5 Current WWE Superstars who could benefit from aligning with Paul Heyman

#4 Paul Heyman could guide Shayna Baszler to singles gold in WWE

Paul Heyman has long been an admirer of legitimate competitive athletes, particularly those who have crossed over to professional wrestling.

In his early days as the promoter of ECW, one of Heyman's most-pushed stars was Taz. Known as The Human Suplex Machine at the time, Taz had an MMA-inspired gimmick and was portrayed as the toughest man in the company.

Heyman's most high-profile client during his time with WWE, Brock Lesnar, is also a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Paul Heyman has a close friendship with Lesnar - and was part of his inner circle during his run inside the Octagon.

Put simply, Paul Heyman understands and appreciates MMA. In addition, Heyman has the ability with the microphone to fully explain how dangerous an MMA background can make a superstar inside of the WWE ring.

With 26 professional MMA fights to her credit, current RAW superstar Shayna Baszler certainly has that background. Winning by submission in exactly half of those bouts, Baszler more than justifies her WWE nickname - The Submission Magician.

切札 (Kirifuda) literally means "The Trump Card", "The Ace Card" or "The Winning Card". #Reality #SubmissionMagician pic.twitter.com/zcKVvjOdwo

— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) May 23, 2021

Since joining the main roster in February 2020, Baszler has won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships twice (alongside Nia Jax). However, the singles success she achieved in NXT - where she held the Women's Championship for a combined 548 days across two reigns - has eluded her.

Baszler made a strong start when she was first called up to RAW. Immediately challenging Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's Championship, things looked bright for her.

Lynch, though, emerged from their match at WrestleMania 36 with the championship still around her waist and, within a few weeks, Bazler's big push had stalled.

There is no way of knowing for sure why WWE threw in the towel on Baszler as a solo star, but it is fair to say that her in-ring work is better than her promo ability. Paul Heyman more than has that aspect of the industry covered.

With Heyman by her side (and WWE creative in her corner), Baszler could quickly be rebuilt as a massive threat on either RAW or SmackDown. All it would take is for Baszler to snatch one of the champions in her Kirifuda Clutch submission hold while Paul Heyman cuts a promo in the background - and Baszler would be right back in title contention.