WWE Rumors: Paul Heyman Teases New Addition To Roman Reigns’ Stable
At the moment, there are only three members in WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ stable on Friday Night SmackDown — himself, his cousin Jey Uso, and his manager, Paul Heyman. However, it appears that the former offscreen executive director of Monday Night Raw has plans of adding someone else — former United States Champion Apollo Crews — to the villainous faction.
As documented on Tuesday by Ringside News, Heyman recently took to his Instagram stories to share a piece of fan art that featured Crews kissing Reigns’ ring as he sat down with his Universal title belt in front of him while Heyman and Uso stood in the background. This came days after WWE tweeted a brief clip of Crews having a conversation with Heyman and Reigns, with the caption suggesting that the blue brand mid-carder could “learn” something from the “Tribal Chief” and his “special counsel.”
According to the publication, it’s not surprising that Heyman is seemingly teasing Crews’ addition to Reigns’ stable. Back when the industry veteran was overseeing Raw’s creative direction, he was one of Crews’ strongest supporters as he had a breakout of sorts last year, winning the United States Championship and feuding with another villainous group, the then-newly-formed Hurt Business. Around that time, it seemed as if he was hinting at a future heel turn, though he has since remained a babyface after moving to SmackDown during last October’s brand draft.
However, it looks likelier than ever that Crews may soon be having his first run as a bad guy as a WWE superstar. According to Sportskeeda, the 33-year-old had recently started cheating in his matches, and he is currently in a feud with one of the blue brand’s leading babyfaces, reigning Intercontinental Champion Big E. Both men are scheduled to fight for the title on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
“While we don’t expect Apollo Crews to win, he will likely give a good challenge to Big E,” the outlet continued. “WWE teased Apollo Crews turning heel, and if he does, he could become an unexpected name to join Roman Reigns’ faction.”
Crews isn’t the only superstar who might be aligning with Reigns, Heyman, and Jey Uso in the coming weeks. Late last year, rumors suggested that Jey’s twin brother, Jimmy Uso, is expected to align with the faction once he returns from an injury that has kept him out of action since early last year. Most recently, Jimmy appeared at 2020’s Clash of Champions and Hell in a Cell pay-per-view events in a non-wrestling capacity.
