Heyman wanted a star that was either WrestleMania main event ready or very close to it. That left a relatively short list, but it did include the first-ever UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion and a three-time WWE Women’s Champion.

“One of the few names on this list was Roman Reigns,” he said. “Another was Brock Lesnar obviously. Another was Ronda Rousey.”

Yet little by little, and relatively quickly, those three options were trimmed down to just one.

“Ronda Rousey was having a baby. Brock Lesnar wasn’t coming back with Saudi [Arabia] being down. Kind of left Roman Reigns in there,” Heyman continued. Putting on his best Mr. McMahon impression, he added, “So Vince calls me in the middle of August, and he says, ‘We’re gonna take you back into television.'”

Initially, Heyman took that to mean WWE was going to put him on commentary. Yet with Jim Ross no longer around to work with, he was concerned about who they were going to pair him with. He was also concerned about the role he could play as an announcer in 2020. As it happens, though, McMahon was ready to pair him with Reigns. Heyman never saw it coming.

“I said ‘Okay, what do you got in mind?'” he said. “And he says, ‘I’m gonna put you with somebody…’ And I’m trying to tip-toe into a delicate situation here where I’m about to butt heads with him … And he goes, ‘I’m envisioning Roman Reigns with Paul Heyman.’ And I’m thinking ‘Oh my god, he’s gonna pull the trigger on this.'”