Paul Heyman and the Best WWE Mic Mastery for Week of September 28

Even in an abridged diatribe, Paul Heyman flashed his expert WWE salesmanship.

Heyman's promo on Monday's Raw was not the masterpiece fans are used to seeing from him, but that speech in Buffalo, New York, was the best we have seen of the build to Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show at Madison Square Garden. In retrospect, WWE should have allowed the advocate more mic time. He was in the process of transforming an underwhelming matchup into a clash for the ages.

The squared circle's best mouthpiece was just a handful of lines away from hitting another home run.

Credit: WWE.com

When Heyman sat down with Steve Austin on his live podcast earlier this year, he told a story of how Dusty Rhodes once offered him a critique of one of his promos. "Where's the money?" Rhodes asked him, as in what was Heyman selling with that speech?

That reminder to always zero in on the next big match or the next major event that the promotion is selling has clearly stayed with Heyman.

He now serves as WWE's king merchant. His performance on Monday's Raw, truncated or not, was a master class in how to have fans buy into a forthcoming main event. 

Heyman wasted no time in laying out the who, what and where of Lesnar vs. Big Show. And he did so with his usual lyrical flair.

"I am truly the devil's advocate because in the month of October, anyone who steps into the ring with my beast shall go to hell," he told fans.

With that line, he not only reminded the audience of his client's monstrous nature, but plugged the Go to Hell Tour as a whole. He soon focused in on the match at hand, though. "This Saturday night hell will descend upon Madison Square Garden."

Utilizing his trademark passionate, demonstrative delivery, Heyman made it sound like we were set to see two mythological creatures collide in the netherworld, not a warm-up bout ahead of Hell in a Cell.

He promised that Lesnar would dig "his sharpened claws into the 450-pound blivit known as the Big Show."

And suddenly, despite the general apathy many fans have for Big Show of late and the fact that the giant offered minimal resistance in their last meeting, interest in this battle surged. That uptick in the match's significance should come as no surprise.

Heyman has been making these types of on-the-money sales pitches on a regular basis.

During Heyman's speech, Three Man Booth commented on his skills as a salesman:

The provocateur narrowed his focus more. He began to speak about Big Show specifically. This is where the heart of this promo lies.

The issue with Big Show getting this crack against Lesnar is that it's hard to buy him as a threat. Sure, WWE has treated him like an unstoppable force in the last few weeks, but before that, the World's Largest Athlete was failing to dethrone Ryback. He was Roman Reigns' springboard.

No matter. Heyman twisted those losses into something other than struggling.

Credit: WWE.com

He painted Big Show as a bored, unmotivated competitor. As Heyman told it, the giant wasn't demolishing the roster because he wasn't getting challenged enough. "No one can push the Big Show to his limits," he explained.

Heyman looked to sell the crowd on Big Show's power and size. Using a play on a standard phrase, he described the big man as a "larger-than-larger-than-life athlete." Of Big Show's KO Punch being a devastating weapon, Heyman said, "You're damn right that worries me."

As Aubrey Sitterson of the Straight Shoot podcast pointed out, playing up the opponent's strengths is one of the things Heyman excels at:

He did so here, doing his best to morph Big Show into a monster rather than a meal. 

Heyman didn't get enough time to complete the job. Big Show strode in and the segment's energy shifted in a new direction.

Still, Lesnar vs. Big Show is far better off having Heyman pitch it to fans. And students of the wrestling game have another masterful Heyman clip to study.

After Saturday night, WWE's attention will move toward Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell. Leading up that collision, the company can't do as it did here and wait until the last minute to insert Heyman. A master salesman like him needs to be more central to the build.