WWE's Growing Logan Paul Problem

WWE's signing of Logan Paul in 2022 caught the attention—and ire—of fans who were skeptical of what he'd bring to the table as an active performer.

It became clear from the moment he stepped in the ring for the first time that he was much more of a natural than anticipated, at least athletically. His debut alongside The Miz against Rey and Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 38 exceeded expectations and set the stage for what's been an eventful run.

There's no doubt that Paul plays his role exceptionally well as a heel and generates genuine heat from crowds (despite being miscast as a babyface for a few months in 2022), but there also comes the question of what the company is ultimately aiming to accomplish with the social media megastar.

Paul has more of a mainstream presence than a vast majority of today's talent in WWE, but how many new eyes he's brought to the product while prominently pushed is debatable. He's lost his fair share of matches in the last three years and all of them have been entertaining to a certain extent, but it can be argued that the bloom has been off the rose with him for some time.

WWE's growing Logan Paul problem must be addressed before it comes at the expense of the rest of the roster.

Limited In-Ring Arsenal Is No Longer Impressive

For someone who wasn't formally trained as a pro wrestler and didn't have any background in the business prior to joining WWE, Logan Paul is certainly impressive as an in-ring performer. He didn't look out of place in the slightest during his debut at WrestleMania 38 and proved even more people wrong in his subsequent matches with The Miz and Roman Reigns later in 2022.

The latter bout headlined Crown Jewel and was contested for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, which may have been the peak for Paul in the promotion.

He's an outstanding athlete and that has boded well for him so far, but until he gains more experience by becoming a full-time WWE Superstar, his development will only ever be at a certain level.

Although he has noticeably shown signs of improvement, he's still far from where he should be psychology-wise. Most of his matches have been glorified spot-fests, which have their place in wrestling but tend to grow tiresome if done too often.

Paul being branded by WWE as a “special attraction” is accurate, but when it's the same thing almost every time, his matches start to lose their luster. At that point, he becomes a hindrance to the product more than anything else.

United States Championship Run Was a Bust

WWE putting a title on Logan Paul was inevitable, if only for the potential buzz they felt it would bring.

Although he was unsuccessful in dethroning Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel 2022, he went on to win the United States Championship at the exact same show in Saudi Arabia a year later, beating legendary luchador Rey Mysterio.

It was a smarter call to try him out as champion in the midcard scene so he wouldn't hold a world title hostage due to his infrequent appearance schedule, but it was a failure all the same.

During a nine-month period between November 2023 and August 2024, the Ohio native defended the star-spangled prize only two times before finally losing it at SummerSlam to LA Knight. Knight taking the title always appeared to be the endgame, but it took far longer than it should have for WWE to get to that point.

In the meantime, the prestige of the belt took a significant hit and SmackDown's midcard had nothing to fight for in his absence. His critically-panned reign consisted of a lengthy feud with Kevin Owens, a quality Triple Threat against Owens and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 40, and a non-title loss to Cody Rhodes at King and Queen of the Ring.

Whatever minimal exposure WWE got from him holding the title wasn't worth it. In addition to the entire experiment being a waste of time, it reinforced that there was no benefit to him having a world title run down the road.

What Is He Being Built Up for?

If Logan Paul winning a world title isn't feasible, it's understandable for fans to wonder what he's being built up for.

His WrestleMania win over AJ Styles seemed unnecessary until it became apparent in the immediate aftermath of the event that he was primed to challenge Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event.

It's a match that makes perfect sense given how both guys excel in their respective roles in terms of crowd reactions. That alone will make it an enjoyable outing, especially with it headlining a television special and not a standard premium live event.

However, it's extremely predictable that Paul won't win, similar to how he wasn't taken seriously as a threat to Roman Reigns or Cody Rhodes when he fought them for world championships in the past. Every time he falls short, it hurts his credibility as a main-event contender and confirms he'll stay slotted right where he is and always has been.

In other words, there's little upward trajectory for Paul in WWE. The company has gotten what they can out of him, but at this point in his run, even his opponents have nothing to gain from beating him.

Stale Act and Repetitive Builds to Matches

The predictable outcomes to Paul's high-profile matches wouldn't be much of an issue if the builds weren't all identical and uninspiring.

His SummerSlam program with LA Knight should have been way more exciting than it ended up being with both guys possessing the gift of gab. Instead, fans were subjected to a fairly tame feud with disappointing promos.

The road to Paul's WrestleMania match with AJ Styles largely followed the same formula. Virtually zero effort was put into making it matter with the two calling each other out on a few occasions and that being the extent of their bad blood. The match itself also underwhelmed.

His recent rivalry with Jey Uso has lacked a lot of substance as well with the focus primarily being on Gunther being next in line for a shot on the June 9 edition of Raw. Paul knocking out Uso three times hasn't been enough to convince viewers he has the slightest chance of walking away with the gold this weekend.

Worse yet, the constant interference from Paul's posse has watered down the finishes to his matches, regardless of whether he's won or lost.

After three years, the social media megastar has officially stagnated as a Superstar.

Infrequent Appearance Schedule Doesn't Make Him More of an Attraction

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Logan Paul boasts an overall record of 3-1 at WWE WrestleMania.

Logan Paul claiming to have transitioned into a “full-time” schedule with WWE upon arriving on Raw at the onset of 2025 was obviously designed to be in character because his matches and appearances haven't been that all that more frequent.

To his credit, Saturday Night's Main Event on May 24 will mark his fifth match of the year, four being on premium live events and one being on Raw. That said, that's in line with the exact same schedule he worked at this time a year ago.

The former United States champion would be exposed for being limited both in the ring and on the mic if he was around for more often. Currently, he's utilized by WWE as a “special attraction,” but now that he's exhausted most of his marquee matches and looks to be going through the motions, his appearances pack less and less of a punch each time.

It's the law of diminishing returns with him, and there isn't much WWE can do about it other than bringing him back when necessary to elevate others in an attempt to give them whatever mainstream rub he has left to offer.

Paul will go down as one of if not the best “celebrity” wrestler in WWE history and the memorable moments he's helped create can't be understated, but his ego trip inside the squared circle has just about run its course.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.