Bruno Sammartino is no longer with us although his legacy will last forever. WWE did a great job remembering the now passed WWE Hall Of Famer opening Raw this week with a great video package for Bruno and a 10-bell salute.
But some fans noticed that Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were not among those standing with Vince McMahon and the rest of the roster during Raw’s opening segment. When one fan asked Dave Meltzer why this was the case during Wrestling Observer Radio he opened up that it was more about Brock Lesnar’s position in the company and the lengths WWE goes through to keep him special.
“It was probably just a corporate decision. They wanted to keep them special and away from it. So they were coming out in the next segment anyway. The one thing with Vince [McMahon] is he has always and I’m sure a lot of it is Paul [Heyman] and Vince obviously listens a lot to Paul. But the whole thing is that the rules for Brock Lesnar are different from everybody else and that’s one of the reasons Brock is special because he isn’t booked like every one else and he’s never a face in the crowd, even in a situation like this.”
“Could he have done it, you know of course he could have and it wouldn’t have made any difference. But that was just the way the decision was made. I mean there’s no right or wrong and it doesn’t make a big difference either way.”
Meltzer then began to discuss how Lesnar and Heyman’s absence from the 10-bell salute was especially notable due to Paul Heyman’s history with Sammartino.
“You know of all the guys on that roster I doubt that there’s anyone on that roster that has the emotional connection to Bruno that Heyman would have. Because Heyman legitimately grew up with Bruno. You know that was the guy, he was there at The Garden watching all those Bruno matches. While the rest of them are reciting things from the history books and bullsh-t, Heyman’s connection is real.”
Even though Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, and everyone else has a ton of respect for Bruno Sammartino the decision was made to keep Brock Lesnar from being a face in the crowd during the opening segment of Raw.
If you use any portion of the quotes in this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription
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