On the penultimate edition of SmackDown before Crown Jewel, Paul Heyman was bothered about his ward Roman Reigns' forthcoming match against Logan Paul for the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship. Sure, Heyman has managed some of the best in the business, which Reigns very much is, and Paul has exactly two professional matches to his credit, but as Heyman was so quick to point out, all it takes is one lucky punch for everything to change; for Reigns to drop, for Paul to get the pin, and for the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship to change hands once and for all.
“If I implore you, I just need you, I just need you to watch one piece of footage, please sir,” Heyman requested of Reigns, which he agreed to.
“Why are we watching this,” Reigns asked.
“Because my Tribal Chief,” Heyman replied. “It just takes one lucky punch. My Tribal Chief, I was in Synagogue and I was sitting next to a doctor, who knows a doctor, who knows Logan Paul’s doctor, and you know how we all kibitz. And Logan Paul’s doctor told the doctor that knows my doctor that Logan Pal once broken his hand and Logan Pal has steel pins inserted in the hands that he throws that knock-out punch with.”
While Reigns rejected Heyman's assertion and the former ECW booker had to rush off after bringing up his former charge, Brock Lesnar, the latter does bring up an interesting question: even if no one really believes that Reigns will win the belt at Crown Jewel, that doesn't mean he can't win the belt. Paul “Triple H” Levesque may be a more patient booker than his father-in-law, but based on the press conference he put on ahead of the match's official announcement, it's clear spectacle is still the million-dollar word at Titan Towers. If Paul going to fly to Saudi Arabia for a match, it's hard to imagine he'll be booked to look like anything but a capable challenge.
Logan Paul wants to be taken seriously in the WWE Universe.
Speaking with the fine folks over the Verge Magazine about his forthcoming match at Crown Jewel, Paul made it clear that winning the title isn't the only thing on his mind, as passed along by the fine folks over at Fightful.
“If the WWE fans don’t already respect me, after Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 5th, you will be forced to respect me,” Paul said. “You might not like me. I might not be your favorite wrestler, but you will have to respect what I can do in that ring, and that’s my goal. I could give two ***** who likes me or not, but you will always acknowledge that when I get in that ring, you are going to be entertained. That’s my goal.”
In theory, getting respect in the ring is a worthy, dare I say noble cause, but there are easier ways to do so than getting in the ring with Reigns in the hopes of becoming the first man to take one of his titles in almost 800 days. Still, Paul is a WWE Superstar, and it's clear that's important to him.
“It’s been an evolution of how people identify me when they see me in the streets, right? At first it was ‘The Vine Guy', and then it became “I’ve seen your videos Guy”. Then it became ‘The YouTube Guy'. Then it became ‘Yo, Paul Something, right?' Then Logan Paul ‘WWE Superstar'. After all these years, I feel like that title is the one with the most validity. Not that I need to be validated, but also it’s awesome that I’m validated with a title like that because immediately you get respect and at the end of the day, everyone just wants to be respected. I think it’s really hard to not respect someone who’s willing to get in that ring and sacrifice their body for the entertainment of millions of people. It’s incredible,” he said.
Will Paul get the respect he so clearly craves at Crown Jewel? Will fans see him in the ring and declare that he's a true blue professional wrestler, instead of some guy with a YouTube channel who was only booked for the match because of name recognition value instead of in-ring ability? Even if Paul doesn't look as good as vintage “Stone Cold” Steven Austin or even modern-day Kevin Owens, it's still possible that he could have his match and look good in it, too, regardless of the final outcome.
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