Paul Heyman Passed On Drafting Top WWE Star In 2019

In 2019, WWE had a draft where stars such as Braun Strowman and Sasha Banks switch from "Raw" to "SmackDown," and Randy Orton and Kevin Owens move from "SmackDown" to "Raw." Paul Heyman was in charge of the "Raw" talent, while Eric Bischoff was in charge of the "SmackDown" brand — as they were the executive producers heading into this draft. On "83 Weeks," Bischoff revealed which top talent Heyman passed up on that he's now working very closely alongside in WWE's most prominent storyline involving The Bloodline.

"SmackDown was about to debut on FOX Network, which is a very, very big deal," Bischoff said. "I didn't know Sami [Zayn], so as we sit down and we're shuffling the deck and looking at the names on the roster and all of that. Sami was in the category where Paul would say, 'No, you take him.'"

When Zayn was drafted to "SmackDown," however, he was not a full-time wrestler during late 2019, as he acted as a manager for Shinsuke Nakamura and later Cesaro (AEW's Claudio Castagnoli). Bischoff did not have Zayn for very long under his watch, as the WWE Hall of Famer left his position just a few months after starting. Despite his 2019 tenure not being exceedingly long, Bischoff discussed his opinion on the best part of working alongside the man who is now one of WWE's hottest personalities.

"The best part of listening to a cat like Sami is the nuggets of gold that you find when you read a little bit between the lines," Bischoff said. "I love the fact that Sami was one of those, I'll call him a utility guy."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.