Opinion: What WWE should do with Paul Heyman
As you should have heard by now, there is a 99% chance that the current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will be leaving WWE later this year and most probably returning to UFC. Most of us have accepted this as a done deal, but Lesnar isn't the only one involved here. Where does this leave his advocate, Paul Heyman?
Will the Advocate for the Beast Incarnate also be leaving WWE? Maybe, but we should really hope not, and I think he's hoping the same thing. Paul Heyman left WWE on extremely bad terms in early 2007, and no one ever thought he would return. When Brock Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012, some questioned whether Heyman would too, with many still thinking never. However, he did return shortly after Lesnar did in 2012 and has been an excellent presence on WWE TV ever since. Heyman was doing such a great job when he first returned that, from September 2012 until late 2014, he was a regular weekly TV character, aiding stars such as CM Punk, Curtis Axel, Cesaro and more.
We don't know why WWE hasn't given Paul another client over the past 3 years, and it is something even he has wanted, as there were reports back in 2016 that he wanted to be featured on TV more, but what we do know is he will likely want to stick around. Thankfully, in my opinion, the perfect position has just opened up.
WWE SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan has now been medically cleared to wrestle again after retiring back in early 2016, and sooner or later, we are going to need a new GM, and I can't think of anyone better than Paul Heyman for the job.
Aside from being the real-life former owner of the original ECW, Heyman was also the on-screen GM of WWE's ECW and fittingly enough, SmackDown too, for a short term in late 2003/early 2004.
Apart from Stephanie McMahon's sporadic appearances in recent months, WWE has no other heel authority figures, especially since the second brand extension started for SmackDown Live, and a heel authority figure is something that is very well needed.
Paul Heyman is one of the best heels of all time and would easily excel in a return to his former role as SmackDown General Manager.