Johannesburg - New creative head of the WWE, Triple H, doesn’t need to sleep with one eye open while holding his pillow tight – a line from rock band Metallica's Enter Sandman song – regarding storyline scripts.
The reason: They will be worth nothing to any intruder as his storylines are changing day by day.
Triple H is committed to refreshing the WWE and his unpredictable storylines for his wrestlers has led to soaring worldwide TV ratings and record attendances at events.
The WWE Universe went into a spin and social media was abuzz following the announcement that Logan Paul will be challenging Universal champion Roman Reigns at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on November 5.
Paul, who has 30 million followers on his social media platforms, gets this stunning unpredictable opportunity after having only two WWE bouts.
Reigns was a guest on Paul’s podcast recently. The interview went smoothly, but Paul trash-talked Reigns when he departed, setting up a social-media exchange that led to Paul appearing on WWE Smackdown this past Friday and inviting Reigns to appear at a news conference in the morning.
At the conference in Las Vegas the bout was made official. Reigns was not impressed, neither are the other top title contenders, that Triple H has laid out the red carpet for Paul after only signing with the lucrative organisation in June.
“He’s had two matches. I’ve been champion for more than two years,” Reigns said, turning to Paul on stage.
“The fact he wants to step up to the main event … you need to crawl before you can walk. We’ll have fun with you for a few weeks, but when we get to Saudi Arabia, I’m going to smash you.”
Speaking with Radio Rahim of SecondsOut, Reigns explained that he had zero familiarity with Paul before he appeared on the latter’s podcast.
“When I’m sitting on the same stage and I hear some of that dumb stuff spewed out (from Logan), of course, it’s going to anger me, and things are going to pop off,” Reigns said.
“At the same time, before he came to the WWE, no disrespect, I didn’t know who he was.
BREAKING NEWS: As announced by @TripleH, @LoganPaul will challenge @WWERomanReigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at #WWECrownJewel on Saturday, November 5.@peacock@WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/jwKmeDeGau
— WWE (@WWE) September 17, 2022
“I’m not a 15-year-old little girl. I don’t watch Logan Paul or any of the Paul/YouTube people.
“That’s not what I do. So I don’t have any problems with him not watching me, because he was busy doing what he does and that’s videotaping himself doing God-knows-what.
“So go videotape yourself doing God-knows-what and leave the true sports entertainment, the professional wrestling, to people like me, and there’s nobody like me.”
During the press conference Triple H said despite Paul’s inexperience, he has earned his respect.
He praised Paul’s recent performance in the company (a tag-team match at WrestleMania 38 and a singles match at SummerSlam).
“Logan was totally different. Logan was a guy that came in, talked to us about it, and as soon as we talked to him about doing something, man he started to put in the work … When I saw him in the ring for the first time, he blew my mind. I saw him do it again, after that blew my mind,” Triple H said.
“This is the guy as I said earlier earned my respect. In this business, I do not give my respect very easily. He has earned that and it’s why he is here.
“He takes this very seriously. There’s nothing we’ve told Logan Paul to where he doesn’t say, ‘I got it. I’m good. I’ll put on a show’.
“When it comes to doing the work, there’s not an ask he doesn’t say yes to. It’s constant. That level of drive earns my respect. This is his passion in this moment.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to put on a spectacle, a show like nobody else can. If both parties are willing to make the effort and leave no stone unturned.
“Reigns is in the spot he’s in because he thinks about this more than everybody – every nuance, every expression, every eyebrow, every head turn he does is thought out for a reason. That’s what makes him great. Those little things. There’s no factor he hasn’t thought about, no stone unturned, no factor he hasn’t thought about to know, ‘This is what I’m going to do’. He’s the consummate pro.”
Logan’s brother Jake has indicated he will back up his brother at Crown Jewel.
Reigns, who has ruled for over 750 days, will have his bloodline Usos in his corner. The tag-team champions are also on a record undefeated run.
Jake tweeted: “Logan is the definition of anything is possible. Two matches in WWE and he’s challenging for the belt. I might have to come to Saudi Arabia for this."
IOL Sport