Paul Heyman names the WWE Superstars he believes got next

After working with thousands of wrestlers over his career, Paul Heyman reveals which young WWE workers could become all-time greats.

When it comes to professional wrestling, Paul Heyman has pretty much seen it all.

He's worked for hot dogs and handshakes as an underaged photographer, booked one of the most exciting promotions in professional wrestling history, and transitioned into managing over the last two decades, where he's worked alongside some of the greatest workers to ever do it as a member of the WWE Universe.

Asked by NBC Sports Philadelphia who are the three greatest workers he's ever worked with in WWE, Heyman named off two of the more obvious answers but opted against picking a third, as he believes there are simply too many interesting options within the next crop of wrestling Superstars who could be worthy of that honor.

“Roman Reigns. If you watch his body of work, Brock Lesnar, who is probably the most underrated, underappreciated worker I've ever seen. I'll reserve number three because there is a crop of new talent in WWE that are coming into their own,” Paul Heyman told NBC Sports via Fightful.

“Whether it's a veteran like Jey Uso, who is just finding himself now in his 30s after being part of the greatest tag team in the history of this industry, and doesn't understand yet how great he is in the ring. Whether it's Bron Breakker, who has a trajectory that very few will ever enjoy. Rhea Ripley could end up being the greatest or one of the greatest workers in the history of this business. Jade Cargill. She came into the Royal Rumble and everyone was like, ‘Don't expect a lot, she is so new,' and tore the house down.

“What's Bianca Belair's cap, just watching her? Look at Becky Lynch and how she continues to find new ways to tell her story. Charlotte Flair. What a talent she is. Then you have people like Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and you just look at the young roster that is going to be moving up to the top, to the main event, and ultimately to the main event of WrestleMania and realize that whatever the work rate is today, what's it going to be like in five years? What's that going to be like? What's the style going to be like and the demands of the audience and the level of workmanship that goes into satisfying that audience going to be like in five years? TO name the third party that goes with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, my answer is, that's to be determined by the competition that's happening in front of our eyes right now of the crop of talent that is taking over the industry right now.”

Whoa, now that is a pretty fine collection of the best young stars WWE has to offer, from performers who are currently on top like Rhea Ripley to fresher NXT talents like Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes, who are the fresh new faces on the SmackDown roster. While it would have been totally acceptable if he just named someone, say his former ECW star Rob Van Dam, this creates far more interesting topics of conversation, which, as a result, puts more eyes on Heyman and the WWE product as a whole. Spoken like a true old-school booker.

Paul Heyman takes issue with being called one of the best ever.

Sitting down for an interview with Cinema Blender, Paul Heyman was asked about his impending WWE Hall of Fame induction at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Called one of the greatest managers of all time by Cinema Blender's Mick Joest, Heyman took major issue with that characterization, as “one of” implies he might not be number one.

“That's not… that's not a compliment, by the way. See, I mean, not to be nitpicky or, you know, to spank you publicly here, but ‘One of' is not a compliment, and I don't know why people think it is. I'll give you an example. If your wife turns to you or your significant other turns to you in bed after a passionate night of lovemaking and says, ‘You are one of the greatest lovers I've ever had. Are you buying your flowers in the morning or you're going to see a divorce attorney? [You're seeing] a divorce attorney,” Paul Heyman told Cinema Blender via WrestleZone.

“‘One of?! B**ch, I'm out of here.' ‘One of them' is not a compliment. Google it b**ches. I'm the best. I'm the greatest there's ever freaking been, I'm the GOAT in live and in living color, doing it now for your enjoyment.”

Once again, spoken like a true worker, this time a heel manager who once famously told Steve A. Smith that he's happy that Bobby “The Brain” Heenan is dead. Ten out of ten, no notes.