'Inheriting a law firm would've been easy – I became a WWE legend instead'
His name is Paul Heyman. He's a WWE Hall of Famer. A wrestling pioneer. It could've been very different.
The 59-year-old Wiseman and Oracle has helped shape the careers of fellow WWE legends from CM Punk and Roman Reigns to Brock Lesnar and countless more.
This week he's promoting the Nintendo Switch 2 version of WWE 2K25, which drops on July 23, but the game's cover star exclusively told Metro how a career in law was a real option earlier in life.
'My father was a highly respected personal injury attorney in the Bronx. That man would walk into the courthouse and you'd see other lawyers and bailiffs and even judges to sit there and bow down to my father because he was so respected,' he recalled.
'It would have been very easy to just go get a law degree and inherit his law firm – because he was a sole practitioner, it was just him. Richard S. Heyman Professional Corporation, that was it.
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'But I carved out my own niche in this world, and there is a thrill and a joy to that that cannot be matched by being a potential 'nepo baby.' '
Instead, Heyman found his way into the wrestling business initially as a photographer, before finding his feet as a manager and eventually turning ECW into a pioneering movent in sports entertainment history.
Despite his rich legacy and influence, he doesn't want his own children – daughter Azalea and son Jacob, both in their early 20s – to follow in his footsteps.
'I want them to carve their own niche,' he explained. 'They don't have to measure up to what I've accomplished.'
Wrestling is Heyman's passion, and for the last several years he's been at the heart of WWE's iconic Bloodline Saga, initially by Roman Reigns' side.
The pair 'controlled the Undisputed WWE Championship for over 1,300 days, set box office records' and ushered in the TKO merger and Netflix deal.
'When you look back 50 years from now on, the contributions of Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman cannot be denied,' he said, while giving nods to Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn for their roles.
His history with the 'real life Bloodline' goes back to Roman's uncle and father Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans, which all led to him narrating this year's Bloodline Showcase mode in WWE 2K25.
'So many gamers now are going to get an actual education within a video game. Imagine that,' he quipped. 'If you want to go to Wrestling College, or you want to go to WWE University, your professor's name is Paul Heyman.'
Despite those deep ties, at WrestleMania Heyman turned on the Tribal Chief, and best friend CM Punk, to align himself with Seth Rollins.
'I never think short term. I always think long term. And the long term to me was that Roman Reigns and I had accomplished everything that we could,' he said of the major creative shift.
'It was time for Seth Rollins to elevate himself to be declared the greatest in ring performer of this or any other generation.'
Rollins is injured after an unfortunate moment at Saturday Night's Main Event last weekend, but Heyman is still focused on helping his allies Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker.
'The natural progression is, 'What's the main event of WrestleMania 42, 43, 44, 45, 50?,'' Heyman pondered. 'It was time to get Bron Breakker ready for his future, which is to main event multi Wrestlemanias.'
He added: 'And for Bronson Reed to get the credit as a monster that he deserves, since he was so dramatically underappreciated and underutilised as well.'
The Hall of Famer acknowledged the real life elements of WrestleMania this year, as he walked out with Punk for the his best friend's first ever main event at the Showcase of the Immortals.
However, he revealed: 'The moment I laid the law down to Roman Reigns and CM Punk and handed the chair to Seth Rollins, the first thing that popped into my head was, 'Wow, this is an all time WrestleMania moment. And now we're going to have to top it.''
His reputation as a creative genius comes with a lot of pressure, but Heyman doesn't quite look at it that way.
'[There is] a common denominator in anyone that I've had the privilege of working with closely – be it Brock Lesnar, be it CM Punk, be it Roman Reigns, be it Seth Rollins, be it Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker,' he explained.
'They rise to the occasion. They respond to the pressure, and it creates an environment in which they give you an even greater performance.'
So what keeps Heyman going, decades into his career? He won't be 'riding off into the sunset' any time soon. More Trending
'I look for the next spiritual orgasm that I can share with a stadium filled with 80 to 100,000 people, because otherwise, all I'm doing is living off the name,' he pondered.
'While my name is Paul Heyman, and people know it worldwide, I don't want to live off of the name. I want to earn the reputation that I've built.'
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WWE 2K25 launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on July 23. WWE SummerSlam streams on Netflix on August 2 and 3.
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