Tag: paul heyman

WWE considering new additions to The Vision

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It sounds like Paul Heyman’s faction The Vision could be getting some reinforcements soon.

With Bronson Reed already sidelined, The Vision suffered another blow with Logan Paul tearing his triceps last weekend at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. The World Tag Team titles do still remain in The Vision’s possession with Bron Breakker filling in as Austin Theory’s partner. And Dave Meltzer reports that WWE has discussed the idea of adding other members to the group, even past the teased addition of Maxxine Dupri.

Meltzer wrote in the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

  • On Raw, they said that Paul Heyman had put ‘The Vision’ and not individual members of the team in all contracts related to the title, so Theory & Bron Breakker (the only members of the team right now not injured, although I expect them to add members–besides Maxxine Dupri – and there has been talk of that even before this injury) are going to be the tag team champions for now.

The Vision has been snakebitten by injuries since its introduction. Founding member Seth Rollins hurt his shoulder in 2025, which sped up the timeline for him to be kicked out of the group. Breakker then needed to undergo hernia surgery earlier this year before returning at WrestleMania.

A connection between Theory and Dupri has been forming on WWE programming ahead of Dupri possibly splitting off from Otis & Akira Tozawa. Past that, it’s not known who could potentially join The Vision.

Logan Paul’s recovery timeline —

Paul has already undergone triceps surgery and was given a six-month timeline for how long he’ll be out of action. He is hoping to make it back much sooner, though, writing that he wants to be back “in a couple weeks.”

“Tore my tricep, got surgery while wide awake, told doc I wanna feel it all. Still the Tag Team champ just FYI,” Paul wrote on Instagram this Wednesday. “They’re telling me 6 month recovery but I don’t believe them, I’ll be back in a couple weeks with some @drinkprime shake (32g protein).”

Finn Balor admits WWE promos still make him nervous, recalls Paul Heyman’s advice 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Finn Balor is not fond of wrestling promos and he admitted that years of focusing on in-ring capabilities left him uncomfortable on the mic. 

Speaking with Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story? Podcast which was taped before WrestleMania 42, Balor discussed his demeanor to not talk much. He reflected on honing his mic skills in WWE given his extensive background focused on wrestling. 

“That’s another thing that’s been really difficult for me in my career is that trash talking and I’m not willing to sacrifice my dignity to say these things that I don’t mean right, because, and again, I know it would be better. I feel like I got to this position being myself, so I shouldn’t change that ever. And I kind of, I started in England where it was mostly based on mat wrestling. And then I went to Japan and it was based on strong style wrestling. It was not promos.”

“The first time I actually had to do a promo was when I came to NXT. And I remember being so nervous because the NXT tape and I had to come out and say ‘I’m Finn Balor and I’m the future.’ And I remember being so nervous having to remember that line because that becomes acting when I’m wrestling, I’m not acting right.I’m in flow. I’m just going with my emotions, following what I believe is right in my heart to do. But as soon as the speaking part started, that was a real learning curve.”

Balor expressed his improvement on promos during his nearly 12 year WWE run. He credited Paul Heyman’s advice on bettering his mic skills. 

“And one thing I’ve kind of only started to learn recently, and I’ll credit Paul Heyman with this, because he said you got to treat your promos like your matches, like you’re not nervous going into your match. You don’t know every move you’re going to do. You’re just flowing and you’re there and you’re in that state. But your promos, you’re trying to memorize every word.That’s not how you execute your matches.That’s not how you should execute your promos. So recently I’ve kind of been taking that more on board.”

Balor had built up a wrestling career prominently at NJPW before signing with WWE to compete on their NXT brand in 2014. A couple of years later he was moved to the main roster where he became the inaugural Universal Champion. However, he was forced to relinquish the title barely a day later due to a shoulder injury.

Balor was associated with The Judgment Day from 2022 until February this year. The group double crossed him for not assisting the team with their collective goals.  He also competed twice for the World Heavyweight Championship earlier this year. 

Paul Heyman praises Danhausen: ‘He is ridiculously popular’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Paul Heyman commented on why he believes so many people love Danhausen during a recent appearance on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike.

Heyman appeared on the show Wednesday to promote WWE Backlash, which streams this weekend on the ESPN app. During the conversation, one of the hosts asked Heyman for his opinion of Danhausen, and Heyman responded that Danhausen breaks up the monotony in WWE.

Heyman said:

“He is ridiculously popular and I understand why. And listen, if everybody is just crazy and insane and aggressive and bitch-slapping everybody else around them, well then there’s no letup, then there’s no break, then it becomes monotonous.

You know, the old expression, I’m gonna hit you with so many rights, you’re gonna beg for a left to break up the monotony. And so there’s Danhausen.

And Danhausen is different and unique. And they teach you that at, what, four or five years old in school. Hey, be yourself. Be different. You know, stand out from the crowd. He’s not trying to fit in. He’s different. He’s unique. And look how many people are in love with him because of it.”

Danhausen will wrestle his third WWE match on Saturday at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida. He’s scheduled to team with a mystery partner against The Miz and Kit Wilson on the show.

Danhausen defeated Wilson in his first WWE match on the April 10 edition of SmackDown. He followed that up with a win over The Miz on the April 24 edition of SmackDown.

Heyman’s full appearance on ESPN Unsportsmanlike is available below.

Eric Bischoff reveals just how over Aleister Black was with Paul Heyman

Posted on by Jake Skudder

Former WCW President and WWE SmackDown Executive Director in 2019 Eric Bischoff recently discussed Aleister Black and his release from the company. One of the points that Bischoff raised was just how over Black was with Paul Heyman, who was the WWE RAW Executive Director during that same time period in 2019.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said in a half joking way: “when he [Black] first came in to WWE, Paul Heyman was huge on him. Paul was like, ready to put a blood on the table commitment to him.”

“You know, he [Heyman] really, really saw something” Bischoff added. “I was intrigued because Paul’s got a pretty good track record, right? When he gets excited about something, whether you like it or not, you’ve got to pay attention, because it’s probably going to go somewhere. So I started paying attention to him [Black], I talked to him a few times, tried to get a feel for, you know, where his head was at, what his vibe was like, learn a bit about, you know, what he saw as his character.”

If you use any of the quotes from this article then please link back to this page with a credit to F4WOnline for the transcription

FAQ and Context

Why was Aleister Black released from WWE?

WWE announced Black’s release as part of a wider round of post-WrestleMania 42 cuts in late April 2026, alongside names including Kairi Sane, Zoey Stark and Santos Escobar.

What is Eric Bischoff’s connection to Aleister Black?

Bischoff served as WWE’s SmackDown Executive Director in 2019, working alongside Paul Heyman who held the same role on RAW. That period overlapped with Black’s main roster call-up, which is the basis for Bischoff’s first-hand take on how the company viewed him at the time.

Jordynne Grace reveals she is actively pushing for Paul Heyman angle

Posted on by Jake Skudder

Jordynne Grace has revealed that she is “actively pushing” to become the first ever Paul Heyman Girl. It’s something that is covered in the MyRise story on WWE 2K26, but it appears as though she is desperate to actually make it happen on television.

Speaking to Aussie Heat PW, the former TNA Knockouts Champion revealed just how hard she is trying to push for Paul Heyman to become her mouthpiece:

“I’m actively pushing for it. My dream is to be a Paul Heyman girl, the first ever. So, [I’m] actively pushing for it. I’m messaging all the writers about it. All I need is someone like him and I’ll shoot straight to the top.”

Jordynne Grace as a Paul Heyman Girl

Grace is now on the SmackDown brand after officially joining the company in January 2025. It was clear prior to that how much WWE wanted her in the company, with Grace making multiple appearances on WWE programming whilst still the TNA Knockouts Champ at the time (both on NXT and at the Royal Rumble).

There’s currently no indication that WWE are going with a Heyman/Grace alignment in the near future, but it is clearly something that Grace wants and it would absolutely help her on the main roster.

Is the Paul Heyman Girl storyline happening on WWE TV?

No, not yet anyway. The pairing features in the MyRise mode of WWE 2K26, but there’s no indication WWE is moving in that direction on television. Grace’s comments make clear she’s lobbying writers directly, but a pitch from talent isn’t the same as a creative plan.

What brand is Jordynne Grace on?

She’s currently on the SmackDown roster.

When did Jordynne Grace sign with WWE?

Grace officially joined WWE in January 2025 after her TNA contract expired. She’d already been appearing on WWE programming before then, including a run on NXT and a spot in the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble while still the reigning TNA Knockouts Champion.

Brock Lesnar update & whether those within WWE think he’s actually retired

Posted on by Josh Nason

Whether Brock Lesnar has officially retired is still a question within WWE, according to our Dave Meltzer.

On the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the latest on Lesnar who took off his gear and shared an emotional embrace with Paul Heyman after his quick WrestleMania 42 Sunday loss to Oba Femi.

Meltzer said that based on some people he’s spoken with in WWE, “they believe he’s not retiring yet” although it’s likely to happen at this year at some point.

“No one knows. It might be one of those things where it’s being kept quiet like the Seth Rollins (injury angle),” he said. “I’m not saying for sure (whether he’s retired) as no one knows for sure.”

He later added that at one point, the plan was for Lesnar to keep feuding with Femi and not have it just be a one and done match. However, that decision was dropped and the idea was to do the Goldberg approach and go with Femi all the way.

Alvarez noted how it was odd Lesnar threw up an X to the crowd after the WrestleMania match,. how emotional Heyman was during his Raw promo, and his opinion that the tribute video on Raw felt more thrown together than other video packages as if Lesnar’s actions were unexpected and caught everyone off guard.

The favor that Heyman owes Gunther for taking on Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 42 was widely speculated to be a final match against Lesnar, likely for August’s SummerSlam in Lesnar’s home state of Minnesota. Gunther declined to discuss the favor on Raw as a feud with LA Knight appears imminent.

Paul Heyman shares his thoughts on managing Jade Cargill in WWE

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman boasts one of the most successful client lists in the history of the business, although he has yet to manage a female wrestler in WWE.

Recently, during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Heyman was asked about the prospect of managing Cargill. Previously, Cargill had also expressed her interest in getting managed by Heyman.

Open to managing Cargill, Heyman also mentioned that he wants Cargill to succeed in her own way before partnering up.

“I’m going to continue to let her ride the momentum by herself as a Women’s Champion for all of humanity to be proud of.

Let her get that solidified into the history books so that when Jade Cargill unites with Paul Heyman, you are seeing two superpowers of the universe come together instead of Paul Heyman endorsing a talent that at this time is not accepted by the public, though she should be, as a guaranteed first ballot Hall of Famer,” Heyman said.

“Oh, it’s not willing to, it’s that I want her to have that on her own. I never want it to be that, ‘And then Paul Heyman stepped in, and that’s when Jade Cargill really became a star,‘” Heyman answered when asked about that specific requirement.

Cargill is scheduled to face Rhea Ripley at WWE WrestleMania 42 with her Women’s Championship on the line.

Paul Heyman confirms original WWE WrestleMania 42 plans for four top stars

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

For the first time in many years, no Paul Heyman guy is set to main event WWE WrestleMania; however, Heyman recently made it clear that WWE’s original plans for WrestleMania would’ve seen something else.

In the past few months, WWE altered several of its WrestleMania plans due to injuries and other creative decisions. During an interview with his son, Jacob, on Instagram, Paul Heyman was asked if he was upset with the lack of representation on WrestleMania’s main event scene this year.

The Hall of Famer opened up and revealed that WrestleMania’s original scrapped plans included him being involved in the main event.

“I don’t think it’s a big secret that everything was driving this year to be Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns, and then that fell apart. And then it was going to be Bron Breakker vs CM Punk, and that fell apart,” Heyman said. “So I was in line to be a part of the main event this year, and fate intervened not once but even twice.”

However, it is also to be noted that these were not the two main events for WrestleMania’s two nights. Instead, these were just the planned World title matches with Breakker vs. Punk coming after the Rollins vs. Reigns match was scrapped.

When Rollins vs. Reigns was planned for the World title, the Undisputed WWE Championship main event was rumored to be Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk.

However, later, when things changed due to Rollins’ injury, the World title plan was switched to Punk vs. Breakker, and the Undisputed Title was changed to Rhodes vs. Reigns.

CJ Perry shares ‘incredible’ WWE advice Brock Lesnar gave her

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

CJ Perry detailed advice she received from Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar for one of her promos in 2016. She recalled being particularly impressed by Lesnar’s knowledge of the industry. 

In her Yahoo Sports column, Uncrowned, Perry wrote about a promo from 2016 ahead of Rusev’s match with Lesnar for a WWE live event. Heyman shared his feedback which she followed up by noting Lesnar’s take on the same. 

“Back in 2016 in San Jose, I got to see up close how smart Brock is to this business. It was Brock vs. Rusev on some WWE live events, and my husband and I were just starting out. Before the show, Paul Heyman gave me pointers on part of my promo and then asked Brock what he thought about it.”

“Brock took a second and thought, and then gave me notes on how I could say it. He took what Paul and I had come up with, and spun it in a completely different direction by anticipating the audience’s reaction, and then having a plan to deal with that reaction.”

“We went out there that night and did our promo, and the match with Brock vs. Rusev was incredible. When we came back, Brock pulled me aside and gave me notes on my execution. He told me I was ‘stepping on my on pop by not allowing them to boo longer’ and to ‘wait a bit longer for the crowd to start chanting.’ It was incredible advice I got from Brock, and the whole experience really helped Miro and I grow as performers and on the mic,” Perry wrote. 

“But I was more blown away by how wise Brock was to this business. I guess I bought into what he wants us all to see, which is the viking destroyer character, but backstage there’s few smarter than him in knowing how to pull the most from a beat, or a movement or a moment.”

Perry made her WWE debut in 2013 as Rusev’s manager and competed in her first match at the WrestleMania 32 pre-show. She was released from the company in 2021 and a couple of years later joined AEW until November 2023. 

Last year, Perry signed a Legends deal with WWE. She has not officially retired from in-ring competition and expressed interest on numerous occasions on a potential return.

Paul Heyman weighs in on a potential ‘Paul Heyman Girl’ in WWE

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Paul Heyman is all praise for the women’s division and is honored to have collaborated with Jordynne Grace in WWE 2K26.

There is a storyline in the video game where Heyman manages Grace. Chris Scullion asked Heyman in his VGC interview whether the partnership with Grace in the video game was inspired by real-life decisions and whether she was a candidate considered to be the first ‘Paul Heyman Girl’. 

He claimed to be a fan of Grace’s performances but pinpointing one name from the current women’s roster would be a difficult task given the level of talent across the division. 

“I’m a big fan of Jordynne Grace, to say that there is a female in the locker room today that should be the first Paul Heyman Girl under the management and tutelage of Paul Heyman, would be a slight to the other women in this locker room.”

“There has never been a time in the history of WWE, professional wrestling, sports entertainment, or mixed martial arts that there has been such a ridiculously talented roster of females under one roof at the same time. I could sit here and run down all or actually I won’t even say ‘run down’ cause that’s a negative. Run up all the names that are on this roster. Start with Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill. You can go to Bianca Belair and AJ Lee. You can go to Nattie and Maxxine Dupri. You can go to Lash Legend and Nia  Jax. You can go to the Bella Twins. You can go to Liv Morgan. You can go to Raquel. You can go to, I mean my God! I can sit here for the next 20 minutes and rattle off these names. This is the most hyper talented group of women in history all under one roof.”

Heyman was a fan of WWE choosing Grace for the game collaboration. He added that it would be an honor to work with any of the wrestlers from the women’s division in the video game. He labelled them to be incomparable to any other sport or entertainment form. 

“Jordynne Grace was the choice of 2K(26). A splendid choice. What a magnificent athlete and performer I’m honored that I have a chance to work with her within WWE 2K26. And there are many other women, too many to mention, even though I mentioned a few before, but too many to mention that I would be honored to work with within this video game. Because just like in real life, the women’s roster right now in WWE is incomparable to any other roster in any other sport or form of entertainment in history.” 

Many of Paul Heyman’s managed talents have ultimately gone on to reach the top of the WWE pyramid, let alone in the industry. 

Grace established herself on TNA before making her surprise Royal Rumble debut in 2024 as entrant #5. A  year later she officially signed with WWE and competed on NXT until January 2026 when she was moved to SmackDown. 

Paul Heyman on 2006 ECW relaunch: ‘Abhorrent, miserable experience’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Paul Heyman believes that the WWE version of ECW that was launched in 2006 was a “miserable experience for everybody involved.”

Heyman was part of the ECW relaunch from its beginning at the second One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 11, 2006, up until he departed the company shortly after the ECW December to Dismember pay-per-view, which won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Worst Show of the Year award.

During a recent interview with VGC, Heyman spoke about the ECW re-launch and ECW being included in the WWE 2K26 video game.

Heyman said:

“I don’t think anybody that chants ECW in 2026 ever is thinking about the WWE-ized version of 2006, which was one absolutely abhorrent, miserable experience for everybody involved.”

“When people chant ECW, they chant from the period of September 1993 to January 2001.“

A new addition to the WWE 2K26 video game this year is the Hardcore Heaven 94 venue. As part of the CM Punk showcase mode in the game, players can play as Punk against Cactus Jack in the venue. Heyman said it’s an honor for it to be in the game.

“To have Hardcore Heaven 94 as part of the WWE 2K26 video game is an honor for anyone that was involved in that, and I certainly was, anybody that was there, and there are many who were, and anyone who wants a genuine authentic portrayal of ECW when it was revolutionizing, indeed, evolution-izing the entire industry.”

Heyman was also asked about The Sandman and New Jack being playable characters in the most recent WWE 2K video games. Heyman said he was asked his opinion about the two wrestlers appearing in the game and said that they both embodied the spirit of ECW.

“I was asked my opinion and most likely after the decision was already made and I concurred with their astute assessment that if we’re going to have ECW representation within this game, here are two people that truly embodied the spirit of ECW at its height because there was no greater entrance in the history of professional wrestling than the Sandman’s and there was no more authentic personality in the history of professional wrestling than the original gangsta New Jack.”

Heyman’s full interview with VGC is available below. The video is queued to his comments about WWE’s relaunch of ECW in 2006.

Paul Heyman says ‘WWE would be remiss’ if they fail to sign Zilla Fatu

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Paul Heyman believes it would be negligent of WWE to pass up the opportunity to sign second generation wrestler Zilla Fatu. 

In a quick Q&A with Muscle Man Malcolm (seen below), Heyman was questioned on his awareness about Fatu’s recent performances and the possibility of him signing with WWE.

“I think WWE would be remiss if WWE doesn’t sign Zilla Fatu at the very first opportunity to do so,” Heyman said.

Despite praising his cousins’ work in WWE on numerous occasions, Fatu has said in the past that he still feels there is room for his own growth as a performer and he isn’t ready to sign with the company just yet. He has WWE roots from his late father, Umaga, as part of his Bloodline heritage.

Fatu was trained by Booker T who took him under his wing after he got in trouble with the law at 15 years old, wrestling his first match in 2023 at a Reality of Wrestling event. Since then, Fatu has become a two-time ROW Heavyweight Champion and has worked a variety of indies like GCW.

He also appeared briefly for TNA Wrestling during a cross-promotional match with 4th Rope Wrestling in 2025.

A few days ago, the young star responded to Karrion Kross’ challenge for a Future Stars of Wrestling show Mecca XI during WrestleMania week at the Luxor in Las Vegas.

WWE Raw notes: Roman Reigns powerbombs CM Punk, Seth Rollins ‘arrested’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The road to WrestleMania 42 continued on this week’s Raw.

Paul Heyman came to the ring during Monday’s show in Boston all on his own. He called out Rollins, noting that with Austin Theory and Logan Paul being taken out earlier by the Usos and the rest of the Vision out of action, he was all alone. Rollins entered through the crowd and unmasked himself, but it was a ruse: Heyman informed Rollins that he was violating a restraining order he had requested.

Police started to escort Rollins to the back as Heyman used the opportunity to berate Rollins, at one point targeting his daughter. Rollins saw an opening near the entranceway and bolted back to the ring, laying out Heyman with a punch. Police caught up and placed Rollins in cuffs as Heyman looked on with an evil grin.

The main event of the show saw CM Punk come out to talk about what Roman Reigns said last week. He declared that he was proud of being old and wasn’t trying to run away from it unlike Reigns, accusing him of using Just For Men to cover up his grey hairs. He directed his attention to Jey Uso, who soon arrived and got confrontational. Jimmy followed suit and tried to diffuse the situation, telling Jey they should focus on their World Tag Team title match next week.

Jey and Punk continued to trade words until Reigns showed up. Like Jimmy, he attempted to diffuse the situation and told the Usos to leave. But as Reigns started to leave himself, Jey stopped the Tribal Chief and told him that he knew what he had to do. Reigns responded by spearing Punk, taking him out of the ring, and powerbombing him through the announce table.

After grabbing a motionless Punk and screaming in his face, Reigns walked to the back. Punk recovered and told officials that he wasn’t the one that needed help as Raw went off the air.

Indie wrestler confirms role in Brock Lesnar WWE Raw angle

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Independent wrestler Vin Parker played a role in the opening segment of WWE Raw last night.

The March 16 edition of Raw kicked off with a chaotic angle where Seth Rollins had a confrontation with Paul Heyman. Brock Lesnar then made his presence felt. The masked men who have been accompanying Rollins surrounded Lesnar as he tried to invade the ring — and one of the masked men ended up being taken out with a slam onto the steel steps.

Responding to a clip of the incident on social media, Parker shared that he was the man under that mask.

“Not my wisest decision,” Parker tweeted.

Parker is an independent wrestler who has trained at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy, owned by Dustin Rhodes. He has made some appearances for Ring of Honor and is based out of California for his independent work.

The Raw segment led to the announcement that Oba Femi will be Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania 42 opponent. Femi stood toe-to-toe with Lesnar, overpowered him with a Fall from Grace, and put his foot on top of Lesnar as the audience cheered. WWE’s clip of the moment currently has nearly 1.5 million views on YouTube.

Paul Heyman celebrates 25 years since WWE debut

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

This month marks 25 years since Paul Heyman’s WWE debut.

On the March 5, 2001 episode of Raw, Heyman joined Jim Ross on the Raw commentary team after Jerry “The King” Lawler left the promotion. Heyman took note of the belated anniversary this past weekend while responding. to a clip shared on social media. In typical Heyman fashion, he praised himself as the “best commentator” to ever sit at the WWE booth. He also recalled how Stephanie McMahon hated her “Billion Dollar Princess” nickname.

“This one popped me huge. Three things to notice. (1) Man, I am not only cute, I’m the best damn commentator that has ever sat at the desk,” Heyman wrote. “(2) @JRsBBQ says “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.” Yes you do. YES YOU DO! And it started with #WCWNewYork 

“(3) First people I commented on?@TripleH and@StephMcMahon.  Funny note – Steph HATED me [calling] her the Billion Dollar Princess. Absolutely despised the monicker. But rest assured, she got even with me for it!”

Heyman worked on commentary until moving back into a managerial role, taking on main-event clients like Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns during his multiple runs with WWE. He is currently the manager of The Vision, a faction that consists of Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul & Austin Theory. Along with that, Heyman remains an important behind-the-scenes presence in the company.

In 2024, Heyman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Philadelphia, a city that holds special significance to Heyman given that it was the birthplace of ECW.