Solo Sikoa – “Paul Heyman Is Like My Uncle”
Solo Sikoa has opened up about how blessed he is to be able to work with Paul Heyman while adding that Heyman feels like an uncle to Sikoa.
Paul Heyman has known the family members of The Bloodline for several decades going back to the early when Heyman was just getting his start in pro wrestling and knowing the Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika – who is Roman Reigns’ father). Heyman has talked openly about it in the past, which is why he has felt so comfortable as the “Special Counsel” and the “Wise Man” by Roman Reigns’ side since The Tribal Chief persona of Reigns started in August 2020.
Since Reigns started as The Tribal Chief, he has formed a dominant group that includes the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos, who are Roman’s cousins that are like brothers to him since they are all the same age and grew up together. Sami Zayn became an ally of The Bloodline earlier in 2022 and is now an Honorary Uce. There’s also The Usos younger brother Solo Sikoa, who joined the WWE main roster (after a year in NXT) at Clash at the Castle when he helped Reigns beat Drew McIntyre on September 3rd.
Solo Sikoa has been dominant on the main roster since he’s won nearly every match he’s had whether he’s in singles or tags. He also destroyed Matt Riddle on the December 5th edition of Raw by using the Samoan Spike that his late Uncle Umaga used to do. Solo also used a steel chair to destroy Riddle, who is expected to be out of action for about six weeks.
During an interview with Josh Martinez on Superstar Crossover, Solo talked about how Heyman was very close with Solo’s family including his dad Rikishi.
“He’s like my uncle, man. First of all, he’s been around my family for over 50 years. He’s been around Roman’s dad, he was around my dad. I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but my dad was one of the first Paul Heyman guys when they started in WCW because he was their manager.”
“Now he’s with Roman and my brothers, and now with me. There’s a lot of things that he’s taught and is still teaching me. There’s just so many things that I can’t even… he does tell me, ‘This is the place where you go be a big superstar, make some money, and take care of your family.’ That’s one of the things that he does tell me.”
Solo continued to show respect to Heyman saying he felt blessed to be around him.
“He’s real, man. That’s what I love about Paul. They don’t call him the ‘Wise Guy’ for nothing. He knows the game, he knows the one, he knows the outs. He’s been around the family. He knows our family. He knows how we move, he knows how we work. So I’m very blessed, especially coming up and only being here for two months, I’m very, very happy to be around him and to learn from Paul Heyman.”