Stephen A. Smith is the heel – to borrow a phrase from WWE – of the sports debate format. From his time working with Skip Bayless, then Max Kellerman, and now in an open format where he takes on open challenges and smites them down like he's the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion Roman “Freakin'” Reigns, some fans love SAS, some fans hate him, and some fans love to hate him to the point where his show draws in an average of 323,000 viewers per show, according to The ESPN Press Room.

While some fans would like to personally get in the ring with Smith to give him the once over for his occasionally white-hot takes, namely supporters of the Dallas Cowboys, whom he takes particular joy in ribbing, the prospects of the First Take headliner transitioning into the ring felt impossible, even in this current era of wrestling where Kenny Omega and Karl Anderson are appearing at Wrestle Kingdom and Logan Paul headlining a “Premium Live Event” in a bout against the “Head of the Table.”

… or is it? That's right, after being fantasy booked as a heel manager pretty much since he landed on First Take in 2012, Smith has finally commented on whether he has any future in WWE, clapping back at Paul Heyman on Twitter for previous comments on his potential abilities as a manager.

“What? What did you say Paul Heyman,” Smith asked. “Land of obscurity! You’re very lucky I’m busy otherwise I’d have to come take your job, and show the fellas what REAL representation should look like in the WWE. Haa!!!. Only kidding buddy. Love your work. But I AM coming one of these days.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Smith is going to be a WWE manager one day? Well, that's certainly news, but how did we get to this point? Well, it all started when Kurt Bardella, a Democratic Party strategist and LA Times contributor, declared on Twitter that “the greatest manager promo ever would be a mic battle between Stephen A Smith and Paul Heyman,” to which @HeymanHustle – the handle he uses on Twitter – decided the clap back in a major way, declaring that “1 – I'm not a manager. I'm Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. 2 – Stephen A Smith is not in my league. He's a screaming voice crying out for attention from the Ocean of Obscurity. I, on the other hand, reside on the Island of Relevancy!”

 Could fans soon see Smith and Heyman holding microphones in the middle of the ring, screaming at each other with red faces? Is there a world where SAS manages a performer like, say, Bobby Lashley ahead of a match against Solo Sikoa at WrestleMania 39? Or is this all some fun heat that draws attention to everyone without a clear destination? Well, based on Smith's comments on First Take in a segment with “The Nature Boy,” Ric Flair, earlier this month, it sure sounds like it could be a possibility.

Steven A. Smith has commented on working for WWE in the past.

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Calling on Natch to provide some insight into his new documentary, Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair, which is scheduled to air on Peacock on December 26th, 2022, Flair suggested that WWE is internally entertaining the idea of Smith managing “one of these guys” at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood next spring.

“I just got the word passed along that because WrestleMania is in California, they know you love California, I think they're entertaining the idea of having you manage one of these guys. They can't talk too well,” Flair said with a laugh (h/t Fightful).

Smith agreed that he'd be a great manager, but he'd only be willing to do it on one condition.

“Bobby ‘The Brain' Heenan, Paul Heyman, and these guys,” Smith said. “I would love to be a bad guy manager, I want to be one of those bad guys. I don't want to be a goody two-shoes guy. I want to be the troublemaker bad manager. I think I could pull it off. If they want me to be a bad guy manager, no one can touch me. I'm going to have that as part of my contract. Nobody can touch me. I'm too frail. I can't let them touch me. Ain't nobody bodyslamming me.”

Welp, there you go; Smith is down to get in the ring – assuming he isn't touched, of course – and he's even named off a few influences for his potential managerial style – if that isn't the sort of “spectacle” Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been capitalizing on over his tenure so far then I don't know what is.