5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 7)

2. Paul Heyman Sits On The Fence

Roman Reigns Brock Lesnar Paul Heyman
WWE.com

The way Heyman and Reigns, but particularly Paul E, refused to go full tilt boogie on pretending to 100% hate one another during the opening promo skit was excellent. Heyman is truly a master at this sort of nuance, and SmackDown provided yet another example of his genius when it comes to fine details.

His sneaky antics have been good enough. Then, when one adds in his scrambling attempts to explain that he didn't want to leave Roman behind, it's pure...storytelling art. Kudos to Brock Lesnar for going along with that and quizzically staring down Heyman for briefly attempting to cosy back up to Reigns.

These guys are killing it.

No surprises there, because they have been since 2020. Roman shed his tough guy exterior to show a protective side too, and that made all three men involved in the segment appear human. WWE stars are guilty of acting like robots too often, so this stood out.

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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.