Paul Heyman: Cody Rhodes Is Forward-Thinking Enough To Take WWE Someplace I’m Not Envisioning

Paul Heyman will once again accompany Roman Reigns to the ring for his Undisputed WWE Universal Title bout against Cody Rhodes in the headlining match at WrestleMania 39. 

Heyman has been in the corner of Reigns since he returned at WWE SummerSlam 2020 and has helped to WWE to new highs with Reigns, who has become the undisputed face and top star in the company, and The Bloodline.

Speaking to Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Heyman was asked if Cody could carry the company like Reigns has as champion.

“I would be hesitant to ask anybody to follow the body of work and the transformative tone, tenor, and demeanor that Roman Reigns has brought to WWE and its audience and expanded audience, and the industry, the past two and a half years. If you’re looking for a successor to Roman Reigns, there is nobody. Sorry. There is nobody. There is not. If I thought that there was, (I’d be his advocate). The first move I made after Lesnar had to be bigger than Lesnar,” he said.

Heyman went on to discuss his success with Lesnar, including championships in WWE and UFC along with conquering the Undertaker’s streak. 

“If there was somebody else that would be ready in five years, that I could invest five years of my life to take them to the promised land, I would have gone with them. I like Solo, but that would have to be something different,” said Heyman when it was brought up how he looks at Solo. 

Heyman continued, circling back to Cody and carrying the company.

“Can he replace Roman, can he succeed Roman? That’s not the goal. What would Cody do to transform the industry? What would Cody do to revolutionize the concept of sports entertainment, WWE, this genre? What would he do to create a period of evolution in this industry? Here’s what I like about him. He’s a disruptor. He really is. Look what he did. He didn’t like where he was here, he walked. He scratched and clawed and went through all the disparaged bingo halls. God bless the bingo halls. He played the bingo halls, the local high schools, he performed in front of 25 people. He smelled where the business was going, looked at the 19-year-olds like Austin Theory and thought, ‘Oh, if it takes five or ten years for this guy to hit, he’s 30, and he’s the guy.’ He got a smell for where the audience was going and then sold it, the concept, the vision, to a couple of other people and someone with millions of dollars to back it. He disrupted this industry. He changed the game already. Once he did that and lived that dream, all pun intended, and also pun intended, experienced the nightmare of going through it and the dues you have to pay and the dedication and the sacrifice of it, once he did it and was satisfied with the fact that he did disrupt the industry, he wanted something else.

“What he realized what he wanted was the original dream of main eventing WrestleMania. Can he carry the industry? I hope so. I hope he can. Whether he wins the title or not, he’s tasked with it. That’s who he is. He’s somebody different, he’s that ambitious. He has that vision. From that perspective of champion or challenger, he’s the guy pulling the wagon. We hope that we come out of this WrestleMania main event with the ability to sell out Saudi on the same night we sell out Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium or SoFi. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Roman Reigns main events here, Cody main events there. Is he the guy? Win, lose, or draw, I certainly hope so. We need more people like that. We need more disrupters and game-changers. We need to take the industry to next year, five years from now, ten years from now, 25 years from now. He’s one of the people that is forward-thinking enough to take us someplace that I’m not envisioning, nor should I, have my own vision, I’m playing that out with Roman Reigns. I’d like to know his. It’s intriguing.”

Reigns vs. Rhodes will headline night two of WrestleMania 39. 

Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here. 

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