The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
Paul Heyman has had a 30-plus-year career of playing an integral role in some of pro wrestling’s biggest moments, helping elevate some of its biggest stars. But you can make the case we are witnessing the Scarsdale native’s best work as he steers WWE and Roman Reigns to WrestleMania 39.
Heyman, “The Wise Man,” has become the narrator to the complex and very delicate story that needs to stick the landing in Hollywood to go in the pantheon of WWE angles without equivocation. Doing so could potentially also launch the company into one of its hottest periods in decades led by Reigns and Cody Rhodes, all while WWE is up for sale.
The stakes are clear. The stakes are high.
Heyman had just been adding nuances in the background with his priceless reactions as Reigns and Sami Zayn took The Bloodline to the Royal Rumble. But he is truly at the wheel now, driving the narrative to WrestleMania, and WWE couldn’t ask for anyone better in that seat.
With WWE needing the match between Rhodes and Reigns to feel as important as Reigns vs. Zayn, he and the “American Nightmare” dipped into their shared history with Dusty Rhodes to deliver an incredible promo last week on Raw. It set the framework for the match, gave the fans a deep reason to root for Rhodes and there is now anticipation for the first time he stands across from Reigns.
Then four days later in the open to SmackDown, Heyman became the narrator for the story that is to come – think Rafiki in the “The Lion King” as an example. He made it clear that Reigns has never been in a more precarious situation, the Island of Relevancy facing a “two-pronged attack” from Zayn as the challenger on SmackDown and Rhodes on Raw. After that Heyman did his most important work, laying the reasoning for The Bloodline’s eventual implosion. While holding both titles, he tells us they aren’t just wrestling championships, but the “centerpiece of the Island of Relevancy” and “the very plasma that runs through the veins of The Bloodline” and their “reason for existence.”
“Let’s be very clear,” Heyman said. “Without these titles, there is no Island of Relevancy. Without these titles, there is no Bloodline. Without these titles, there is no Paul Heyman. Ladies and gentleman, without these titles, there is no Roman Reigns.”
What it did was change the bond of The Bloodline from family to being around the relevancy that comes with Reigns being Undisputed WWE Universal champion. Just as Heyman finishes delivering that line, Zayn pops into the ring to continue to strip away the audience’s trust in everyone’s allegiance to Reigns. Reigns’ most recent T-shirt is just he and Heyman and with the Special Counsel spying on the Usos. It feels as if Reigns is pulling Heyman even closer now. Heyman is an even more trusted instrument for the champ and to the story itself.
Heyman, 57, has managed the original Midnight Express, the Dangerous Alliance, Brock Lesnar when he won his first world title and ended The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak, CM Punk for his historic championship reign and now Roman Reigns’ ascension into the highest pantheon of WWE stars.
This now has the chance to be Heyman’s best and most important work, with more to do. The Bloodline’s and Reigns’ story needs a satisfying conclusion at the same time Rhodes’ story need the proper launching point. Heyman is behind the wheel of getting WWE there, and he’s just the man for the job.
Taken for a ride
MJF’s backstage promo was slightly disturbing, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it, and much-needed TV all at once. The AEW world champion, with his taped hands covered in the blood from his post-match beating of Konosuke Takeshita, told a story about crashing his Camaro into a telephone pole after prom with a girl named “Liv” in the passenger seat. He insinuated with a mouth gesture that his high school crush had been pleasuring him and said her head went through his windshield when they crashed. Then, when faced with “adversity,” MJF lifted her barely breathing body and switched seats with her so it looked as if she was driving. That’s because he’s a “scumbag” and will do whatever it takes to win.
For someone who has repeatedly said that everything he says is true, this may be the most dangerously close MJF has walked that line – even tweeting a high school photo of him with the car. Rumors, which were untrue, even started that the Nassau County police were flooded with calls about the incident in question. It was arguably the lowest MJF has gone – and that was the point.
MJF believes Bryan Danielson won’t go to any lengths to win their feud and – in a very bizarre way – turned up the heat their story needed for their Iron Man match at Revolution. Danielson then went out there and had a bloody war with Rush in one of the best and most physical matches in Dynamite history. It proved in some ways the punishment he was willing to take to get to MJF, whose match the same night with Takeshita reminded us just how good he is in the ring. All of it should just raise the anticipation for when MJF and Danielson finally clash.
Jay Walking
Let the Jay White speculation begin. The former IWGP World Heavyweight champion lost a Loser Leaves Japan match to Hikuleo over the weekend amid reports his New Japan contract is drawing to an end. He still has a match scheduled with Eddie Kingston at Battle in the Valley in San Jose on Saturday, but it’s fair to start to discuss whether White will be showing up in WWE at the Raw after WrestleMania or in AEW for Revolution. Bullet Club also needs a new leader.
Personally, I’d like to see White in WWE because it will feel like a fresh new chapter even with a ready-made storyline with the The Club. It would come with the risk of falling back into the pack at some point like Finn Balor has at different points in his WWE career. AEW would be a much safer move with plenty of stories to pick from and links back to NJPW for Forbidden Door. White can’t go wrong, depending on what he’s looking for.
The 10 Count
What a brilliant block of television we got on Raw. Sami Zayn interrupts Baron Corbin’s backstage interview for a surprise meeting with Cody Rhodes. The two of them then share a touching segment where they remind us that nothing is more babyface than cheering on your fellow challenger babyface. Then we get an impromptu Rhodes match after he comes back and hears Corbin complaining about him, his family and his dog, Pharaoh. Rhodes beats him only to bury Corbin deeper into despair. Perfect.
Shawn Michaels produced the breakup of Toxic Attraction, which was almost identical to his breakup with Marty Jannetty in 1991. This time it was Jacy Jayne delivering a perfect superkick to Gigi Dolin. We all kind of knew a turn was coming, but part of me was also waiting for Dolin and Jayne to double superkick Bayley through the door. While I don’t expect Dolin will go the way of Jannetty, there are certainly star qualities coming from Jayne. My worry still remains that this angle is far more compelling than anything going on around women’s champion Roxanne Perez.
Mercedes Mone’ really needs to deliver in her first match since her WWE exit, especially after a bit of an understated return for New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom. When she wrestles Kairi for the IWGP women’s championship at Battle in the Valley on Saturday, it will be in front of a U.S. crowd in San Jose with a chance to kickstart a big year with a title win. It comes after she released an emotional video about her living her dream.
Watching Seth Rollins and his goofy red Mario boots go from super silly to deadly serious about Logan Paul and not main-eventing WrestleMania makes me feel like he has finally found the sweet spot for this character.
Sometimes you have to keep your audience on its toes, and AEW ended a super in-ring episode of “Dynamite” by having the Gunns win the tag team championships from The Acclaimed by using said belts. They smartly did not go the predictable way of having Billy Gunn turn on The Acclaimed when the Gunns tried to use the belts the first time. It left the audience feeling safe about a win for the good guys, causing the El Paso crowd to be in stunned silence when that wasn’t the case.
Something about Saraya and Toni Storm painting the green L on “loser” Leva Bates didn’t click for me. I understand they are being tough against a “nobody” type. But it all felt too staged, and the audience has little reason to care about Bates, who hasn’t been on TV since March 2020. I’d rather they take a few people clearly dressed as backstage workers or a wrestler more known to the audience. But that is just me. It is, however, great to see Ruby Soho gain some momentum in the ring, winning four of her last five TV matches. She is smack-dab in the middle of the top women’s story.
Absolutely loved the segment between Thea Hail and Tiffany Stratton. It felt like a cross between “Mean Girls” and “Legally Blonde” with both women playing their roles perfectly and as naturally as they could. Now we wait to see if The Rock’s daughter, Ava Raine, is heading for her first TV match after abducting Hail.
Everything about the Usos’ match against Braun Strowman and Ricochet was fantastic. From Jey’s late arrival in the crowd to enough close calls to keep you guessing and the bang-bang finish on Ricochet after the blind tag. Also, Braun teaming with Ricochet opened up so many in-ring possibilities because of how different they are.
Dustin Rhodes cut a superb, impassioned promo on Swerve Strickland this week on Rampage that makes the Mogul Affiliates leader look even more like a star standing over him at the end.
Becky Lynch and Bayley officially feel a little below Bianca Belair in the pecking order after she beat them in a triple threat match to end Raw — officially removing them from the main event scene. Now will WWE pivot to a Trish Stratus surprise in Canada at Elimination Chamber or will Bayley and Lynch just be off the card altogether?
Wrestler of the Week
Bryan Danielson, AEW
This one has been building for a while as Danielson has rattled off an incredible string of TV matches over the past four weeks to ensure his 60-minute Ironman match with MJF for the AEW world championship at Revolution on March 5. None may have been better than what we got out of him and Rush last week on Dynamite. It was a rare TV match where the blood actually worked because of the level of well-executed violence and Danielson needing to prove how deep he is willing to dig to win match after MJF’s promo questioned some of that.
Match to Watch
Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn, Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber (Sunday, 8 p.m., Peacock)
How can it not be this? WWE’s best story in years has led us to a championship clash between The Tribal Chef and his former Honorary Uce in Zayn’s hometown of Montreal with so much WrestleMania creative hanging in the balance. Will Jey Uso defy Reigns and show up, and whose side is he on? WWE, with Cody Rhodes already set for the WrestleMania main event, needs to find a satisfying end to Zayn’s and Reigns’ portion of this story for fans unless they plan on running it back somehow in Los Angeles.
Around the Ring
- Impact and New Japan announced a joint live event, Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive, for March 30 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles. Impact world champion Josh Alexander against Kushida and “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Will Ospreay are already official for the card.
- Jordan Oliver defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey to win the Jersey J-Cup tournament.
- Tyrus defeated Matt Cardona in the main event of Nuff Said to retain the NWA worlds heavyweight championship.
