Paul Heyman has worn a variety of hats during his lengthy time in the wrestling industry.

View photos Paul Heyman. (Don Feria/AP Images for WWE) More

Photographer. Publisher. Writer. Promoter. Manager. Broadcaster.

But there’s one role that currently stands out above the rest during his current run in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Advocate.

Heyman — the real-life right-hand man of Brock Lesnar — has arguably done some of his best work on the microphone since returning to the company he once competed against as the head of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Lesnar and Heyman have been paired together since 2002 and with the former UFC heavyweight champion re-signing a new deal with WWE in March, rest assured wrestling fans that the dynamic duo is here to stay for the near future.

Heyman chatted with Yahoo Sports prior to Saturday’s live WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden:

Q: As a New Yorker, what does Madison Square Garden mean to you?

Heyman: As a New Yorker, Madison Square Garden is pretty much the center of the universe. It’s where everything in New York happens or should have happened. If they could put a dome over Yankee Stadium, we would call it Madison Square Garden in the Bronx. To a New Yorker, it’s Ali vs. Frazier. It’s the Knicks winning the championship. It’s the Rangers in their glory days as the hockey team. It’s everything. It’s the grand cathedral.

Q: How easy was it back in the day to sneak into MSG? (When Heyman was a teenager, he talked his way into covering a WWWF event at MSG.)



Heyman: Impossible, which is why I’m pretty much the only one that did it. And it’s a miracle that I did. It’s all the circumstances on that particular day at that particular moment for that particular phone call on that particular afternoon with that particular assistant that answered the phone. It just happened to be in my favor. It was just luck, just sheer luck that got my foot in the door at Madison Square Garden. It never should have happened. So many coincidences that just happened all at the same time that allowed me the opportunity to B.S. my way into the Garden.

Q: What were your thoughts about the initial online backlash when Big Show was announced as Brock Lesnar’s opponent?

Heyman: I think you’re always going to get a backlash for Brock Lesnar’s opponent because we have built Brock up to such a degree that unless we’re giving them Brock Lesnar for the championship against the current champion and probably every other living ex-champion as well in a handicap match, someone is going to find a problem with the booking of the match. If you just gave them Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the championship in the Garden, people would then say they should have saved that for a pay-per-view. If you gave them Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena in the Garden, they would question why Brock is fighting for the U.S. title and not the World title. People are always going to find fault in any match that involves Brock Lesnar because any matchup that you present for Brock Lesnar, people are going to say how is that a challenge for The Beast?

View photos Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar have been paired together since 2002. (Jonathan Bachman/AP Images for WWE) More

Story continues