Paul Heyman Fires Back at Kurt Angle Over Bloodline Criticisms
Kurt Angle doesn't buy Paul Heyman's recent claims, so Heyman clapped back.
Kurt Angle has been one of the many WWE legends offering his two cents on WWE's current booking of Roman Reigns and The Bloodline faction. After Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and his position as "Tribal Chief" at SummerSlam last weekend, Paul Heyman declared in the post-show press conference that Reigns was still in the "third inning" of his dominant run over the WWE. That was the same line Reigns used after defeating Cody Rhodes back at WrestleMania 39 in April.
"We are just figuring this stuff out," Heyman said. "We haven't even hit our stride yet. If you want to take the arrogant approach, I'm sure Paul Levesque will tell you all the box office records that have been smashed. Every Friday night when we show up at SmackDown, we're always told, 'This is the largest gate of this and the largest gate of that.' 'This is the largest premium live event.' 'This is the largest WrestleMania.' Okay, we can sit there and point to what clearly drove all this, and it's the Bloodline, and when I say the Bloodline, I mean the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns.
"There is so much more for us to master. It's a craft, and it's an evolving craft. It's an ever-evolving form of entertainment," he continued. "If you sit there and you think, 'We got this, this is it, we're cruising to WrestleMania,' we're going to be replaced, and we should be. If you don't come at this with the greatest ambitions to be much better tomorrow than you are today and much better two days from now, then you're not here to be the greatest of all time."
Kurt Angle Doesn't Buy Paul Heyman's "Third Inning" Claims About Roman Reigns
However, the Olympic Gold Medalist is buying what Heyman is selling. He stated on a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show (h/t Cageside Seats), "The storyline is great, I love it, but I think Heyman was full of s—. I think they're in the 8th inning, and they're stressed. They're making s— up now. That's what I believe. Paul Heyman, I know him, and I know that he's probably going crazy right now. 'What do we do next?'"
Heyman responded on Twitter by poking fun at Angle. This week's SmackDown saw Jimmy Uso attempt to explain why he attacked Jey Uso at SummerSlam, prompting Jey to knock out everyone in The Bloodline before declaring he had "quit" WWE.
No matter what inning we’re in, at least we’re not looking for exposure thru the next Old Timer’s Day.
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) August 12, 2023
Ahem.
And just for the record, I typed this tweet with a broken freakin’ fingernail!#Bloodline @WWE @WWERomanReigns @WWESoloSikoa https://t.co/1pWzSPcHmY
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results
- Logan Paul def. Ricochet
- Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
- LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
- Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
- WWE Women's Championship: Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
- WWE Women's Championship: Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
