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Paul Heyman believes WWE has an embarrassment of riches right now when it comes to the rosters of RAW, SmackDown, and NXT in 2024.
WWE Superstar Paul Heyman recently sat down with Jeremy Hanna of Newsweek. When asked to create a lineup from the 2024 WWE roster that could compete with the “SmackDown Six” from 2002, Heyman said he believes he could create multiple lineups like that right now due to the depth of talent the company currently has. (H/T Robert DeFelice of Fightful for the transcription)
“Every member of The Bloodline. Every member of Solo’s Bloodline, obviously, because there’s a lot of money to be made there,” Paul Heyman said. “Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Bron Breakker, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory. A third of the NXT roster, which I think is ready to be called up into action now; it’s just the timing has to be right. The presentation has to be right. The packaging, the marketing has to be right. Why rush it?”
Paul Heyman believes he could make a magnificent roster of WWE talent right now
Heyman would go on the praise multiple members of the WWE roster right now from Pat McAfee and Logan Paul to Bronson Reed and Jacob Fatu.
“I mean, there is a plethora of talent right now. If you told me I can’t have any of those people, any of them, I can still build a magnificent roster,” Paul Heyman continued. “I mean, give me Pat McAfee on as a commentator to just keep the energy level at nuclear. Look at Logan Paul. I mean, you can certainly build a promotion around Logan Paul. LA Knight. I mean, there’s just so much talent out there. Dominik Mysterio. My God, the wealth of talent that — Charlotte Flair, who is right on the cusp of just being labeled a legend, and still has so much more to accomplish.
“I could probably put together four or five rosters of SmackDown sixes with today’s crew. One of the things that really clicked about the SmackDown Six is that they weren’t main eventers. They weren’t perceived as main eventers. Kurt Angle had been in a few main events, but he was always considered semi-main event until then. The Guerreros, Edge, Mysterio, these people were not headlining, and now all of a sudden, they were.
The beauty of the “SmackDown Six”
“So that’s another thing. Who do you move up the ladder, who moves up? Who becomes the next big star? Is it from NXT, is it from SmackDown, or is that person from RAW? Is it Bronson Reed? What a star-making performance against Seth Rollins. So here’s Bronson Reed, who was not considered a main eventer.
“I’d love to see what the box office would be right now if we went to Chicago and announced tickets that Seth Rollins’ first match back is against Bronson Reed in Chicago, or Detroit, or Des Moines, or San Francisco, or Los Angeles, or Houston, or Dallas, or Saudi Arabia, or Auckland, New Zealand, or anywhere in the world.
“Right now, Bronson Reed stepped up, the same way Jacob Fatu debuted, stepped up, and forced everyone around him to step up. That was the beauty of the SmackDown Six: we took people who weren’t considered main eventers and made them main eventers. So, you know, SmackDown Six, I could put in today, ‘Roman Reigns and this person, that person,’ but also, the concept would be, who’s not a main eventer right now that can be and should be and will be, and that over-delivers on an under promise.”
READ MORE: Paul Heyman On Roman Reigns’ Return: We’re In A New Era Of The Bloodline Story, It’ll Be Fascinating
What do you make of Paul Heyman’s comments overall? Who would be your “SmackDown Six” of 2024? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
