4 Things WWE subtly told us during Paul Heyman's SmackDown promo - CM Punk, The Rock, and more
WWE SmackDown aired a special episode last night. The New Year's Revolution edition of the blue brand featured a big title match, the conclusion of a tournament, and a massive Triple Threat Match in the main event.
There were many notable talking points coming out of the show. The Authors of Pain made their return to the company alongside Paul Ellering. Tyler Bate made his main roster debut. Out of everything, however, the most intriguing part was arguably a promo by Paul Heyman.
The Wiseman hyped up Roman Reigns as only he can. He also addressed Roman's many enemies. This includes Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes, The Rock, LA Knight, and CM Punk, among others.
The promo was a master class in wrestling psychology that only somebody like Heyman could offer. It also set up a lot for the future and subtly told fans about the company's plans. This article will look at a few things Heyman told the viewing audience and what it could mean.
Below are four things WWE subtly told us during Paul Heyman's SmackDown promo.
#4. The Rock will be challenging Roman Reigns
During Paul Heyman's masterful promo on WWE Friday Night SmackDown, he addressed The Rock. The People's Champion returned to wrestling on Monday Night RAW, where he beat up Jinder Mahal and proceeded to tease a major showdown with Roman Reigns.
Heyman addressed The Rock's words and essentially called him a clout vampire. Paul said that The Rock is using Roman for notoriety and to be a part of the Island of Relevancy. From there, he heavily implied that Reigns has no interest in the former WWE Champion.
While some fans may believe this pours cold water on a potential bout between the two, that isn't necessarily the case. Instead, this implies that it won't be Roman Reigns calling out The Rock, but instead, The People's Champion will need to return to confront The Tribal Chief. The ball is in The Rock's court.
#3. CM Punk and Roman Reigns will clash eventually
Another name brought up by Paul Heyman was CM Punk. The Straight Edge Superstar rocked the wrestling world when he returned to WWE at the end of last year. He showed up at Survivor Series WarGames 2023 unexpectedly and fans haven't stopped talking about him since then.
Heyman took umbrage with Punk, mentioning in one of his return promos that he was a "Paul Heyman guy" first. Paul then made it clear that he upgraded from managing Punk to being an advocate for Brock Lesnar to now being The Wiseman for The Tribal Chief.
Paul even mentioning CM Punk when The Voice of the Voiceless is a star of WWE Monday Night RAW is interesting. This all but guarantees Punk and Roman will clash at some point in the future, likely in 2024. Could this be the headline rivalry for SummerSlam?
#2. Cody Rhodes will seemingly still finish his story
Another man Paul Heyman mentioned in his promo was Cody Rhodes. The American Nightmare returned to WWE in 2022 and proceeded to win the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble Match. Cody then battled Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
Unfortunately, Rhodes lost to The Tribal Chief. Heyman was quick to bring this up and then noted that despite Cody losing to The Tribal Chief, Rhodes continues to mention "finishing the story."
This was seemingly a well-placed inclusion. Cody isn't actually involved in Roman's story at the moment by virtue of being on RAW, so including this likely implies that plans are still moving forward with The American Nightmare and The Tribal Chief. Perhaps Cody will finish his story at WrestleMania 40. Regardless, the seeds have been planted.
#1. It really emphasized the star power WWE has
The Paul Heyman promo addressed numerous people. AJ Styles, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, The Rock, CM Punk, and Cody Rhodes were all name-dropped. While this obviously planted seeds for future storytelling, WWE subtly told fans something else with the promo.
Simply put, WWE has a lot of stars. In fact, an argument could be made that the promotion has never had more stars. Even excluding those names mentioned, the company also has Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns himself, Jey Uso, and Rhea Ripley on the roster.
The company is rightfully flexing the many stars they have at the moment. As business continues to be at an all-time high, the promo is a reminder of the many possibilities that can come with such an incredible wealth of performers.