An Honest Assessment of WWE's Logan Paul from One of His Haters

Professional wrestling has welcomed celebrities from every corner of sports and entertainment for decades.

Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler made headlines with their feud in the early 1980s, celebrities like Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T have participated at WrestleMania, and Hugh Jackman has even thrown a punch in a WWE ring.

Nowadays, the most recognizable celebrity involved in pro wrestling is Logan Paul.

I know. I'm not happy about it, either.

In case it wasn't clear from the headline, I'm no fan of the social media star. In fact, I could easily be described as one of his haters.

But I also take pride in my ability to judge a performer based on skill. Despite the fact that I'd be happy if Paul never appeared in a WWE ring again, I do understand why the company is working with him.

Before we get to his WWE career, let's start at the beginning.

Many people's first exposure to the 29-year-old was through social media. I never watched any of his YouTube exploits but if you were online when he first rose to prominence, you couldn't avoid seeing the hairdo that looked like the offspring of every haircut from A Flock of Seagulls.

He came across as the typical bro. His vibe was that of an entitled kid who didn't care if he rubbed people the wrong way. Sometimes, that's a quality to admire in a person, but not when you find them annoying.

However, what turned me from being indifferent about him to being a "hater" was filming content in a Japanese forest that was known for suicides.

For full disclosure, my father took his own life roughly three months before the Paul incident took place, so it was still a fresh wound I was dealing with. In fact, I still am to this day. Paul may have apologized, but I didn't care because we don't know each other and neither of us should care what the other person thinks.

For a few years, the number of times I saw his stuff being circulated on social media seemed to dwindle. It wasn't until he entered into the realm of gimmicky boxing matches that he returned to my radar.

Out of curiosity, I watched a couple of his fights. While I certainly didn't mind seeing him lose to KSI, I couldn't help but be kind of impressed. This guy may be a YouTuber, but he has athletic ability that can't be denied.

Over the course of a couple of years, Paul successfully rebranded himself from being a YouTube standout to being a professional athlete with his own energy drink and a successful podcast.

Then, he showed up on WWE television and I let out a sigh so long it may have set a world record. Pro wrestling is the thing I have loved since I was a kid, and now this guy I can't stand was going to come in and get a quick payday.

Or so I thought.

What I assumed would be one or two matches has grown into a multi-year run that has seen him work 13 bouts, challenge for the Universal Championship twice, and win the United States title.

He was initially paired with The Miz, which was a stroke of genius on WWE's part.

The A-Lister came from the world of reality TV before being a WWE Superstar and has continued to expand with movies, reality shows and other ventures. In many ways, his path paralleled Paul's.

Even though I'm a fan, I acknowledge that The Miz is not everybody's cup of tea, but he did good by Paul. Not only did he help him enter the world of wrestling in his first match against Rey and Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 38, but he was also his first opponent in a singles bout at SummerSlam 2022.

Here are my tweets from those nights so you can see how I felt at the time:

Those matches were decent, but it was his third fight that really opened a lot of eyes. When he challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel 2022, he put on one of the best performances by a celebrity in a WWE ring.

Granted, many would say Reigns being as good as he is meant he carried Paul, and there may be some merit to that, but you can't have a good match with only one good wrestler. It's a dance.

A great wrestler can get a mediocre match out of a bad wrestler, but his opponent needs to have some level of talent for the whole thing to be good. As much as we like to say stars like Bryan Danielson and Becky Lynch could get a good match out of a broomstick, that is hyperbolic.

When the 2023 men's Royal Rumble match rolled around, WWE got the viral moment it was hoping for when Paul and Ricochet springboarded into each other from across the ring. People underestimate the sheer athleticism it takes to pull off something like that.

Not only did we get a highlight-reel moment, but the Ohio native also showed the world that he was not resting on his laurels. His athletic ability is what has made him so much fun to watch.

This would lead to a feud later in the year, but Paul first suffered losses at WrestleMania 39 against Seth Rollins and in the men's Money in the Bank match in July.

During both performances, he continued to establish a reputation as someone who was not only willing to take big risks but also put in the work to improve.

With each match, you could see the YouTuber showing more comfort in the ring and a greater understanding of how to sell. After just six bouts, he had cemented himself as one of the most dedicated celebrities WWE has worked with.

With a string of four defeats, WWE needed to give him a way to build some momentum to justify having him pursue a title again, so his feud with Ricochet was reignited.

The One and Only took Paul to his limit at SummerSlam 2023 but ultimately lost to the rising star.

It was at this point WWE decided it was time to put a belt around his waist, and since it wasn't going to be the world title or the Intercontinental Championship at the time, the United States belt was the best option.

At Crown Jewel 2023, Paul faced off against one of the men he and The Miz defeated in his debut match, Rey Mysterio. The challenger had already established his willingness to cheat against Ricochet, and he did the same against The Master of the 619 to win the title.

He pretended to show respect to a clearly upset former champion to illustrate that not only was he a heel, but he was also one who rubbed salt in his opponents' open wounds.

This is when it felt like a lot of pieces were falling into place. Paul was learning how to work a crowd and get the desired reaction whenever he wanted every time.

Whenever WWE needs someone to make another person look good, Kevin Owens is the man to call. His incredible mic skills, in-ring ability and love from the fans made him the perfect choice to take on the new U.S. champion at the 2024 Royal Rumble.

Paul won by disqualification to retain after KO was caught using the brass knuckles he didn't even introduce into the match.

It was a bittersweet moment because we got the moment of seeing Owens knock him out immediately followed by the revelation that the ref spotted the knucks.

Paul's next two matches were an Elimination Chamber qualifier against The Miz on the February 16 episode of SmackDown and the actual Chamber contest eight days later.

Even though he did not leave the PLE as the victor, he made a new enemy when he cost Randy Orton the win by knocking him out with his brass knuckles.

With both The Viper and Owens looking to get some revenge, WWE booked them in a Triple Threat match with Paul at WrestleMania 40.

Orton and KO were integral during the buildup by palling around and having fun at Paul's expense.

The social media star was essentially walking into a handicap match. Even with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller as allies, he was the underdog in every way.

At this point, the United States champion had a dozen matches under his belt across two years. Even I couldn't reasonably deny this kid gets it. He knows how to lean into the hate and be a bad guy while still embracing the young fans who grew up on his YouTube videos.

He even worked out a deal to have the logo for his Prime energy drink in the middle of the ring and advertising at every WWE show. Even on episodes without his presence, his brand is everywhere.

Most recently, he battled Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship in what was easily his best bell-to-bell performance to date. The American Nightmare is a ring general and made sure Paul was going to leave King and Queen of the Ring with a loss and a lesson.

In the end, Paul was still a winner because he came away from the show having proved he is not some flash in the pan. He's an athlete who is taking every bout seriously and doing his best to outdo every previous appearance.

Paul's next rival has been established as LA Knight, a man who has had a meteoric rise of his own in WWE.

It will be the showdown of The Megastar vs. the Social Media Megastar. Knight is as over as anyone in WWE over the last few months, making Paul the perfect foil.

I'm still a hater, but I can admit Paul's work shouldn't be overlooked or denied. He came in, learned, did the work, kept improving and justified WWE's choice to work with him by repeatedly upping the ante. Most importantly, he's earned the respect of many fans and wrestlers.

He has an energy drink brand that is raking in money, a massive following, a hugely successful podcast and a fiancee who is due to give birth to his first child. He's living the dream and doesn't need to care about what the haters think.

After two full years and 13 matches, it's safe to say that if Paul wants to stick around, he is going to be here for a long time.

And I'll be watching along the way.