Penta Responds To Paul Heyman Praise From WWE Unreal (Exclusive)

Paul Heyman stands alone in his respect received from the professional wrestling business and those who sit under his learning tree. A titan in the industry for over four decades, performers and fans alike know: When Paul Heyman speaks, it's time to listen.

During the third episode of WWE: Unreal, the Netflix series that peaks behind the curtain of the inner workings of WWE that released its second season in January, Heyman was extraordinarily complimentary of Penta.

I know we said this in advance, I know we said this once he debuted. We got something with this f****** Penta. Here are two things, over time that you learn. One, you listen to the star pop when they come out. But you understand it’s just a star pop. But in the match, when they’re selling and they start to come up, what’s the reaction? ‘Cause that’s when they have to care about you, to make your comeback. It’s that 30 seconds that you’re selling and you’re coming up, it’s like, ‘goddamn it, I need to do this, I need to,’ and they rally behind you. Penta is over like a m***********. When he made the move for the ladder, they wanted him to win so bad.

I’m telling you, we’ve got something really special with him.

Penta Says The Praise From Paul Heyman Reinforces His Hard Work

In one year, Penta has risen to the top of the WWE Universe as one of the most popular Superstars on the roster. Not only is he consistently a part of major matches and promotions for the company, his biggest moment thus far came on March 2nd when he defeated Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship on Monday Night Raw.

When asked by TheSportster about Heyman's comments, Penta said that the praise fuels his drive to be the best in WWE, a fuel that undoubtedly pushed him to prevail over Dirty Dom.

Paul Heyman means everything [to] this sport. He knows everything you need to become a big star and everything. So I say thank you for the speech about Penta. I feel so proud [of] me. I feel so proud [of] all my people, all my fans. And I start [to] work, man. I keep going - hard work.

Penta Walks Into WrestleMania 42 A Champion, But Who's Next?

With a major career win under his belt with the Intercontinental Championship, Penta now walks into WrestleMania 42 with WWE gold around his waist. An exciting Superstar with as much agility as he has charisma, anyone who steps in the ring with him in Sin City will only benefit, but the question remains: Who will it be?

The easiest, and most likely, answer is that Dominik Mysterio will get his rematch, setting up another impressive outing between the two, but the Original El Grande Americano (who is definitely not Chad Gable) feels mightily overdue for a win for the Intercontinental Championship, going back almost two years without a successful win. Je'Von Evans would also be an excellent choice to challenge for the title, or it's possible we get a challenge from a freshly-turned baby face Finn Balor, having split from The Judgment Day and potentially giving Dirty Dom another reason to come after him should he be successful.

Whoever ends up in the ring with Penta will end up being one half of the potential Match of the Night at WrestleMania 42, and the fan excitement level for Penta will be at an all-time high. Penta's climb and stock within WWE will only continue to rise from this point, hopefully bringing him closer to a World Heavyweight or Undisputed Championship run.