Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul: How The Crown Jewel Main Event Came To Be

On Saturday, a rookie who has only two matches under his belt will challenge for the most prestigious championship in professional wrestling. The social media superstar — a man who parlayed his fame into exhibition boxing matches that primarily served to increase his clout among his millions of followers — steps into the ring with the most dominant champion in all of WWE. A podcast host will take on the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

At Crown Jewel, Logan Paul will go one-on-one with Roman Reigns.

The road to this unexpected matchup had a lot of twists and turns, much to the delight of the WWE Universe. Logan Paul did not become the #1 contender to the title via conventional means. He did not win a number-one contender match. He did not win the Royal Rumble. Instead, Paul punched his ticket to the dance thanks to the most dangerous weapon in his arsenal: his mouth.

In case you were wondering just how exactly Logan Paul talked his way into the main event of Crown Jewel, let’s take a look at what’s transpired over the past few months.

SummerSlam: Exceeding Expectations

Logan Paul shocked the world with his performance at SummerSlam. Nobody can deny that he blew away all expectations during his surprising win over The Miz. But here’s our theory: He shocked himself by the end of the match, too.

We think he exceeded his own personal expectations. After such a conclusive victory over a multi-time WWE Champion like The Miz, we think that the wheels in Logan Paul’s head started turning. Maybe executing picture-perfect frog splashes came a little too easy for him. Maybe the physical rigors of getting through a high-profile match didn’t take that much of a toll on his conditioning as he thought it would. Maybe — just maybe — Paul thought to himself, “Wow. Not only did I win, but that was easier than I thought!”

There haven't been many Superstars who have stolen the show in just their second-ever match. Logan Paul did exactly that, and he knew it.

By the end of SummerSlam, Paul knew he had to strike while the iron was hot — but he had to wait for the perfect opportunity. Fortunately, that opportunity came in September.

The Infamous Podcast Appearance

Launched in 2018, Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast served as a natural extension of Paul’s YouTube channel and social media reach. Covering every topic under the sun and featuring guests from all walks of life, it’s become one of the most popular podcasts in the world and showing no signs of slowing down with over 4.3 million subscribers and counting.

In mid-September, Paul welcomed Roman Reigns as that week’s guest of honor. What followed was a perfectly-entertaining look at Reigns' career, as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion seemed genuinely happy to be a part of the show. Throughout the interview, Paul and his co-hosts showed why they are natural interviewers, as Reigns answered any question they threw his way with openness and candor — and the Tribal Chief wasn’t afraid to peel back the curtain on anything related to his WWE career.

No topic was off-limits, including Reigns’ lengthy battle with leukemia that took him off the road for a large majority of his career. And all in all, the interview was an entertaining listen for fans of both Logan Paul and Roman Reigns alike.

But when the interview ended and Reigns left the recording studio, Paul showed his true colors.

Shunning his professional podcast host demeanor, Paul went right into attack mode. “I just want to f***ing wrestle the guy,” he snarled into the microphone. His co-hosts laughed off the sentiment, but Paul didn’t walk back his comments. It became clear that Paul thought he was on Reigns' level in the world of professional wrestling, and before the cameras faded to black, he laid out the challenge: In his mind, he could beat Roman Reigns, and he dared Reigns to meet him in the ring.

It wouldn’t be long until Reigns would hear about this seemingly out-of-the-blue challenge.

Talking a Big Game

Now that the challenge had been laid out, it was time to hear from Roman Reigns’ camp. Maybe it was the fact that Paul couldn’t even challenge Reigns face-to-face while the champ was physically in the studio that set the WWE Universe buzzing, but word quickly spread throughout Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other avenues.

Utilizing social media like nobody else can, Paul engaged in a back-and-forth with Paul Heyman on Twitter that ultimately led to Triple H himself interjecting into the conversation and extending an invitation to Logan Paul to show up on a future episode of SmackDown. Who knows? Maybe Triple H thought the bright lights of the blue brand and going face-to-face with the Bloodline would make Paul re-think the entire challenge.

It was only after Paul appeared on WWE television to reiterate his challenge that Triple H knew he had to act fast to secure a main event for Crown Jewel. A press conference was scheduled just a few days later.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Although the press conference was a largely cordial affair, it accomplished its primary goal: To make the main event of Crown Jewel official. And in that sense, it was a success. Don’t get us wrong, we love when these things devolve into pure bedlam, but alas, that wasn’t on the agenda that day. The closest we got to pandemonium was when Roman Reigns shoved Logan Paul during their face-to-face photo op, nearly sending the challenger off his feet and to the ground.

To his credit, Logan Paul didn’t shy away from the spotlight. If he realized during the press conference that he may have gotten in over his head, he sure didn’t show it.

“I’m gonna smash this guy!” Paul told the fans and press in attendance, a remark that was met with a smattering of cheers amidst some very loud boos.

Ever since the match was officially signed, Paul has made several appearances on SmackDown as the anticipation for the big main event reaches a fever pitch. Most recently, it seems even Paul Heyman himself has come to grips with the possibility that Roman Reigns may be underestimating the challenger come this Saturday:

With each passing day, it seems that the social media kingpin — the kid with only two career matches in WWE — has more and more of a chance to dethrone Roman Reigns and become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Throughout the past few months of buildup to Crown Jewel, Logan Paul has never backed down from the sometimes-outlandish words that come out of his mouth. Whether or not he has the ability to win the title may be irrelevant. He believes he has the ability to do just that, and that makes him an infinitely more dangerous challenger.

With Nov. 5 just a few days away, the time draws near for the words to stop and the actions to begin. Will the pro wrestling phenom do the impossible and shock the world once again? Or will Logan Paul become just another Superstar that will be laid to rest in the wake of this dominant Roman Reigns title run? The entire world will find out on Saturday.

You can watch Crown Jewel on Peacock on Saturday, Nov. 5.