Paul Heyman has revealed that he rejected Vince McMahon‘s original vision for his partnership with Roman Reigns, believing both men needed significant character changes when they were paired together in 2020.
Paul Heyman began working with Roman Reigns after Brock Lesnar‘s WWE contract expired during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appearing on Six Feet Under with The Undertaker, Heyman recalled asking Vince McMahon how he envisioned the new partnership.
“The decision was made for us to work together finally. And when I asked Vince his vision for it, he just said, ‘He’s the big dog, and you’re his advocate.’”
Heyman immediately disagreed with both elements of the idea.
“The first thing I said was, he can’t be the big dog anymore. We’ve run with the big dog since 2012. He needs to evolve into something completely different. And I can’t be his advocate. I was Brock Lesnar’s advocate. I must be something different to this character.”
Rather than simply changing Reigns’ presentation, Heyman wanted an evolution that acknowledged his previous character while taking him in an entirely new direction. To explain the concept to McMahon, Heyman pointed towards The Undertaker‘s transformation from The Deadman into the American Badass.
“The examples that I continuously gave were the Dead Man, the American Badass. It has to be that shocking of a metamorphosis, and it has to make sense.”
Paul Heyman Wanted Roman Reigns To Undergo A Complete Transformation
Paul Heyman explained that The Undertaker’s evolution worked because it responded to changes in WWE’s audience without completely abandoning what had made the original character successful.
“It’s a progression. It’s a metamorphosis,” Heyman said. “It’s here’s what I have on my resume, and here’s where I’ve been, and now here’s where I’d like to take you next.”
Heyman applied the same philosophy to his own role. Having already established himself as Lesnar’s advocate, he did not believe simply recreating that relationship with Reigns would work.
“What worked with Brock did not work with Roman,” Heyman said, adding that his partnerships with CM Punk, The Undertaker, Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam similarly required different approaches.
Heyman described himself as a supporting player whose responsibility is to strengthen the wrestler he is working alongside.
“A great supporting player makes the main character, and makes the main character in such a degree that the main character could not pull that off on their own, male or female.”
He compared the role to Robert Duvall’s performances in The Godfather films, describing him as the “glue” who helped elevate those around him. The eventual partnership saw Reigns abandon his Big Dog presentation and establish himself as The Tribal Chief, while Heyman became his Special Counsel and later Wise Man.
The run helped produce Reigns’ 1,316-day world championship reign, the longest in WWE for almost 40 years. Heyman is currently aligned with The Vision as its Wise Man, while Reigns is World Heavyweight Champion and is scheduled to defend the title in Mexico City on September 14.
