Paul Heyman: Roman Reigns is ‘most innovative, transformative’ wrestler in history

Paul Heyman compared Roman Reigns to Bruno Sammartino, Steve Austin, John Cena, and other legends in a new interview. 

Heyman told Sports Illustrated that Reigns would have fit into any era in wrestling history because he “reads the room” and “knows his audience.” 

Heyman said: 

Roman Reigns is the most innovative, transformative, disruptive superstar in the history of pro wrestling/sports entertainment. The reason why I can accurately make that statement is because Roman Reigns employs two tenant mantras of show business. One, he reads the room. Two, he knows his audience. That’s why he would fit into any era–whether it’s in the 70’s against Sammartino, the 80’s against Hulk Hogan, the 90’s in the Dangerous Alliance, the Attitude Era against Stone Cold and The Rock and DX, the John Cena era of The Doctor of Thugonomics, or now in the tenure being enjoyed by Roman Reigns, in his own era he created, when he lifted the whole industry out of the pandemic and into unfathomable heights that no one could have imagined or dreamt of back in August of 2020.

Heyman directed and served as executive producer for the upcoming A&E Biography on Reigns. The episode airs Sunday, March 31 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Reigns noted that Heyman was the only one who could do his story “the justice it deserves” in a statement released on WWE.com. 

Heyman says viewers of the documentary will get to see his and Reigns’ collaborative process. 

He continued:

We have a great amount of trust in one another. One of the reasons this collaboration works so well is because we also can each veto an idea if we don’t like it. If something doesn’t sit well with him, I move on to an alternative idea. If something doesn’t sit well with me, he doesn’t assert his authority. When that happens, we come up with something different. We both love the creative process so much, and have mutual respect and admiration for one another, and we love to create together. That’s what allows us to create so freely.

That’s why this A&E biography is so worthy of everyone’s attention. You’ll get to see that collaborative process.

Heyman is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday, April 5 in Philadelphia. The ceremony will take place immediately following WWE SmackDown at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It will air live on Peacock and the WWE Network.