Paul Heyman explains his failed partnerships.
The Mad Genius of Wrestling recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview. He talked about things such as how his partnership with Roman Reigns differs from Brock Lesnar, his current role in WWE behind the scenes and more.
During the talk, the former ECW owner was also asked about what original plan for his pairing with Curtis Axel was and why it didn’t work out. The wrestling veteran claimed that he doesn’t think the partnership with Axel was actually meant to work out. He explained that the third-generation star was paired with him for the feud with CM Punk and the company didn’t really have plans for him beyond that:
Curtis Axel was cast as Paul Heyman guy, generic Paul Heyman guy. You may as well have put a mask on him and call him the Mad Russian, Mr. X, the assassin, the punk destroyer, so that we could feed the babyface CM Punk, and that’s a shame for Curtis Axel, because he had a lot more to offer.
Same Thing Happened With Cesaro: Paul Heyman
The wiseman then mentioned how Cesaro was another one of Paul Heyman guys that never reached his full potential in WWE. He explained that he needed an excuse to be on TV in Brock Lesnar’s absence after the Beast Incarnate broke The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. It couldn’t be the commentary since he only needed to be on screen for a few minutes every week, so he was paired with the current AEW star instead:
It’s the same thing that happened with Cesaro. You look at Cesaro, and he checked, especially at that moment in time, he checked every box to become a top star. Everyone who got into the ring with him came back into Gorilla, saying, ‘Give me him.’ Everyone.
I remember John Cena worked with him on television and came back and looked at Vince and said, ‘I could main event WrestleMania with him.’ And probably could have, and should have. Cesaro was placed in that position the day after Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, so that when Brock took his hiatus, I had an excuse to be on television to say my client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.
Heyman later claimed that he knew the partnership with Cesaro will not go far by third week of their pairing. He understood that the whole thing would be discarded as soon as Lesnar returned to TV.