Dynamic of Reigns and Heyman minus Lesnar
For years, many WWE fans clamored for Roman Reigns to show villainous tendencies.
Cheered by kids and women for years while being booed by men, Reigns turned into one of the top merchandise sellers in WWE history.
Reigns took a leave of absence from WWE when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and understandably so as his wife was pregnant with their second set of twins.
He returned at SummerSlam and laid out both Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman after their Universal title match.
Last Friday night, Smackdown went off the air with Reigns being shown in his locker room with none other than Paul Heyman.
Then a week ago at Payback, Reigns won a triple threat match with Strowman and Wyatt to win the Universal title with Heyman in the corner of 鈥淭he Big Dog.鈥�
The pairing of Heyman and Reigns was teased as far back as WrestleMania 31.
It was there that Reigns challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE championship.
Lesnar鈥檚 deal was coming up and the belief was that he was going to sign a deal with UFC.
Had that plan come to fruition, the belief is that Heyman would have helped Reigns win the title.
A part of WWE鈥檚 putting Heyman with Reigns was because of Heyman鈥檚 lucrative contract and he was sitting home doing nothing.
But in all actuality, the pairing with Reigns is going to be huge for WWE.
Pairing Reigns with Heyman may have been the only way to get fans to universally boo him.
Time will tell how long the storyline plays out, and where does this leave Lesnar?
Could he return and feud with Reigns and Heyman?
Maybe Lesnar and Reigns become a superstar faction?
There are many different directions WWE can go with this, but it made the right move in pulling the trigger, especially considering that Lesnar鈥檚 future is uncertain.
Lesnar a free agent
As has been the case every couple of years since he returned to WWE in 2012, Lesnar鈥檚 contract has expired and the information has become public knowledge.
Sure, he could sign elsewhere, but the odds are that he returns to WWE.
While AEW鈥檚 Tony Kahn could afford Lesnar鈥檚 asking price, too many top AEW stars that were in WWE had issues with Lesnar.
Could he sign there?
Sure, he could end up in AEW, but would the company want to alienate its growing talent roster by bringing in a part-time attraction that would be put in a very prominent role?
WWE has done it for over eight years and Lesnar has grown stale, to say the least.
AEW All Out follow up
The deadline for this column (Friday afternoon) came and went before AEW鈥檚 All Out show Saturday night, so we will look at any major newsworthy items in next week鈥檚 column.
Another announcer leaves WWE
Recently, Renee Young left WWE and now Mauro Ranallo has parted ways with the company.
Word had trickled out recently that he was leaving, but concrete confirmation could not be verified.
NXT champ to be crowned Tuesday
This past Tuesday, NXT held a four-man iron man match to crown a new heavyweight champion.
Finn Balor and Adam Cole each scored two falls while Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano each scored one.
After the bell sounded, Commissioner William Regal announced Balor and Cole would face off at Super Tuesday II this week in a match to the finish.
Fury challenges McIntyre
Undefeated heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury challenged WWE champion Drew McIntyre last Sunday on Twitter.
Both WWE and the boxing world would receive buzz if the bout were to take place, although a traditional boxing fight would likely be out of question.
New Broken Skulls session debuts today
One of the best shows on the WWE Network, Steve Austin鈥檚 Broken Skull Sessions, debuts a new episode today.
The guest is Jerry 鈥淭he King鈥� Lawler and it is a safe bet that the show will give younger fans who only know Lawler as a comedic announcer a look at his legendary in-ring career.
On This Day鈥�
In 1996 on Raw, Jim Ross confuses the wrestling world when he says Razor Ramon and Diesel were in talks to return to WWE.
Scott Hall (who played Ramon) and Kevin Nash (Diesel), who had recently signed with WCW, deny Ross鈥� claim.
WWE owned (and still owns) the names and characters to Ramon and Diesel and had Rick Bogner play the 鈥渘ew鈥� Ramon and Glenn Jacobs play the 鈥渘ew鈥� Diesel.
Jacobs had previously played Isaac Yankem, DDS in 1996 and earlier in 1996 and in October, 1997, he began playing Kane.
This week鈥檚 question:
Does Keith Lee鈥檚 impressive win over Randy Orton at Payback make up for his bad debut? Tim, Mt. Pleasant.
The win makes Lee鈥檚 awful debut easier to digest, but it still doesn鈥檛 excuse WWE for how Lee was introduced on Raw two weeks ago.
Defeating Orton soundly is a move in the right direction for Lee, but time will tell if WWE does right by him.
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