About a month ago, I posted a column asking whether or not Logan Paul belonged in the WWE after a couple of impressive matches so far this year. I said yes, there definitely is a spot for him considering his talent and skills, but I also forewarned about two major things: making him a heel and keeping him far away from the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Well, in just a couple of days, both of those things couldn’t have been more than ignored.
After some social media rumors swirled for several days, Logan Paul arrived on Smackdown Friday night to have a confrontation with the Bloodline. After this, a press conference on Saturday confirmed that Paul would challenge the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 5th against Roman Reigns. Another recent column of mine was fantasy booking Roman Reigns and his titles all the way through Wrestlemania 39 next April. All in all, I did not have this matchup on my 2022 bingo card, or honestly on any bingo card ever. Reigns vs. Paul is intriguing on paper, as it’s WWE’s biggest in-house star against their biggest out-of-house star, and a mainstream battle as well. That said, it is not the celebrity match we want Roman to have (still hoping the Rock comes home in 2023 for that match). So now we have to prepare for that encounter, and even though Extreme Rules remains in the foreground before it, and Survivor Series has War Games now on the upcoming card after it, Crown Jewel is ready to once again give us a match nobody ever expected that we would have.
Roman Reigns is the face of WWE, and as such he is heavily protected, having not been pinned in nearly 3 years, and only suffering one DQ loss in a tag team match in that timeframe. So, it would normally be a safe bet that he would be leaving Crown Jewel with both of his titles still in his possession. However, with the recent reports that WWE is looking into every option possible to get one of the titles off of Roman without him having to eat the pin (or losing at all for that matter), it doesn’t fully leave out the possibility that Logan Paul can somehow leave Crown Jewel with at least one of Roman’s titles. Now, I still feel that Austin Theory should be the one to leave Crown Jewel as the WWE Champion while Reigns retains the Universal Championship, stranger things have happened in WWE before. Plus, with Paul’s superstar qualities and inkling to pick up the trade very quickly, they may be keen to get the title on him for even a short period of time. Either way, it’s huge publicity for them, and in a very positive way (something AEW has struggled to garner lately, but I don’t want this to become a contest between them right now).
Truthfully, I do not see Paul leaving with any titles, but the fact he is getting an opportunity like this in only his 3rd official WWE match is something incredible. Not too many superstars arrive at WWE and are instantly thrust into the world title scene, including worldwide traveled stars before coming to WWE. AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and others have all had to work the midcard and/or tag ranks for many years before ascending to their eventual world championship status. Paul being a celebrity coming in and doing so instantly creates buzz, and at this stage of his career, Roman can surely lead him to a more than decent, if not really good match on that night.
Whatever anyone’s personal thoughts on Paul be, he is meant for the business of WWE. I just truly do not want him as the world champion. It would put such a sour taste in the mouths of many, and it wouldn’t be a great idea for too long, if at all. Plus, he’s seemingly working as a babyface against WWE’s top heel for over 2 years (who even still is beloved by almost every fan). As I’ve said, his character just screams perfect WWE heel, so to not see him operating in that role is a shame, and the shelf life on any babyface run is surely limited. CM Punk levels of worry creep into my mind if he becomes world champion, only his potential mishandling of what to say wouldn’t be on a post-show media scrum, but rather on platforms seen by millions upon millions of people, and my worry is that he would do more harm than good to one or both of those titles.
So now, we have to wait and see what transpires at WWE Crown Jewel on November 5th, so until then, let’s see what WWE has in store for us next!
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