Paul Heyman's 'retirement speech' is a nice touch heading into Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WWE Day 1

There's no doubt Paul Heyman has been the centerpoint of one of WWE's most intriguing storylines in years. His 'Bermuda Triangle' angle with former protege Brock Lesnar and his most recent champion, Roman Reigns, has left the former ECW owner on the outside, looking in.

At least for now.

Heyman has easily been the best manager in professional wrestling for several years. WWE can call him an 'advocate' or an 'advisor,' but the truth is, he's a manager in every traditional sense of the word. It doesn't matter what his official title is.

Paul Heyman has also gone beyond the boundaries of most mouthpieces in his duties. While many in his role do their best to agitate the crowd and take a few bumps here and there, the former Paul E. Dangerously has always been deeper than that. His character has several layers, and most of that has to do with his level of intelligence, his ability to convey his thoughts, and the fact that he gets totally lost in character when addressing the fans.

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Paul Heyman contemplated retirement after being fired by Roman Reigns on WWE SmackDown

It's hard to use the words 'heartfelt' and 'Paul Heyman' in the same sentence, but he happened to somehow pull it off.

On this week's SmackDown, Heyman — once again, totally lost in character — gave an emotional monologue where he expressed doubts about himself for the first time.

This is another unexpected wrinkle in the Lesnar-Reigns-Heyman story. Just last week, Heyman came to WWE SmackDown as an advisor to The Tribal Chief. Since then, he's been fired by Reigns, left all on his own, and is now dropping hints about hanging it all up for good.

Of course, we all know that Heyman isn't really going anywhere, as he is one of the most important characters in the promotion.

WWE is just adding garnish to this already delicious angle. They brilliantly went even further with the whole concoction by airing a video package touting all of Paul Heyman's many accomplishments over the years.

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Honestly? If it wasn't setting up for some kind of swerve, it would have been a nice tribute

Instead, it was here to whet our appetites for more. This is the part of the mystery where the plot thickens, and we, the audience, are left to solve the case of 'who done it?'

The beauty of this Paul Heyman storyline is that it always leaves us with more questions than answers, and it always keeps us tuned in. That's what good professional wrestling should do: it has to draw you in and keep you coming back for more. Quite frankly, WWE has mastered that with this angle.

Ladies and Gentlemen... his name is Paul Heyman, and you can bet your last dollar that he will be there at Day 1 to have a lasting effect on wrestling history. Like he always has.

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What do you think will happen at WWE Day 1 when Brock Lesnar faces Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship? What role will Paul Heyman play? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.