To say Logan Paul was disliked by a high percentage of WWE fans when he first started making appearances would be an understatement. The majority, especially the older demographic, wanted him to go away and never come back ahead of his WrestleMania 38 match, but two years later, he just successfully defended his United States Championship at WrestleMania 40 to very positive reviews from almost everyone. You could point to his great in-ring work. You could point to his promo skills. Personally, however, I’d point to this video of him crying that’s going on around that works as the best explanation for why things have turned around.
One day after one of the greatest WrestleManias of all-time, Logan Paul dropped a highlight video of himself watching the main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. It’s immediately obvious how much he cares about wrestling. He’s with the fans in the audience on every single story beat, and at the end, he tears up because he’s so happy for Cody after winning. You can check out the magic below…
Wrestlemania 40 blew my mind 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6pa2yJ22NhApril 8, 2024
Wrestling fans have been through a lot with celebrities. Some have come in and really taken to the business, but so many others have made it so obvious they couldn’t have cared less. And the worst part is, we were somehow supposed to be grateful, as if getting twenty minutes of some B+ level celebrity’s time was cooler than watching the actual people we wanted to see on the show.
I get it from the perspective of Vince McMahon and other current and former WWE executives. They wanted to grow the audience, and having someone with celebrity outside wrestling seemed like a great way to do that, but a lot of times it just came off as cringy and embarrassing. So, when Logan Paul first started coming around, it seemed like the latest example of that. We were all determined to boo him and show we didn’t need to have him around, but Good Lord were we wrong.
Logan Paul is one of the most talented in-ring athletes in all of WWE. Whether doing a frog splash onto a table or a buckshot lariat or some crazy nonsense with Ricochet, he makes really difficult moves look as precise as a Bret Hart backbreaker. He’s also really smooth and gifted on the microphone. He knows how to lean into crowd heat and makes the most of every promo he gets. He’s so naturally gifted.
All of that is why he’s around and excelling, but if you want to know why WWE fans really care about him, it’s because of that video and what it represents. He respects the business enough to do all the little things right, and that always comes through. He’s watched enough wrestling to know when to go a thousand miles an hour and when to strut around. He’s watched enough wrestling to know when to milk the hard cam and when to act like you’re in a fight for your life. And he’s watched enough wrestling to really appreciate how special WrestleMania 40 was and to properly celebrate with the rest of us.
After The Rock first returned and it seemed like the 'Mania main event was going to be him versus Roman Reigns, fans started revolting on social media. They began posting We Want Cody and talking about how he and Roman were the ideal main event. For the most part, those associated with WWE were quiet, except Logan Paul. He became one of the first in-ring performers to tweet We Want Cody at a time when it seemed risky and uncomfortable. This reaction shows how much he meant it, and in his honor, I'll now go celebrate exactly as he'd want me to: with a bottle of Prime.
