Paul Heyman Reveals How He Uses Trigger Points To Get The Most Out Of Talent

On a recent episode of “What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon,” Paul Heyman broke down his unique process for working closely with talent, including Roman Reigns. Here are the highlights:

On His Premise For Working Closely With Talent:

“If I’m going to work closely with a talent, the premise is always going to be ‘You have to let me understand all your trigger points. How can I make you cry? How can I make you angry?… How can I make you happy? What’s going to tear you up in happiness? Did your dog die when you were five and it still bothers you? Did you have a relative that passed away early? Where are you most sensitive?’”

On Needing Deep Vulnerability For Greatness:

“If you really want this to work, if you want to become a star, if you want to be the best, if you want to make millions and millions of dollars. You’re going to have to be more emotionally and spiritually intimate with me than you are with your own spouse. You gotta let me in, you gotta let me know. Because I gotta be able to whisper something in your ear and say something to you. That when that camera goes on, people look and go, ‘That’s for real. That’s not an acting tear. She’s crying.’ She’s crying out of happiness. How did you feel when Aurora was born? The emotions come right out of you. It’s happening right now.”

On Working With Roman Reigns:

“What made the Tribal Chief so different is that at very strategic times, we presented layers. And every time you thought you understood the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, we showed you something different. That’s what made that character so breathtaking to watch develop in front of your very eyes. It’s like a child star that grows up in front of you. And as much of a grown man as Joe Anoaʻi, Roman Reigns obviously was, he grew up as the Tribal Chief in front of the audience.”

On Their Trust:

“There were things that he entrusted me with that I don’t think any other person on the face of the planet knows about him. And we whether it was a promo in front of an audience or whether it was one of the things backstage on the couch — and he’s searching for that layer that he wants to present. I’ll just pull him aside and say ‘this.’ He’ll just look and go, ‘Got it,’ and that’s it. It’s tapped into it, and you have to trust me to keep that between us and never repeat it under any circumstances, even on my deathbed. That that goes to the grave with me.

“But to get that greatness out of somebody [they have to trust me]. And for a person that admittedly will have a reputation of being untrustworthy? There are things that I will take to my grave about a lot of different people that my own children don’t know. Because that’s the intimacy that I will have with people that I work with. And if you give me that vulnerability, I’ll never betray it. And we will have a personal satisfaction, and professional satisfaction, of achieving greatness together that two other people can’t match.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.