Although many have seen their careers elevated by being paired with Paul Heyman, Curtis Axel was one of the exceptions to the rule.
Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk all saw their careers elevated through their association with Heyman, eventually becoming World Champions and some of WWE’s biggest stars.
After being paired with Heyman in 2013, Curtis Axel appeared to be positioned for a significant push. A third-generation star, Axel could have followed in the footsteps of previous “Paul Heyman Guys” and been positioned in the main event scene. However, the former Intercontinental Champion was regularly defeated by Punk.
Following WrestleMania 30, André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner Cesaro aligned himself with Heyman. While Cesaro was one of WWE’s most gifted in-ring performers, he was not viewed as a natural talker, making Heyman the ideal mouthpiece for the Swiss star.
“There Was Never A Grand Scheme To Move Curtis Axel Up The Ladder”: Paul Heyman
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Heyman explained why his partnerships with Curtis Axel and Cesaro failed to elevate either man into the main event scene:
“Because I don’t think it was meant to work out. I don’t think there was ever an overall grand scheme to move Curtis Axel all the way up the ladder. Curtis Axel filled the need for there to be people around me to feed to CM Punk at the time, it’s the same thing that happened with Cesaro.”
Although Heyman believed Cesaro had all the tools to become a top star, he revealed that the alliance was ultimately designed to keep him on television until Brock Lesnar returned:
“You look at Cesaro, and he checked, especially at that moment in time, he checked every box to become a top star. Everyone who got into the ring with him came back into Gorilla, saying, ‘Give me him.’ Everyone, I remember John Cena worked with him on television and came back and looked at Vince and said, ‘I could main event WrestleMania with him.’ And probably could have, and should have.”
Heyman explained that his weekly television appearances were meant to repeatedly reinforce Lesnar’s victory over The Undertaker, which was the reason Cesaro became associated with him.
“Cesaro was placed in that position the day after Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, so that when Brock took his hiatus, I had an excuse to be on television to say my client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and you needed an excuse to have me out there on television, and if you put me on commentary, I can’t say it for two or three hours, I have to say it with impact once a week, just drill that into your head, reinforcement, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.
So Cesaro became the excuse to see me say the line. Curtis Axel was cast as Paul Heyman guy, generic Paul Heyman guy. You may as well have put a mask on him and call him the Mad Russian, Mr. X, the assassin, the punk destroyer, so that we could feed the babyface CM Punk, and that’s a shame for Curtis Axel, because he had a lot more to offer, but he delivered in those matches with Punk, and that was the assignment, and once that assignment was over, there was no plan to propel him further, and he didn’t have the cache to go in and pitch for something that would continue the momentum coming out of that program.”
When asked whether WWE had any long-term plans for Axel or Cesaro, Heyman revealed that no such plans had been communicated to him.
“I don’t believe so. If there was, I was never clued in on it. When I was told I was getting Curtis Axel, my question was, what are we doing with this, and Vince’s answer was going all the way to the top. I don’t think Vince really felt that about him, and I don’t think, I mean, I could tell by the third week I was with Cesaro, oh, I understand what we’re doing here, I get it. I see how this is going to play out, that as soon as Brock is back, this is going to get discarded.”
Featured image: WWE
