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Paul Heyman Recalls Brock Lesnar Walking Out Before WrestleMania 31, Working With Roman Reigns Then

April 6, 2023 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Paul Heyman Image Credit: WWE

Paul Heyman was in Roman Reigns’ corner for his match with Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, and he recalled being opposed to Reigns before WrestleMania 31 when Brock Lesnar walked out. Reigns’ Wise Man appeared on Out of Character with Ryan Satin and, while talking about Reigns match with Rhodes on this past weekend’s show, talked about how he was working with Reigns in a similar promo build toward Reigns vs. Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. He mentioned during the discussion how Lesnar walked out of WWE at the time, which had been reportedly been over an issue regarding negotiations on a new contract. You can see the highlights from Heyman’s comments below:

On working with Reigns in his first WrestleMania main event: “For all that you see of the swagger and the confidence, and the ego and the self-esteem, and the self-assuredness of Roman Reigns? I was there for his first WrestleMania main event, because it was against Brock Lesnar. I was there for the first promo he had to do about his first WrestleMania main event, because it was the night after the blizzard. And Brock and I came, and I opened it up by shaking his hand and telling him that ‘I’ve known your family longer than you’ve known your own family.’ And then when we finally brought it out into the ring, Brock had walked out of WWE five weeks before WrestleMania, and we were tasked with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman in the ring talking about Roman Reigns’ first WrestleMania main event, just the two of us. ”

On the parallel with Cody Rhodes for this year: “These parallels between these two men that carry their family legacies, both from the past and into the future — Cody Rhodes’ first promo with somebody about his first WrestleMania main event was with me. The parallels, the symmetry in that is very noticeable to us. And it’s the truth.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Out of Character With Ryan Satin with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.