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Logan Paul on his match against Roman Reigns: ‘That’s my proudest performance in WWE’

“While I’m boxing now, my ultimate sights are on some WWE championships”

Justin Barrasso

Logan Paul on his match against Roman Reigns: ‘That’s my proudest performance in WWE’
Logan Paul on his match against Roman Reigns: ‘That’s my proudest performance in WWE’ /

Logan Paul: “My ultimate sights are on some WWE championships”

Logan Paul steps back into the boxing ring this Saturday, co-headlining the Judgment Day boxing pay-per-view in a grudge match against Dillon Danis.

The Judgment Day boxing event has nothing to do with the WWE faction of the same name, but the sooner it concludes, the sooner Paul can make his return to WWE.

“While I’m boxing now, my ultimate sights are on some WWE championships,” said Paul. “Roman Reigns has them. I’m going to have to take them from him.”

Contents

  1. The (Online) Week in Wrestling
  2. Understanding the Okada-Ishii-Tanahashi dynamic
  3. Tweet of the Week

Paul wrestled Reigns in only the second singles match of his career last November at Crown Jewel. The match was sensational, with Paul delivering a star-making performance. A highlight occurred when Paul, holding a cell phone in his hand and recording himself, hit Reigns with a frog splash on the announce table.

Paul accomplished the unthinkable. He made people believe that there was a legitimate shot he was going to dethrone Reigns, the biggest star in all of wrestling.

“That’s my proudest performance in WWE,” said Reigns. “It was my third match overall, and only my second singles match. Triple H and the executives trusted me to go with the face of the organization, headlining an event in Saudi Arabia. I couldn’t believe they trusted me in that position, but I was so excited to show them I could do it.”

Paul, who does not lack self-confidence, was asked if he ever believed he could reach these levels of excellence so quickly into his pro wrestling run.

“The answer is no,” said Paul. “Absolutely not.”

Courtesy WWE
Courtesy WWE

The match against Reigns represented a critical moment in Paul’s evolving WWE career. He took more ownership of his character, revealing he felt like he truly belonged in pro wrestling when sharing the ring with Reigns.

“I was really enthusiastic to come into my own as a wrestler, so I really overprepared for that match,” said Paul. “It paid off. I pray that it’s going to age nicely, and maybe Roman and I can run it back. He’s so, so good.”

Reigns also deserves credit, as he made Paul look like a credible threat over the course of their 26-minute main event. Yet Paul’s talent was undeniable, and he delivered an even more breathtaking performance against Reigns than he did in subsequent singles bouts against Seth Rollins and Ricochet.

Courtesy WWE
Courtesy WWE

Rollins defeated Paul in April at WrestleMania. Paul shared that Reigns and Rollins are both marked men when he returns to WWE.

“I’ve got a whole hit list of people I want to wrestle, and they’re both on it,” said Paul. “After I do this boxing match and knock out Dillon Danis, I’m going to get right back into it.”

The (Online) Week in Wrestling

  • Bryan Danielson, The Undertaker, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Adam Copeland, and Paul Heyman have all been part of the main event at WrestleMania. Last night, all were part of an entertaining Tuesday night tug-of-war between NXT and AEW.
  • Despite carrying a heavy heart, Vic Joseph called a great show last night for NXT.
  • How about that finish on Dynamite last week between Adam Copeland and Christian Cage? There is credence to the belief that Christian is currently the best heel in wrestling. 
  • Horrible injury news for Adam Cole, who cannot seem to catch a break whenever he gains momentum. 
  • In a surprising finish this past Saturday on Collision, Ricky Starks and Big Bill defeated FTR to become the new AEW tag team champions.
  • It was an eventful weekend for tag team wrestling, as Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes won the undisputed WWE tag titles from Judgment Day’s Finn Bálor and Damian Priest. This was an outstanding match, which Rhodes and Uso followed up with another exciting bout on Raw when they defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
  • 18-year-old phenom Billie Starkz won the Pro Wrestling Revolver Women’s Grand Prix this past Sunday, defeating Rachel Armstrong and Trish Adora before overcoming Marina Shafir in the finals.
  • Congratulations to Tony Schiavone, the 2024 recipient of the Gordon Solie Award, an award given to individuals exhibiting the highest level of excellence in wrestling commentary. 

Understanding the Okada-Ishii-Tanahashi dynamic

Kazuchika Okada is the single greatest star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

While no longer the face of the company, Hiroshi Tanahashi is a legendary figure, and he will always be known as “The Ace” of New Japan.

Tomohiro Ishii is one of the toughest wrestlers in the entire industry, and a real source of value for New Japan.

Courtesy NJPW
Courtesy NJPW

It is an unlikely trio, but Okada, Ishii, and Tanahashi are the reigning NEVER Openweight six-man tag team championships. It makes sense that Okada and Ishii are connected, but Tanahashi–a time-tested rival of both–is the outlier of the group.

Though a few years have passed, Ishii’s matches against Kenny Omega were spectacular, especially his IWGP heavyweight title defense in the fall of 2018. Ishii is closely aligned with Okada, as both are integral parts of the CHAOS faction. Tanahashi has long led Seiki-gun, a different faction.

Seiki-gun (courtesy NJPW)
Seiki-gun (courtesy NJPW)

Ishii embodies the quintessential ethos of CHAOS. He is a hard-hitting, physical, violent wrestler, and CHAOS was built around those cornerstones when it formed in 2009 (it was the Great Heel Bash stable, but was renamed CHAOS after Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano turned heel–and since Nakamura was the “King of Strong Style”, the group was built in his image). Okada replaced Nakamura as the group’s leader in 2016, a position he still holds in New Japan.

CHAOS (courtesy NJPW)
CHAOS (courtesy NJPW)

Ishii has a decorated history of having issues when teaming with non-CHAOS partners. So far, however, he and Tanahashi have been able to coexist. That was the case this past Sunday at Destruction in Ryogoku when Ishii, Tanahashi, and Okada successfully defended their NEVER Openweight titles against Impact Wrestling world champion Alex Shelley, former champ Josh Alexander, and Chris Sabin, who is the reigning X Division champion.

“I understand Ishii’s style,” Tanahashi told Sports Illustrated through a translator. “It’s all about passion for the fight, even if we don’t belong to the same faction. I think we’re all fine going forward together. Probably.”

Courtesy NJPW
Courtesy NJPW

Ironically, the champions benefited from the disharmony of their opponents. Though Shelley and Sabin have staked a claim as one of the greatest tag teams of all-time as the Motor City Machine Guns, their shot at victory was thwarted when problems between Shelley and Alexander–who will wrestle for the Impact title on October 21 at Bound for Glory–manifested, allowing the champs to escape with the titles.

Courtesy NJPW
Courtesy NJPW

The title reign marks the first time in Okada’s iconic career that he has held a belt that wasn’t either the IWGP heavyweight or world heavyweight title.

“I’ve only ever won the IWGP belts before, so I am very happy to win these,” said Okada, also speaking through a translator. “Winning trios rather than a singles championship, honestly, the joy is tripled. When I was in Mexico, I wrestled countless trios matches, so being in this environment again is a great feeling. I really want to fire up the six-man scene.

“It is an honor to team with Ishii, an all-time great. But it is true he does not like teaming with anyone not associated with CHAOS.”

Okada noted that he also holds Tanahashi in high regard. As the trio continues their title reign, which is likely to extend into Wrestle Kingdom in January, Okada is excited to see how Tanahashi and Ishii continue to co-exist.

“One of the great things about this team is that it is three different guys with three different personalities,” said Okada. “That’s fun to watch. Those are the differences that make us a good team. You can expect a lot from us. There’s a lot I want to do with this team, provided we keep putting up the results.”

Tweet of the Week

It’s as though Kenta has a view into the future…

Published
Justin Barrasso
JUSTIN BARRASSO

Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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