Paul Heyman Went Off-Script For ’10 Bell Salute’ To Daniel Bryan On SmackDown

Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns opened up SmackDown this week and Heyman cut a fantastic promo. His time on the microphone included a 10 bell salute for Daniel Bryan since he is no longer with the company. This generated a huge reaction backstage, because it wasn’t in the script.

Ringside News was told that Paul Heyman’s 10 bell salute for Daniel Bryan was not in the script. This bit got “everyone talking backstage,” and in a good way. They were enjoying the experience, but it could have been much better with live fans.

A tenured member of the team told us that many backstage said something like, “imagine if we had a live crowd to react to this!” It was also said that Roman Reigns “cracking up during it put it over the top.”

Paul Heyman brought fire to the microphone this week. In true Special Counsel fashion, he also did not shy away from the popular topic of conversation within the pro wrestling world. Remember when he shaded Christian for going to AEW?

Despite conspiracy theories going around out there, Daniel Bryan really is a free agent. He is also no longer on the SmackDown writing team. They didn’t script Heyman to bring that much attention to Bryan this week with his 10 bell salute, but it was very much appreciated.