4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 8)

3. The Heyman Effect

Adam Pearce Roman Reigns Paul Heyman
WWE.com

Roman Reigns has a job on his hands to make this mini-feud with Adam Pearce (at the f'n Rumble!) work. The current SmackDown "GM", if he can even be called that, has never been presented as a credible wrestler in WWE circles, which means it's probs for the best if Reigns slaps him silly on 31 January.

He almost did it before then.

Paul Heyman stepped in to calm Reigns down when the 'Tribal Chief' got heated and grabbed Pearce on this week's show. That was a clever piece of storytelling, and it made for great TV. Better yet, Roman explained his anger away as fury over how Pearce was ruining everyone's chance to make a living with his decisions.

This delusion has been a hallmark of Reigns' run since he returned at SummerSlam 2020, and he's excellent at working it. Seeing Heyman calm the beast also gave him some street cred as a guiding light who has Reigns' best interests at heart.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.