WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman spoke with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri on a number of topics, including how he is not a fan of a multitude of titles.
Heyman said, “Yeah. I’m not a big fan of a multitude of titles unless you can give them enough time. We had proper focus at that time on the championships that we had and didn’t feel that we needed more championships to tell better stories, and felt that the introduction of more championships only watered down the championships that we already had the spotlight on at the moment. What works, works, and what doesn’t, doesn’t. If you can make it relevant, all pun intended to the island of relevancy, then it will work. If you can’t make it relevant, then it won’t. If there were 14 titles and they all mean something, then you should look at doing number 15. If you have seven titles and you’re struggling to put relevancy on all seven, then you need to cut down the number that you have. What’s working? If it’s working, let’s do more of that. If it’s not working, change it.”
On if he thinks Brock Lesnar will return to WWE:
“I don’t really put any thought into that at this time because it’s not a subject that is going to resolve itself by Survivor Series or by the end of the year, therefore it is not on the radar of things to address.”
On CM Punk being more fascinating now than he was 12 years ago:
“If you had told me that in 2012 that 12 years later CM Punk would be a far more fascinating character than he is now at the height of his rebellious status, I’d say that’s just not in the cards for him, and yet I look at what he did with [Drew] McIntyre and realize that he’s so much more interesting now. He has a deeper connection with the audience now, which I never imagined would have been possible.”
On how Punk is now a rebel with a little more wisdom behind him:
“You realize that rebels age out and once they do, they can no longer be the embodiment of the disruption that progresses against the establishment, and yet he is now the older rebel with a little more wisdom behind him and a little more tact involved and he’s that much more compelling version of a character and persona — let alone his ability to portray it — than ever before.”
On Punk battling against the perception of being a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ earlier in his WWE career:
“CM Punk battled against the perception that he was only a ‘Paul Heyman guy.’ He got unfortunately dragged down by that tag. He became collateral damage to my fallout with management. Because of my fallout with management, he was tagged — that’s literally what they called him — ‘Oh yeah, the Paul Heyman guy.’ This guy was a magnificent performer, an all-time performer, a WrestleMania main eventer, a top-of-the-card-worthy performer from the moment he walked through the door. But he fought against that perception and proved himself through his hard work, connection with his audience, and the fact that no matter how stupid of a concept they threw at him, he made it work… He was undeniable. You could not stop the progress no matter how they self-sabotaged their product.”
You can check out Heyman’s comments on the video below.
