Paul Heyman Discusses His WWE Creative Process With Roman Reigns
In a new interview with Squared Circle Pit, the incomparable "special counsel" to Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, discussed what goes into producing an episode of SmackDown each week. Paul also notes how as soon as the show comes to a conclusion, he begins brainstorming for the following week.
"I love what I do, absolutely love what I do. I love the prep for it. I love the creative discussions going into it. I love the six days before SmackDown that get our creative on track for what the performance is going to be live by 8 o'clock Eastern time, every Friday night," Paul Heyman said. "I love the day of the show, and the lead up, and the nuances, and the idiosyncrasies of the character and the persona of 'The Tribal Chief' Roman Reigns and the supporting cast like The Usos.
"I love the aftermath of the show in which we try to absorb what we've done, how we could have done it a little differently, where does this lead us to next week? At 10:01 Eastern time every Friday night, the first thought that goes into my mind and most likely to the mind of Roman Reigns is, 'Okay, that's now official. What do we do next Friday?' And the process starts from that moment, and I enjoy it," Heyman added.
As one would expect, Paul Heyman is adamant that Reigns is going to "smash" the current WWE Champion Big E when the two have a champion versus champion match at Survivor Series this Sunday. He believes it's pretty obvious this will be the outcome after the dominant tear Roman has been on for over a year now.
"I don't really assume Roman Reigns is going to win, I will speak about this as if the finish is predetermined. Roman Reigns is going to smash Big E, and that's not an assumption, a presumption, or even a prediction. It's a spoiler," Paul explained. "Big E is great and probably the second most formidable talent in all of WWE, hence the fact he's the WWE Champion. And he's going to get his ass kicked, he's going to get smashed. He's going to get smashed by Roman Reigns and there's no shame in being smashed by Roman Reigns.
"Look whose been smashed by Roman Reigns in the last 12/14 months: "The Fiend" was smashed by Roman Reigns and is gone from WWE. Braun Strowman was smashed by Roman Reigns and is gone from WWE. Kevin Owens was smashed by Roman Reigns. Edge and Daniel Bryan — Hall of Famer and guaranteed Hall of Famer — smashed by Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, stacked on top of each other in the most declaratively dominant pinfall in the history of WrestleMania main events. Cesaro, smashed by Roman Reigns, Edge again in a singles match, smashed by Roman Reigns," Paul Heyman recalled. "Daniel Bryan, smashed by Roman Reigns and banished from SmackDown in the process... John Cena, smashed by Roman Reigns at SummerSlam. And then at Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar of all people — oh my God, Brock Lesnar — smashed by Roman Reigns in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. Big E? A great talent, amazing. Nobody on RAW can touch him. Anybody that goes up against Big E on RAW is going to get their ass handed to them. Big E is going to get his ass kicked and smashed at Survivor Series and there's no shame in it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Squared Circle Podcast with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.