For as remarkable of a run as Roman Reigns has been on as undisputed WWE universal champion, his advocate Paul Heyman deserves acknowledgment, too.

The mastermind behind Extreme Championship Wrestling will be enshrined into the WWE Hall of Fame over WrestleMania 40 weekend in Philadelphia—ECW's base for many years—before accompanying Reigns to the ring for record-setting back-to-back main events at WrestleMania 40.

Heyman has been by The Tribal Chief's side since the very beginning of his heel run in August 2020 and has seen his stardom reach unprecedented heights in this role, making him the perfect person to serve as both director and executive producer of Reigns' upcoming episode of A&E's Biography: WWE Legends.

The documentary will chronicle Reigns' decorated career and the pivotal part The Wise Man played in his success, most notably The Bloodline's rise to power and domination of WWE.

Ahead of his induction into the Hall of Fame, Heyman sat down with Bleacher Report to discuss getting to know the man behind Reigns, what "inning" he believes The Bloodline is in now, why he finally accepted the Hall of Fame honor, and more.

Check out the complete video of the interview on the next slide and read on for the highlights.

When He Feels Roman Reigns Entered 'Legend' Territory

Reigns is among an elite few subjects of an A&E Biography episode to still be active on the WWE roster—an intentional act, according to Heyman.

Not one to be a man of many, The Tribal Chief handpicked his Wise Man to both direct and executive-produce the piece, knowing he needed someone who knew him intimately to tell his tale from a passionate perspective and present it in a light he felt was authentic, "warts and all."

"What you see on WWE television is exactly what you get," Heyman said. "SmackDown is the greatest reality show in the history of television because on the Friday nights you get to see Roman Reigns, you get to see an authentic portrayal of the top star in the entire industry. He presents to you the responsibility and the obligation and the accountability of being the top star, and he has no problem articulating the burden of being the top star, not only in WWE but the entire industry as well.

"That's something no one else has ever accurately portrayed, certainly on the cinematic level that Roman Reigns has portrayed it, in the history of sports entertainment."

The film delves into how Reigns has handled the pressure of being the face of WWE and following in the footsteps of John Cena, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels—all of whom are interviewed for it.

Opinions will vary, but Reigns cemented his status as a modern-day legend years before becoming The Head of the Table, according to Heyman.

"Midway through the last decade I think Roman Reigns was worthy of being called a legend, when he had already main-evented three or four consecutive WrestleManias and this was while he was still 'The Big Dog' Roman Reigns and we had not entered the era of 'The Tribal Chief', which was August 2020," he said.

"I think he was already a legend when we got paired together on television and everything that he accomplished before August 2020 would—by our design—pale by comparison by what gets accomplished after August 2020."

What 'Inning' Is The Bloodline in Now?

Heyman claimed The Bloodline was only in its "third inning" during the SummerSlam 2023 press conference, which has turned into a running gag of sorts among fans since then.

Reigns and Co. have had a stranglehold on both the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and WWE TV as a whole since the storyline's start almost four years ago.

To think it has merely scratched the surface of what more it could turn into is almost unfathomable. But not to Heyman.

Although the impending Hall of Famer refused to reveal what exact "inning" The Bloodline is in, he did provide an intriguing answer that adds even more uncertainty to the outcome of the WrestleMania 40 Night 2 main event between Reigns and Cody Rhodes.

"I gave a baseball analogy at one point, and people have been challenging that analogy ever since, mostly because everyone now understands that baseball is fake, so baseball analogies don't hold in our world," Heyman said.

"I'm going to be hesitant in naming in what inning that we're actually in except to suggest that with the advent of Solo's [Sikoa] rise up the ladder and the inclusion now of The Rock in The Bloodline—acknowledging Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief—that no matter what inning we're in, we're playing a ballgame that is most likely going into extra innings at some point."

WWE Being 'Storyline-First' Under Triple H

The consistent quality of WWE programming as well as an extra emphasis on storytelling since Triple H took over as the company's chief content officer has been significant, to say the least.

In many ways, The Bloodline has led that charge on TV. The angle alone will go down as one of the greatest in WWE history—and it's seemingly far from finished.

An argument can be made for the Bloodline drama jumping the shark at SummerSlam 2023 when Jimmy Uso betrayed his brother, Jey, and rejoined the faction after departing just one month earlier, but there is no doubt it remains the most must-see act in all of WWE with interesting wrinkles always being added.

"I think under the creative guidance of Paul Levesque [Triple H], the audience is more cognizant of our pursuit to define storyline-first at all times, but it has been that way for us since August 2020," Heyman said.

"Just the very way that we revealed Roman Reigns was no longer The Big Dog and Brock Lesnar's advocate was about to become a special counsel/Wise Man, and The Big Dog was about to become a Tribal Chief. Just the way we let that play out on television was the infancy of the Bloodline storyline.

"So, it's always been storyline-first for us, and it took until the Paul Levesque era for the audience to realize just how much we incorporate the mantra of storyline-first at all times."

Origin of The Wise Man

Heyman is considered by many to be the greatest manager in the history of the business, and his lengthy list of accolades can heavily support that claim.

On television, though, he has always labeled himself as an "advocate," regardless of his clientele at any given time. He revealed that the nickname stemmed from his father being a regular in court during Heyman's adolescence and relentlessly referring to the judge as such.

The special counsel and Wise Man mantras came directly from Reigns.

"I would've never called myself The Wise Man because that name roots in WWE folklore," Heyman said. "There were three managers in the northeast in the old WWWF: Captain Lou Albano, Fred Blassie and Ernie Roth, who was known as The Grand Wizard. They had a monopoly on the antagonist/villain side of the WWWF for a generation. They were known collectively as the Three Wise Men of the East.

"To call myself The Wise Man after growing up under the Three Wise Men of the East would be sacrilege. I couldn't give myself that name.

"One day," he continued. "Roman Reigns said, 'You are my Wise Man,' and it moved me to tears because it is perhaps the greatest honor ever bestowed upon me in or out of this industry with the exception of my children calling me dad."

Heyman added that he tries to live up to that every day with every performance being an audition for the next time, stressing that "you're judged by your worst performance and my worst still has to be better than anyone else's best."

Why He Accepted WWE Hall of Fame Honor This Year

It was more a matter of when than if Heyman would take his place among the industry's most celebrated icons in the WWE Hall of Fame.

In years past, the company has shied away from inducting any wrestler or personality still active on television, so it didn't appear to be a possibility for the foreseeable future.

WrestleMania 40 emanating from Philadelphia—his home away from home thanks to his success with ECW in the late 1990s and early 2000s—among other factors convinced him to accept the honor this year.

"I was surprised I accepted, too," Heyman said. "I have been offered the WWE Hall of Fame a few times already and I've turned it down because I never wanted to do it while still active because in my heart my perspective is, if I'm going to accept this lifetime achievement award and continue on for a little while, there's not much of a goal for the future.

"The goal for the future right now is to make everyone regret asking me to accept this honor this year because the true value of my Hall of Fame career came after 2024. That the heights I can reach after this induction make what I did before this induction pale by comparison.

"I accepted the award, number one, because it's in Philadelphia and it's a unique opportunity that we're a few blocks away from the ECW arena," he added. "Number two, my kids have been nagging me about it for years. Number one, they really do want to see their father get honored; and number two, I don't think either one of them wants to give a speech after my death."

His Admiration for Triple H

With Vince McMahon completely removed from WWE as of January, the Hall of Fame Class of 2024 is the first to be put together with Triple H exclusively at the helm and naming nominees.

That was not lost on Heyman, who has worked close with The Game over the years and recognizes the role he's had in ushering in the boom period WWE now finds itself in.

"This is the first year that Triple H—Paul Levesque—has chosen the entire class of the Hall of Fame," he said. "One of my life's great honors has been witnessing the work that he's done as the chief creative officer in WWE. The shoes he has to fill, the accomplishments he has to live up to is a task that no man or woman would ever look at with a reasonable perspective, And he has not only lived up to it, but we are also in the midst of the hottest run in not only the history of WWE but in all of sports entertainment.

"To be the first person named to the Hall of Fame, to be the first headliner of a class that he has chosen, is one of the greatest honors of my career and my life—and it would be a terrible disservice to Paul Levesque if I were to have turned that down," Heyman added.

"Out of respect and admiration for the man himself and the job he's done, I'm honored to be inducted this year. Plus, it's in Philly. Plus, it's WrestleMania 40. Plus, for once, it gives me something to shut my damn kids up."

Biography: WWE Legends airs this Sunday, March 31 on A&E at 8 p.m. ET.

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.