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WWE made a surprising announcement where they revealed that Paul Heyman will no longer be the Executive Director of RAW going forward. Bruce Prichard, who performs the same role on SmackDown, will take over the role on RAW as well.
Heyman and Eric Bischoff were assigned these new roles last year, but both have now been replaced by Prichard on RAW and SmackDown respectively. WWE revealed that this decision was made to "streamline our creative writing process for television". They said in their statement that Heyman will now purely be an "in-ring performer".
What could be the reason for Heyman getting the sack? Let's take a look at 5 reasons why Paul Heyman was removed as Executive Director of WWE RAW:
#5 To send a message to shareholders
It's tough for WWE to garner strong viewership figures during this pandemic, but RAW - which is supposed to be WWE's marquee brand - has struggled quite a bit over the last two months.
The Red brand's viewership figures have slid consistently, with this past week's viewership ratings at just 1.737 million viewers. This is quite an alarming drop since the start of the year. SmackDown has done a lot better, despite last week's viewership ratings seeing a bit of a slide at 1.984 million viewers.
With WWE being a publicly-traded company, Vince McMahon and co. must have been alarmed at the dip in viewership for RAW over the last few weeks, which has prompted the decision to remove Paul Heyman from his role on RAW.
Assigning a new person as Executive Director could be a way to give confidence to shareholders, and show them that WWE as a company is doing everything in their power to change the fortunes of the Red brand.
#4 Bruce Prichard's good work on SmackDown
As mentioned in the previous point, Bruce Prichard, who was appointed as Executive Director of SmackDown last October, following the dismissal of Eric Bischoff, has done a good job at the helm of affairs of SmackDown. This could be a major reason why he was given the role that Paul Heyman has been doing on RAW as well. SmackDown has garnered more viewership over RAW in the last few months, which puts Prichard in a better position than Paul Heyman in the eyes of Vince McMahon.
The Blue brand has put out some interesting storylines, which include the Mandy Rose-Otis romantic angle, which has been a hit among fans, as well as Braun Strowman's Universal title run, and decent tag team matches.
Prichard could replicate that success over on RAW, and use newer ideas and storylines, while also giving some Superstars a new lease of life on RAW. The Red brand desperately needs some freshness added to it to bring viewers back to the brand which Paul Heyman was struggling to do.
Prichard could even bring some SmackDown Superstars who have been underused on the Blue brand over to RAW to give them new opportunities and try to up the ratings to a respectable level.
#3 To focus on his on-screen role
Paul Heyman is one of the best performers on the mic in WWE, and he has been an important component in Brock Lesnar's stories over the years. Heyman's talents on the mic should be used more often by WWE, but that hasn't been possible because his client, Brock Lesnar, has a part-time contract with the company which sees him appear only rarely on WWE television.
The former RAW Executive Director could potentially use his words to good effect to represent some other Superstar on the Red brand. There are some Superstars who have a good look and are great in the ring, but their skills on the mic may be one-dimensional or may not have clicked with the audience.
One Superstar that comes to mind is Aleister Black. Black is menacing, can be great to watch in the ring, but somehow, fans have not backed him on RAW. He could use a manager like Paul Heyman, who can weave stories with his eloquence on the mic.
#2 The writing was on the wall
Following his dismissal as Executive Director of RAW, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful spoke to some Superstars backstage. Some of them were disappointed as Paul Heyman had given opportunities to younger Superstars, and most were surprised at WWE's announcement. Others backstage have reportedly said that the writing was on the wall with regards to Paul Heyman's removal as Executive Director.
We are not quite sure what they meant by this, but could it perhaps mean that there were some disagreements between Heyman and other people in power backstage?
Heyman and Vince McMahon have previously butted head, which led to his exit in 2006, and he's known to be a vocal figure, who has been steadfast and backed his ideas. There were some rumblings about a disagreement between Heyman and McMahon last year, as reported by Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue.
Heyman has been given a lot of creative freedom backstage, going by various reports, and this not resulting in good viewership could have resulted in WWE deciding to release him from his Executive Director position.
#1 Interference from Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon still has creative control, despite being 74 years age and having been at the helm of affairs for four decades. McMahon no longer has to run XFL, which he revived, but it run aground due to the coronavirus pandemic. A report by WrestlingNews has revealed that the WWE Chairman is more involved with RAW than SmackDown which made Paul Heyman's job difficult.
A WWE source I spoke with told me that Heyman did not quit and this was a decision made by Vince McMahon after expressing frustration with the Raw ratings. Another source told me that McMahon is more involved with Raw than SmackDown and that made Heyman’s job much harder as he had to try to push his ideas while trying to keep McMahon happy. Meanwhile, Bruce Prichard on SmackDown is said to be more in line with what McMahon wants.
Paul Heyman had the figure of the WWE Chairman right behind him at all times, like a school teacher looking over a student's answers in class. This interference from McMahon perhaps did not help Heyman's ideas be pushed on RAW, while Prichard is someone who reportedly agrees much more easily to McMahon's creative ideas.
