Following his heinous action atWrestleMania 41,Paul Heymanmade an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show to discuss the motives behind siding with Seth Rollins in the most unexpected twist from the Showcase of Immortals. TheWWEHall of Famer turned on not one, but two, of his former charges when he betrayed both CM Punk and Roman Reigns in the Night 1 main event, allowing Seth Rollins to score the victory.
That double gut punch had the WWE Universe reeling, as Heyman had beenthe Wiseman for Roman Reigns and The Bloodlinefor years. Meanwhile, he’s had an over 20-year friendship with Punk, who was deemed the original ‘Paul Heyman Guy’. With McAfee pressing him on the subject, the former owner of ECW was not only defiant but also made sure to work in a shot at the other major pro wrestling company in America,All Elite Wrestling, which was the victim of Heyman’s razor tongue and sharp wit.
Heyman Doesn’t Hold Back With Cheeky Jab at AEW
Michael Cole was also part of the panel along with his announcing partner McAfee. Cole asked Heyman directly how much money Seth Rollins had paid him to pull off the swerve. The manager took offense to what the broadcaster was implying and fired back, throwing in a little dig at AEW along the way. “[I got paid] about a dollar less than Vince McMahon used to pay you to be JR’s lackey,” Heyman shot back, referring to Cole’s time with the company when he was the second-string announcer to Hall of Famer Jim Ross.
Then, Heyman took things one step further. “I’m sorry,” he said to Cole, “were you going to the lowest bidder back then? I never saw you jump to WCW. I don’t see you going to Jacksonville anytime soon. So, you’re staying with the highest bidder, right?” As wrestling fans know, Jacksonville, Florida, is not only the home of the Jaguars NFL team, but also of All Elite Wrestling, the only real competition WWE has in the pro wrestling world.
AEW References Have Been Plentiful on WWE TV
WWE Stars and Management Have Taken Shots at the Competition
Heyman isn’t the only WWE employee who has made reference to All Elite Wrestling, with even Triple H and Tony Khan mentioning the company duringWrestleManiaweekend. It’s a stark turnaround for a company that spent most of the 1980s and 90s pretending they were the only sports entertainment on the planet, never referencing anything outside the WWE sphere. However, fans should not expect this to be a resurgence ofthe classic Monday Night Warsbetween WWE and WCW, no matter how exciting that may be.
While Heyman’s comment certainly wasn’t a direct insult, it does illustrate the level of confidence in World Wrestling Entertainment right now. After WWE was challenged early on by AEWDynamitegoing head-to-head with NXT,there has been no ‘war’ to speak of, other than a war of words. It’s not just a matter of numbers, both in terms of viewership and live events attendance. Simply put, AEW has no interest in directly challenging the juggernaut that WWE is now, and the latter has nothing to gain from it. In the Monday Night Wars, WCW was directly trying to put WWE out of business by competing directly for their Monday night spot on TV. Now, each company (but AEW especially) can benefit from the success of the other, as it makes the wrestling product more popular.
So, more than anything, the allusions to All Elite Wrestling are just that: jokes and sarcasm, with no real threat of WWE being unseated by the upstart promotion, and no hint of another Monday Night War on the horizon. With WWE blowing away all competition, that’s about as close as we will ever get again to the battles that were once fought by WCW and WWE.
