Paul Heyman has addressed the recent Brock Lesnar return and the fan backlash given the controversy surrounding the WWE star.
After 2 years away, Lesnar made his return at SummerSlam after the main event, attacking John Cena to bring the weekend-long show to a shocking conclusion. With Lesnar being referenced 44 times in the Janel Grant lawsuit that accuses former Chairman Vince McMahon of sexual assault and trafficking, many have taken issue with the decision to bring the former WWE and UFC Champion back given that the case remains ongoing.
On TV and behind the scenes, Heyman has been linked with Lesnar for years, frequently serving as the mouthpiece for Lesnar during both of his WWE runs while also being the antagonist’s manager in multiple storylines. While appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show on August 6, Heyman first stated that he does not pay attention to criticism, noting that the in-person reaction was a lot more positive than what was seen online:
“Everything in life is met with criticism, I don’t pay attention to that. [Is the criticim fair?] He’s here, that’s the reality of that. If you were in MetLife Stadium on Sunday, you would understand that return meant a lot to that audience. That audience was shocked to see Brock Lesnar come out and to see him F5 John Cena. Nobody left MetLife Stadium going, ‘Oh God, they brought back Brock.’ People were just going nuts. That’s our paying audience. They’re happy to see him, I’m happy to be part of a team that presents him.”
The Hall of Famer also stated that everyone makes mistakes and that there would always be criticisms in their line of work:
“There’s always going to be critics of anything that we do, and very few people ever make it to the top in life without either making mistakes or having skeletons in their closet.”
Paul Heyman Says Brock Lesnar Can’t Be Cancelled
Aware of the backlash to the decision, Heyman stated that regardless of what the fans think, Lesnar is here to stay:
“Obviously, the decision was made, it’s time to bring back Brock Lesnar. Whatever that decision is based on, I respect it. If there are critics of it, get over it. He’s here and he’s going to be here and you ain’t going to be able to cancel him. And I’m happy to have him back because the audience is happy to have him back. If we brought him back and the audience rebelled against it, I wouldn’t be happy to have him back. It works, so I ‘m happy about it.”
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Featured image: WWE
