Paul Heyman truly is an “evil genius.” His track record is known to both old school and current pro wrestling fans. Old school fans know the impressive amount of talent he has mentored to the top of the business. New fans don’t even need to study the history of the business to understand Heyman’s brilliance, as it is timeless. He is doing it again in the modern wrestling era with today’s crop of talent. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what Heyman can do for a young, up-and-comers career in WWE. It’s basically a free ticket to obtaining a top-tier spot in the company.
Today we will take a look at the impact Heyman could have on the careers of a few current WWE Superstars. Before we get started, let me make one thing clear: this is not a rankings-style breakdown. None of the following guys are ranked in order of who deserves to be aligned with Heyman the most, nor is it an explanation of who would benefit most from the association. I’m simply going to select a few guys that are currently in WWE that I feel Heyman would work well with, and help them reach a higher level in the business. With that said, let’s take a look at how becoming a “Paul Heyman guy” would affect the following WWE Superstars.
Dolph Ziggler has all of the tools needed to become a main event player in WWE. The only problem is WWE, for whatever reason, will not get behind this guy and give him the “push” he needs to break through to the next level. Ziggler is one of the most skilled in-ring workers the company has to offer these days. His microphone work isn’t the greatest, but certainly well enough to carry a main event program on his own. If you take all of the ingredients that Ziggler brings to the table and add in an association with Paul Heyman, in my opinion, he becomes an instant main eventer.
One of the great things about a potential Ziggler-Heyman alignment is the fact that when the time comes for the two to separate, Heyman will have done his job and he will have created the perception to the fans, who already view Ziggler as a talented performer, that he is a main event player. While some may view Ziggler as one already, they are unfortunately part of the vocal minority. This has nothing to do with Ziggler’s ability, as I mentioned the fact that he already has all of the tools to carry main event programs in WWE on his own.
More important than the fans perception is the fact that a Ziggler-Heyman association would show WWE management how to use him, and would give them the perception that he is a main event player. Once the inevitable split happens, Ziggler would be solidified as a top hand to the executives who make the calls behind-the-scenes. And since we’ve established that he already has the goods to run with such a spot, he would be well on his way to the main event-level career that he arguably deserves already.
Big E. Langston looks like a main event player. He’s got the “look” that WWE absolutely loves. He’s a big muscle-head who is as strong as a horse, and at the young age of 27, is someone the company could get behind and build a long-term future for. Lately Langston has been given a little more than in the past on WWE television, but for the longest time he was being established to the fans as a big dude who doesn’t get it done when things matter the most. A big dude who seems to be missing something. Whether or not he’s “missing something” remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: if Langston were to become the next “Paul Heyman guy,” that one thing wouldn’t be missing any longer.
Langston has yet to receive any real opportunities to establish his verbal identity to the WWE Universe. He rarely gets a chance to speak and when he does, the promos are kept short and sweet. Add Paul Heyman to the mix and much like the Brock Lesnar-Heyman formula, you’ve got a big, impressive looking dude who all of a sudden has a mouth-piece that can get him over like rover. Langston would then have the opportunity to get comfortable with lengthy on-air speaking segments, all-the-while subconsciously learning from the best. Heyman wants anything he is associated with to be of a certain quality, so you can safely assume he would be feeding Langston little nuggets of gold behind-the-scenes throughout the duration of their on-air association.
We recently witnessed how well Heyman portrayed the idea that he was scared to death of CM Punk coming after him for months on end. Imagine the monstrous Langston filling that role once his parting-of-the-ways with Heyman comes to fruition. Heyman wouldn’t exactly have to put-forth Oscar-worthy acting to make that scenario believable. But the best part is, he would anyways, and it would be that much better.
We will continue taking a look at who the next “Paul Heyman guy” should be throughout the days and weeks to come. In the next installment we will take a look at how an on-air association with Paul Heyman would help the following WWE Superstars: Rob Van Dam and Dean Ambrose. Until then, leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below.
NOTE: The above item is an eWrestlingNews.com opinionated editorial, and should not be confused as a factual news item. Readers can contact the author of the above editorial, Matt Boone, via Twitter @MBoone420 or by posting your immediate feedback in the “Comments” section below.
