Professional with Legend Paul Heyman who is currently playing the role of the manager of the WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns recently talked about the post 9/11 episode of Smackdown and how it fit to him to work beside Jim Ross during that episode.
The post 9/11 episode of WWE SmackDown was quite emotional. At the start of the event Lilian Garcia sang national anthem of The United States of America in front of the crowd and the whole WWE locker room which is considered as one of the most emotional moments in WWE history. Lilian herself was in tears while singing the song.
Paul Heyman Speaks On The Post 9/11 Smackdown Episode
In this episode WWE did not concentrated on the ongoing storylines much and the book a number of action packed matches. Of course there was a confrontation between the then WCW World Heavyweight champion the Rock and Shawn Stasiak which ultimately turned out to be a match and The Rock you easily defeated Stasiak with a Rock Bottom.
Except of these matches there are some other good matches as well. None of those matches aged very well but the night was very emotional throughout and matches were fun to watch. In the main event of the night, Kurt Angle faced Rhyno and defeated the former ECW star. There were some other good matches during the night such as Chris Jericho vs. Christian, Lita vs. Ivory etc.
Paul Heyman who is currently playing the role of the manager of the WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns recently spoke to Sports Illustrated where he talked about the post 9/11 episode of Smackdown. He said;
“I didn’t know how to convey that on the air, and I didn’t know if it was my place to do so, but as a New Yorker, I felt obligated to identify myself—not only from the perspective of New York as a locale in which I reside, but also that deep down, the person you see talking at the moment is culturally, physically, spiritually a New Yorker at heart.
“I hardly remember anything about that night, other than the memory of Lilian Garcia singing. I don’t even remember what she sang, whether it was ‘God Bless, America,’ ‘America, The Beautiful,’ or the national anthem—I just remember she sang. When she was singing, she did it flawlessly. Her voice carried the emotion of the moment to such a degree that it moved me and woke me up. It also made me a complete emotional wreck.
“I can’t tell you one match that happened on that show,” Heyman says. “All I remember is the bolt that went through my system when I heard Lilian sing, which reminded me I had an obligation to deliver. Then I heard Jim Ross say, ‘Just follow my lead, kid, and you’ll be fine,’ which is the same thing he’d said to me during my first broadcast on Raw.
“Afterward, I can still remember Vince McMahon in my headset saying, ‘That was great. Now it’s time to entertain.’ From that point on, I hope J.R. and I did justice to the job for which we were tasked, but I don’t remember doing it all.”