Paul Heyman On Why Cesaro And Curtis Axel Didn’t Work As Heyman Guys

Rolling Stone interviewed Paul Heyman this week. Below are a couple of highlights:

Taking center stage during the contract signing on RAW this past Monday night:

“What happened there was I was watching on the monitor, and you look at who’s in the ring. You have John Cena, the top name in this industry for the past 10 years. You have Triple H and all of his accomplishments. You have Stephanie McMahon standing there. You have the Big Show standing there. And you have Seth Rollins, who is – in my opinion – the single best in-ring performer in the world today. Undisputed. And you’re about to have Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman join this group.

“So we’re standing [backstage] waiting for Brock’s music to play, and I looked at him and said, ‘You know, you can barely tell the players without a scorecard.’ And Brock said, ‘Say that.’ And I did, because I figured before this all breaks down into some spectacular scenario, why don’t we let everyone here understand exactly what they’re looking at, and by the way, listen to the people whose names I’m calling out, because they’re all A-listers. Why not take that moment to catch your breath and realize this is an all-star cast in front of your eyes?”

Why his pairings with Cesaro and Curtis Axel didn’t work:

“I think the bar was set so high with the chemistry that Brock and I have, and the chemistry that [CM] Punk and I had, that it would be very difficult to match that. It’s not just a situation of, ‘Stick manager A with wrestler B.’ Especially when you’re shooting for the top. I’ve never walked through the curtain with someone I wasn’t trying to audition as a WrestleMania main-eventer, and I never want to. And I’m sure the performers I’ve worked with didn’t want to have an advocate whose goal was anything less. But sometimes the chemistry just isn’t there.”