Paul Heyman recently spoke with Denny Burkholder of CBSSports.com to promote SummerSlam this Sunday. Heyman spoke about the passing of Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ronda Rousey, and more. Here are the highlights.
The WWE Universe was saddened recently by the passing of Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Having worked with a lot of the best in the business yourself, what do you think it was about Piper that made him such a captivating performer?
“His willingness to ignore barriers and boundaries and to put himself out there on a ledge at all times, and to say daring things that sometimes made no sense at all, but [they] were said with such passionate delivery that people would read into it and find meaning in his words. I think Piper was such a unique character because he was so uninhibited in his approach to putting his personality out there to the masses.”
If Ronda Rousey were to show up in WWE, what advice would you give her? Do you think she has a natural talent for WWE?
“If Ronda Rousey were to show up in WWE, the best advice that I could give her is to sign on the dotted line and appoint Paul Heyman as her advocate.”
You’ve been known for years as a man with a great eye for talent. What’s your assessment of the current WWE roster? Is there anyone that stands out as a huge star in the making, that maybe isn’t on top yet?
“I think there is a roster filled with superstars that have yet to be exploited to their full potential. I don’t think anyone realizes how much Bray Wyatt has to offer. Roman Reigns has been in an advertised WrestleMania main event. I don’t think people have even seen more than one or two layers of Roman Reigns, and there’s a lot — there’s a lot more to Roman Reigns than what you’ve seen so far. Cesaro, who has been knocking on the door of the main events for the past several years, is just now coming into his own, and what an opportunity he has with Kevin Owens to put on career-making performances for both of them at SummerSlam.
“I think the women have an opportunity just in the next year or so to become bona fide, first-time-ever pay-per-view main eventers in WWE. How could you not look at the Bellas, how could you not look at Paige, how could you not look at Charlotte and Sasha Banks, how could you not look at these women and say that they are going to main event? Because they are. It’s the journey that they’re on and they back it up with their performances every night.
“And there’s a crop of talent in NXT that has not had the mass exposure of network television outside of the WWE Network, that is just chomping at the bit to take advantage of the opportunity of that mass exposure. So I think it’s a roster full of people that are going to ascend to the top. I think the question is who gets there first, and who gets there second and third?”
The full interview is available at this link.
