Paul Heyman breaks character with emotional message ahead of SmackDown

Paul Heyman broke character to send an emotional message ahead of tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown. This week's edition of the blue brand will air live from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

John Cena will be competing in his final wrestling match tomorrow at Saturday Night's Main Event. Paul Heyman took to Instagram ahead of tonight's edition of WWE SmackDown to pay tribute to The Cenation Leader in a heartfelt message. He shared a clip from a promo in the past in which he showed Cena respect and noted that he was being authentic.

"Just for the record, the respect and admiration I express for John Cena in this video is 100 percent authentic. He’s a real life super hero. We should all aspire to be more like him every day of our lives. And if for no other reason, we should pursue that aspiration ... because none of us will ever be like BRRRRROCK LESNAR!!!," he wrote.

Gunther will be squaring off against John Cena in his retirement match tomorrow night. Lesnar returned to the company earlier this year and demolished The Cenation Leader in a singles match at Wrestlepalooza 2025.

Paul Heyman is aligned with The Vision on WWE RAW

Paul Heyman is a part of The Vision faction on WWE RAW alongside Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Logan Paul.

Seth Rollins used to be the leader of the faction, but he was betrayed by the group earlier this year. The Vision attacked Rollins while he was World Heavyweight Champion, and he was stripped of the title following the beatdown. Rollins suffered an injury at Crown Jewel 2025, and The Vision's betrayal was a way to write him off television.

A masked man has been assisting The Vision in recent weeks and has been using Seth Rollins' Stomp finisher during his attacks. The masked man attacked CM Punk during the Men's WarGames match, and Bron Breakker capitalized to pin the World Heavyweight Champion. Punk will be defending the title against Breakker on the January 5, 2026, episode of RAW.

It will be fascinating to see what WWE has planned for Paul Heyman's faction on RAW in the weeks ahead.

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Edited by Robert Lentini