Paul Heyman apparently had his fingerprints all over the opening of this week’s RAW. A new backstage report claims the entire Sami Zayn and Je’Von Evans situation, along with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed getting involved afterwards, came from ideas Heyman personally pushed for.
Speaking during a Self Made Session, Self Made Pro reported that Heyman was the one who pitched bringing those specific names together for the opening portion of RAW. That doesn’t mean Heyman sat down and wrote Sami Zayn’s promo or personally produced everything fans saw on television. Instead, the claim is that the basic idea of putting Zayn, Evans, Breakker and Reed together came from Heyman.
“I was directly told that the opening of RAW — specifically Sami Zayn’s promo, Je’Von Evans coming out, having a match with Sami, and the post-match involving Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed — was told this was the brainwork of Paul Heyman in terms of pitching things for these to happen.”
The report specifically made that distinction clear. Heyman’s involvement was apparently more about putting the pieces together and pitching which wrestlers should interact rather than handling the actual writing or production.
“Not in terms of producing the segments or writing, but in terms of making the pitch for these people to be involved with each other. That was a Paul Heyman thing, and he had a lot of influence on the show overall.”
That pitch ended up taking up a pretty big chunk of the October 26 RAW. Zayn opened things by going off on Adam Pearce before declaring himself the most underrated wrestler in the world. He took shots at Roman Reigns’ schedule, brought up CM Punk, Trick Williams and several other WWE stars, and eventually demanded that everyone start acknowledging him.
That brought out Evans, who wasn’t interested in listening to Zayn complain. After the two went back and forth, Pearce made an Undisputed WWE Championship match between them on the spot. Zayn retained after hitting Evans with the Helluva Kick, but things didn’t end there. Breakker attacked Evans afterwards, Penta tried to intervene, and Reed joined the mess before Breakker and Reed left Evans and Penta laid out.
So while Heyman apparently wasn’t sitting backstage writing every line of Zayn’s promo, the bigger picture of what fans saw was his idea. And if the report about his influence over the rest of RAW is any indication, this wasn’t the only part of the show where Heyman had some input.
What did you make of the way RAW opened this week and the wrestlers WWE brought together during the segment? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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