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It's Paul Heyman's world. The rest of us are just living in it. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
As Paul Heyman dropped to a knee two weeks ago, his voice shook in anticipation of delivering the news that had eluded CM Punk for nearly two decades.
“CM Punk, you are a WrestleMania main-eventer,” Heyman said.
Heyman can’t imagine anyone else giving Punk that news. “It’s personal between us,” he says.
Two decades ago, in 2005, Heyman was in OVW developing talent, and Punk was one of the very first people sent to him that management told him to fire. He refused.
“I told him, why would I fire you when I know you’re going to main event WrestleMania one day,” Heyman reflects.
The experience Punk shared on "WWE Smackdown," about being on Big Show’s bus with Rob Van Dam in 2006, was a true story as well. His fears of being released were met with a calmness from Heyman and a message reinforcing that one day Punk would headline WrestleMania.
The story continued in 2012, when Punk was the WWE champion but wasn’t in Vince McMahon's plans to main event WrestleMania. Over and again, Heyman met Punk with the same message.
“We had many nights where we sat up and I assured him, you're going to main event WrestleMania one day, and I will be there with you,” Heyman says.
“I never worked in anybody's corner during my first run in WWE with Brock [Lesnar at WrestleMania]. Every year by WrestleMania, something had happened in the circumstances that dictated I wasn't going to perform on the show.”
The closest Heyman got was as a color commentator at WrestleMania 17 next to Jim Ross. That was until WrestleMania 29, when he was present at ringside in CM Punk’s corner against The Undertaker.
From that moment, Heyman and Punk followed their own respective paths forward. Punk left wrestling entirely, before making a grand return to the scene in 2021. Heyman went on to establish himself as a vital component in wrestling’s biggest shows and an active participant in every WrestleMania main event since 2020.
“When you put all these variables together, the enormity of the message and the feelings that it invokes, and the history between us personally and professionally in pursuit of the main event of WrestleMania, [it] has so many layers to it,” Heyman says.
“The fact that we weren't both curled up in a cradle position, bawling like babies out of happiness, is a testament to the fact that we both understood the show must go on.”
Heyman says the odds were stacked against Punk’s return. The biggest difference between Punk's first stint in WWE and this one comes down to maturity. Heyman says at the time, neither of them were emotionally or psychologically prepared for the challenges that come with being at the very top of the WWE.
“There are forces and politics at play for CM Punk to have never come back to WWE," Heyman says. "There were forces and politics at play to prevent CM Punk from rising up the ladder upon his return to WWE. There were forces and politics at play to prevent CM Punk, while rising up the ladder to reach these heights, at play constantly against him."
Some of the forces at play were Punk’s own doing, Heyman acknowledges. And some of what held him back were outside factors, entirely outside of his control.
For Punk, though, this is his life’s ambition, his dream and his goal. Getting here, Heyman says, is all Punk thinks about, all he cares about, and it’s what he lives and breathes for. And that meant it was a battle worth fighting.
“He fought it and he won it, and he got here and now he's in the main event of WrestleMania,” Heyman says.
“And now he has a performance to live up to the prestige and the responsibility and the accountability of being in the main event of WrestleMania. And I dare say that for all that he's ever envisioned of how he would perform on that stage, that CM Punk is going to under-promise and over-deliver, both to the audience and to himself.”
Today, Heyman and Punk reflect back — long before Heyman was the Tribal Chief’s Special Counsel — as “young rebels” who changed the business, who disrupted the entire industry from their respective positions.
That’s what makes this WrestleMania build so compelling. Punk’s return to WWE has been a focal point for the story that’s played out with Seth Rollins over the past two years.
Their feud preyed on Rollins’ apparent grievances from Punk’s prior comments about WWE. Punk’s Royal Rumble injury in 2024 sidelined him through last year's WrestleMania season, providing the opening to continue the fallout between former Shield members, Rollins and Reigns, through WrestleMania 40.
This pivot in the story that’s taken place over the past few months — the inclusion of Punk, the wrinkle of Rollins, the alignment with the Tribal Chief — all is a logical progression, with Heyman directly at the center of the drama. It’s wonderful and messy — and exactly where professional wrestling thrives.
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With Paul Heyman looking on, CM Punk signs the contract to headline Night 1 of WrestleMania 41. (Andrew Timms/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
For Punk and Reigns, Heyman keeps everything moving. His support, behind the scenes and onscreen, is vital for both men. And for Rollins, it’s all about burning to the ground everything that means anything to the two men he despises most.
In all of this, Heyman is a relevant participant. He’s not just window dressing, he’s not just carrying the jacket to the ring. He’s a vital catalyst to the story being told.
“If you really push the narrative, what's at stake in the main event of WrestleMania? What title is being pursued in the main event of Saturday night WrestleMania? The wisdom of the 'Wise Man,'” Heyman says emphatically.
Heyman’s role in the main event will certainly be a focal point as the match builds to its conclusion. The past two weeks have seen Rollins take more of an interest in the services of Heyman. But without a current relationship with Rollins, Heyman doubles down on his loyalty to both Reigns and Punk.
“I am loyal to my Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. I am loyal to my best friend, CM Punk. Just because I'm loyal to both does not mean I'm going to be disloyal to either," Heyman says. "Loyalty is meant to be tested.
“I can be loyal to both and never be disloyal to either. And every day there is a temptation and the opportunity to be disloyal. Which is why the loyalty of the 'Wise Man' runs deepest and most passionate of all.”
For any of these four men, second place is not an option. Their match projects to be a barnburner, with all of them throwing everything they have to show it warrants the main-event slot it's been given.
Because for each of them, anything other than closing the show wasn’t an option.
"It's the dog race of life. If you're not the lead dog, then the view is always the same. You're staring at some other dog's a**hole. So that's not the view I want,” Heyman continues.
“I want the view from the ring to the crowd during the main event of WrestleMania. And I have no desire to view life from second place.”
Heyman, for once, loses his words trying to explain how unacceptable it is to envision life as anything other than the pursuit of the main event. He can’t fathom any other circumstances and can’t imagine accepting any other position.
For workers like Reigns, Punk, Rollins and Heyman, the journey to the main event isn’t contained solely between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
“WrestleMania season begins for me the day after WrestleMania. The moment the main event I'm participating in ends, we start getting ready for the next WrestleMania and that main event,” Heyman says.
“It's a consistent, constant process. It's not just, once it's announced, now you have to take it seriously. You take it seriously all the time. It's like being President of the United States. It's like being chairman of a company. It's like being a parent — you’re a parent to the dream of being in the main event of WrestleMania. And if you don't take it seriously at all times and you take your eye off the ball at any time, someone else is going to pick that ball up and run with it without you.”
Heyman is enjoying the anticipation of what he imagines will be “one of the most compelling main events, if not the most compelling main event, in the history of WWE.”
He’ll also be pulling double duty, participating in the very first Roast of WrestleMania on Sunday night at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas following the second night of WrestleMania 41. For Heyman, participating is “different and unique.”
It’s something that hasn’t been done before, but it’s an area that Heyman thrives in the unpredictable nature of things. He won’t work off a script. He won’t prepare for the delivery of a performance.
“I'm going to show up, I'm going to read the room, and I'm going to blow everybody else off the stage,” Heyman says.
His presence will be felt across WrestleMania weekend, which projects to be arguably WWE’s biggest ever. This is the “natural evolution of an industry that has experienced its biggest boom period since the introduction of the Tribal Chief and his 'Wise Man' on that couch in August 2020,” Heyman says.
Nearly five years have passed since that moment. In that span of time, the Bloodline’s lineage has continued to thrive. Jey Uso is fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jacob Fatu will compete for the United States Championship. Solo Sikoa is assumed to be involved in some capacity. The Rock will certainly play a role in the Undisputed WWE Championship match.
Heyman says none of what has taken place in the ring, or the development of WrestleMania weekend surprises him.
“I knew at that moment [in August 2020], what we were setting off in this business,” Heyman says.
“Which was the biggest economic boom period in the history of WWE and pro wrestling and sports entertainment that anyone could have ever imagined.”
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