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Paul Heyman is no longer a backstage figure on RAW. WWE recently announced that Paul Heyman has been relieved of his duties as the RAW Executive Director in a move to 'consolidate' the creative writing process. Bruce Prichard, who was in his position on SmackDown, will now be taking charge of both brands.
In the eyes of many, this was a bad move. It's hard to disagree when Paul Heyman's presence on RAW backstage has been such a big difference-maker. Aleister Black is one such Superstar who has greatly benefited from Heyman personally ensuring his draft to RAW. In an interview on WWE Backstage, this is what Aleister Black had to say about Paul Heyman:
“Never in a million years did I think some kid from Amsterdam would be in a position not only would he be in the Money in the Bank and a fan favorite, but be informed and led by people like Paul Heyman. It’s mind-blowing … it’s necessary to have these people in my close circle because that is what’s going to elevate me to the next stage within the WWE.” (H/T WrestlingInc)
Paul Heyman's departure was reportedly due to RAW being a 'mess' lately. WrestleVotes tweeted:
Here are five major consequences of Paul Heyman being removed as RAW Executive Director:
#5. Possible change in the direction of the Women's division post-Paul Heyman
Becky Lynch has taken a long hiatus for a great reason, but there's no denying just how much it's going to affect the Women's division. The Man Becky Lynch was the RAW Women's Champion for over a year and was the central figure on the Red brand, arguably on the same level as any top male on RAW.
With Lynch gone, the direction of the RAW Women's division has had to make a major change and we can't be sure what it was when Heyman was around. There could be a bigger overhaul in creative plans, but we can only hope that it's for the better.
#4. A major inconsistency in the quality of RAW
One of the big problems that RAW has faced in the post-WrestleMania pandemic era is the level of inconsistency. While there have been quite a few solid shows with great storyline progression, it was often followed up by a week of programming that did nothing to gain interest.
This can't be solely blamed on Paul Heyman (though he did take the fall) because there are a lot of factors going into this. For one, there is a limited roster, where Superstars can choose if they want to work the tapings or not.
Another factor is the inflow of new talent and limited overall staff to help with the creative process. However, we don't anticipate this getting fixed with Heyman gone. Had WWE stuck with their guns, we would likely have seen a scenario where RAW would eventually gain back some consistency.
Bruce Prichard has too much on his plate right now and it's unlikely that we'll see a 100% focus on RAW. With Heyman in place, at least there was one name on each brand to give that required focus.
#3. Vince McMahon is going to take over the workload again
One of the main reasons why Vince McMahon hired Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff was to reduce his overall workload as he began to prepare for XFL. On a conference call, he said:
"I can't personally be in the weeds any longer and we have these two individuals who have a longer range of point of view and a developmental point the of view. Both of these individuals have extensive backgrounds in the business from various aspects and with the organizational aspects that they have and the depth of talent, executive talent we now attract is going to be really good for our business. And how much latitude they will have, that's again it allows me to have a broader overview of things and escape from just getting on the weeds. So they'll have a lot of latitude."
With Prichard taking on both roles at once, there's no doubt that Vince McMahon will be hands-on with the creative aspect again. While every idea and storyline runs through him and he has the final say, there's going to be a lot more micromanagement from him in the creative aspect again.
#2. The 'list' of Superstars to push narrows down
One of the best things that Paul Heyman did as the Executive Director of RAW was coming up with a "list" of Superstars he wanted to push. This included younger and fresher Superstars whom he wanted to eventually build the brand around, but it looks like that vision may not come to pass.
Some of the names included on the list were Aleister Black, [Buddy] Murphy, Apollo Crews, Drew McIntyre, and to an extent, Ricochet as well. These were only the names that we knew because a clear effort was made into pushing them.
He handpicked these stars and began to put a lot of emphasis on TV time for them - which is the first step to building a Superstar. Over the last two months, Apollo Crews has been the biggest Heyman success story (if you forget Drew McIntyre) as he went from being underutilized for five straight years and got a push and became the United States Champion.
We can only hope that Superstars like Crews can still thrive, but we fear that the list of stars benefiting from Heyman's presence will go down.
#1. Higher emphasis on part-time Superstars again
Brock Lesnar is a part-timer who gets the most emphasis on RAW and it's not even close. One of the good things about the last couple of years is that WWE began to give less importance to part-timers. Even as the on-screen advocate of Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman seemed to understand that he can't rely on him to build the program around.
With Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon, the vision of building RAW around younger Superstars might go for a toss, or be delayed for a while longer. Goldberg appears when he wants to, Brock Lesnar has a few scheduled appearances a year, Edge will be making more frequent appearances while there's a great deal of excitement over The Undertaker's future after his change in gimmick and the incredible 'Boneyard' match at WrestleMania 36.
Heyman's approach was to focus on younger talent and center RAW programming around them. That vision might not be implemented as well. While RAW hasn't been perfect, things take time. Paul Heyman was the right man for the job but such is the nature of WWE.
