Paul Heyman Addresses His Brief On-Screen Pairing With Cesaro

Paul Heyman says it wasn't fair to Cesaro when the two were paired following WrestleMania XXX  but believes it was also what WWE needed at the time.

"Cesaro was an opportunity for Paul Heyman to remind the audience that Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania," Heyman told the Superstar Crossover podcast. "And that needed to be reinforced on every television show for as long as we could until the day came where we would go for the rematch between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, which happened 18 months later in Brooklyn at the Barclays at Summerslam.

"But Brock Lesnar was taking time off, and therefore, there was no reason for Paul Heyman to be on television, which means we would lose the reminder every week that the streak had been conquered by Brock Lesnar and therefore, we would lose the momentum that we wanted for 18 months to build to a rematch."

Paul Heyman managed Cesaro on-screen for a few months before the partnership quietly dissolved during the summer of 2014. Heyman described the pairing as an "opportunity" for Cesaro.

"The theory was that Cesaro could be elevated merely by being associated with this enormous victory and the reminder of this once-ever victory," Heyman recalled. "Do I think it was fair to Cesaro? No, I don't. Would I have done it differently? That's a matter of debate because, again, what could've been done with Cesaro to put him in such a spotlight? This was a spotlight for Cesaro.

"It didn't work out the way that everyone else had envisioned. But, I can assure you he wasn't just thrown together with me in an effort of, 'Ah, we've got nothing else to do. This is what we do and best of luck everybody'. That wasn't the theory. Again, it wasn't fair to Cesaro, but that was what was the intention at the time in order to elevate Cesaro to a higher platform on the card."

Cesaro left WWE last month. He had been with the company for more than a decade but reportedly was unable to come to an agreement on a new contract.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Superstar Crossover with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.