. Gable Steveson got that. Neither Brock nor Kurt won the Hodge trophy, which is the Heisman Trophy for wrestlers, and he went back for his final year and he’s undefeated this year. He picks up this industry and loves this industry. Gable Steveson is a surefire bet.”
He continued naming names with, “Mandy Rose was impressing me in NXT, where she went down and completely reinvented herself, and is emerging as a real top star.”
“Rhea Ripley. We have not even seen the beginnings of how great Rhea Ripley can be.”
“There is a locker room filled with potential. There’s a locker room filled with great talent in both RAW and Smackdown, and NXT as well. It just needs to be talent, seizing the moment, seeing the opportunity.”
“We haven’t seen the best of Kevin Owens. We haven’t seen the best of Big E. Far from it. He has so much more to offer, and he just needs the time and the chance to do so.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit After The Bell with Corey Graves with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
