Paul Heyman reveals how he scared everyone in WWE after shocking appearance

Paul Heyman scared just about everyone in WWE after a shocking appearance last year. He went further into detail and revealed how he managed to pull the big shocker off.

The incident in question is the June 28, 2024, episode of SmackDown, where a baggy and red-eyed Paul Heyman declared to Solo Sikoa that he wasn't his Tribal Chief - confirming his allegiance to Roman Reigns and getting taken out by The New Bloodline in the process. In his efforts to achieve the change in his shocking physical appearance, he deprived himself of sleep for days, didn't wash his hair, didn't dye it, and ate food that wasn't good for him, among other things.

Speaking to The New York Post, Paul Heyman said that he tries to be lowkey in general when he goes out and because of that, nobody in WWE saw his appearance change gradually. It led to them being shocked when he appeared backstage on June 28 in the physical state he was in:

“Anybody that had seen me in the outside world had already seen me now for a few weeks on unshaven and I’m very lowkey when I go out, I pick my spots,” Heyman said. “I try to be as incognito as possible. So there weren’t a lot of people coming through, ‘Oh, my God, are you OK?’ Most people didn’t get a chance to see me. The shock value has to be when you see me, ‘My God, what happened to him?’”

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Paul Heyman revealed how Roman Reigns being fed up with WWE creative led to The Tribal Chief's debut

Paul Heyman's alliance with Roman Reigns was the turning point of the latter's career, with the new Wisemen by his side helping him attain what many consider immortality in the WWE Universe.

But just before that happened, he had what was arguably the worst year of his career in 2019. It was a weak year in WWE overall, but the Baron Corbin storyline and usage of dog food was quite a good summary of WWE's push of "The Big Dog" persona of Reigns. He took matters into his own hands in the pandemic and it led to the greatest world title run in WWE in the 21st century.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Heyman said:

"He [Roman Reigns] was pretty fed up with the creative here, and he felt that his character had plateaued and he wanted to elevate not only his character, but the entire presentation of what we as performers do at WWE and how WWE presents its performers, and nothing that he was being pitched was to his liking," he said. [H/T - Screen Rant]

Reigns using his power as WWE's top star certainly worked to his benefit and several other superstars. Several stars directly benefited from this creative change, including Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa.