Brock Lesnar's WWE contract expiring in 2020 allowed for Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to be paired together as an on-screen act.

Reigns was off TV for the majority of the summer of 2020, having taken some time away from WWE at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When he came back, Roman was portrayed as a heel for the first time as a singles star, which along with his new partnership with Paul Heyman, turned him into the megastar that we all know and love today.

Roman Reigns' career-defining 2020 return

Reigns came back to WWE in August 2020 as a heel, attacking Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman after the pair's SummerSlam main event.

In another genius move from WWE, the subsequent episode of SmackDown five days later saw Roman form a partnership with Heyman that, even two years on, is still going strong.

Just two days later, Reigns won the Universal Championship, a title that he still holds now, even over 700 days later.

Roman's return as a heel, as well as his alignment with Heyman, helped turn him into the utter megastar that Vince McMahon knew he could be back in 2014.

How did Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman's iconic partnership come to be?

Speaking to Logan Paul on the latest episode of his IMPAULSIVE show, Roman revealed how his alliance with Heyman came to be.

Reigns stated that, at the time, Brock wasn't even under WWE contract, which meant that Heyman had nothing to do for WWE as an on-screen talent.

So, as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion stated, Heyman wasn't working on TV at the time, and as he felt like a partnership between the two would work, it was pitched, and the rest is history.

Below are Roman's full quotes on the matter, via WrestleTalk...

Brock (Lesnar) was in between contracts so Paul (Heyman) was kind of wide open, and it just fit, you know? He had that open creatively. He was still just working behind the scenes from a creative standpoint and then once it opened up

When Reigns and Lesnar feuded last year, spilling over into this year, WWE played up a storyline where it was unclear who Heyman would side with.

After flirting with the idea of reforming his iconic act with Brock, Heyman stayed loyal to Roman, a decision that many WWE fans were hoping for.

Heyman has been off TV since SummerSlam on July 30, with it being believed that Triple H wants him to sell being attacked by Brock at the show six weeks ago.

As of right now, there is no word on when Heyman is expected to be back on TV, but WWE is said to want him to return in a big way.