USA Network unhappy about Paul Heyman's removal as WWE Executive Director on RAW

WWE shook up the wrestling community on 11th June, when they suddenly made the announcement that Paul Heyman was no longer the Executive Director of WWE RAW. Instead of Heyman, that position no longer exists. Instead, WWE has announced that Bruce Prichard has been announced as the leader of the joint WWE creative team for both RAW and SmackDown. Now, it has come out according to a report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling News) that the USA Network is not happy with the removal of Paul Heyman from his position on WWE RAW.

In an effort to streamline our creative writing process for television, we have consolidated both teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group, led by Bruce Prichard. Paul Heyman will concentrate on his role as an in-ring performer. https://t.co/KOahV2sO5q
— WWE (@WWE) June 11, 2020

Expand Tweet

Paul Heyman's removal from WWE RAW position has upset USA Network

Paul Heyman has always had a very unique vision for any show that he is managing. When he was in charge of ECW, he made sure that the show would have a hardcore fanbase who are yet to forget about ECW and what it meant to them.

15 years ago!! ECW One Night Stand, one of the most exciting PPVs ever. @HeymanHustle & the ECW originals made an amazing statement that night; that there was nothing quite like ECDub. Fair play to WWE, giving Heyman the keys to the kingdom to create something EXTREMEly special pic.twitter.com/sjuenP2QBn
— Gorilla Position (@WWEGP) June 12, 2020

Expand Tweet

Paul Heyman was absolutely in control of WWE RAW as well and the show saw him push a certain number of WWE Superstars. Drew McIntyre has reached a new height during Paul Heyman's tenure on WWE RAW. According to Dave Meltzer, they are very unhappy with the changes made to RAW, by removing Paul Heyman. USA Network reportedly understood this was a rebuilding period and the ratings were low because of the pandemic and not anything else.

“I know USA [Network] was unhappy with the change, very unhappy by the way. I don’t think that they were happy with the ratings [but] they understood the ratings. They were told a long time ago that this was a rebuilding period and it was gonna take time and they understood that. The ratings were a lot higher and then the pandemic came and that’s what really knocked it down the last three months. The same with SmackDown. I cannot imagine Fox being thrilled the ratings either, considering what they were expecting.”

With that being said, Paul Heyman is unlikely to come back in the creative position again, even if WWE changes their mind, which does not seem too likely at the moment.