Felix Upton on May 31, 2025
Paul Heyman continues to be a central figure in WWE’s storytelling machine—transitioning from Brock Lesnar to Roman Reigns and now appearing alongside Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker. His alignment with top stars often sparks big reactions, but questions remain about whether his involvement adds anything new or just repeats a familiar formula.
Former WWE writer Vince Russo didn’t hold back on his podcast RussosBrand.com, accusing WWE of lazy storytelling and slamming Heyman’s current role. Russo dissected WWE’s recent creative decisions, starting with the Bloodline three-way turn involving Heyman, Reigns, and CM Punk—claiming it was executed for the crowd pop without any real follow-through.
“So, what is the pop? What is the pop, bro? We get to the big three-way and the pop is Heyman turns on Reigns and CM Punk. That’s the big pop, bro.”
“We are six weeks beyond that. Six weeks beyond that. We have not gotten an explanation yet of why Heyman turned on CM Punk. That has not been addressed. There’s not been an interview between the two. That was never explained.”
“Why was it never explained, bro? Because it’s the same situation with Cena. Oh, bro, Cena will turn heel. Rock will give him this. The pop. Heyman will turn on CM Punk. The pop. There’s no explanation, bro, because it makes no sense. So, they don’t even try explaining it.”
From there, Russo took aim at how WWE is slotting Heyman into familiar territory again, pairing him with powerhouse performers instead of doing something fresh. He believes Heyman’s current trajectory feels like a Bloodline rerun.
“So here’s what Heyman’s gonna do now, bro. We’re gonna get out the old playbook. We’re gonna replay the Bloodline play. That’s exactly what’s happening now. We’re replaying the Bloodline.”
“Now let’s look at Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, bro. They already put the belt on Bron Breakker a couple times. The people are already barking. This guy’s got no problem cutting a promo. No problem whatsoever.”
“Ben, Bronson Reed was getting over tsunami-ing everybody before he got hurt. He was getting over. But now it’s, ‘Put me with him. I’ll get him over.’”
Russo even pitched a different angle that could have added real drama to Heyman’s pairing with Seth Rollins. Instead of casually bringing in Bronson Reed, Russo said the story should have been that Heyman brought Reed in behind Rollins’ back—causing tension and giving the “wise man” something to actually work through.
“It makes absolutely no sense that Seth Rollins — who was almost killed by Bronson Reed — is now going to accept Bronson Reed back into your position.”
“How that story should’ve gone down was — if you’re the wise man, you made that decision without telling Rollins. Then when Bronson Reed does that [__] at the pay-per-view, Rollins — as soon as he sees Bronson Reed — goes after him. And Paulie tries to separate it, and Rollins is like, ‘What? What? What the hell are you doing?’”
“Paulie made the decision to bring him in without Seth Rollins’s knowledge. Ben, guess what? Now we got a story. Now the wise man has to go to work and convince Seth, ‘No, bro, you need him. You gotta put all this [__] aside.’ Blah blah blah.”
Russo didn’t just want to criticize—he laid out a roadmap for what creative storytelling could look like. The question is whether WWE will take that path or keep leaning on nostalgia and recycled formulas.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
Do you think a lot of what WWE is doing with Paul Heyman is the same he did for Bloodline? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
May 31, 2025 4:17 pm
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