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Paul Heyman was the RAW Executive Director for close to a year. He was appointed in July 2019 and took the brand in a completely different direction. While many fans praised Paul Heyman for his vision of pushing younger and current superstars, the clash with Vince McMahon was always going to happen.
While there were reports that their relationship had gone sour, Paul Heyman's words seem to suggest anything but that. Paul Heyman has been in a bad position with WWE before where he walked out on bad terms, but things were different this time around.
Speaking to ESPN's Ariel Helwani on his MMA Show, Paul Heyman explained what happened when he was RAW Executive Director and why Vince McMahon fired him (H/T Wrestlingnews.co):
"I served at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon and there came a day I was no longer at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon. When I took the role of Executive Director, I made an agreement with Vince McMahon. I want this job as long as every morning Vince McMahon woke up, he said thank God or whatever deity he subscribes to [that] Paul Heyman is looking after the store on Raw. And the day that Vince McMahon didn’t wake up and feel that way, I didn’t want the job anymore.
Despite rumors of a bad relationship, Paul Heyman stated that it was a different experience, especially given how it happened over a decade ago. He insisted that after getting released by Vince McMahon, there were hugs and smiles and handshakes. He also praised Vince McMahon for not throwing him under the bus publicly:
I’ve been in a similar role when Vince was not happy with me and it’s a miserable existence. I didn’t want it and apparently on that day on that given time and given moment, Vince didn’t wake up that morning thanking whatever deity he subscribes to that Paul Heyman was in charge of Raw. We left with a smile, a handshake, and a hug. Absolutely no harsh feelings and actually better feelings about each other because of the way that it ended because it’s ended miserably before. And proof positive of that is on the quarterly earnings call, when asked about Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon didn’t say ‘eh, we needed a new vision, eh we needed someone else, eh he ran his course, eh he was great but we had to go with this other person.’ Vince McMahon’s only comment was ‘I thought he did a great job creatively.’ My run in terms of serving at the pleasure of the chairman was up and then this opportunity presented itself both for me, for Roman and for WWE and we all jumped on it.
Paul Heyman was subsequently replaced by Bruce Prichard, who went from taking the responsibility on SmackDown and was made the lead head of creative for both brands.
Why Paul Heyman is in a better place now
Despite the incredible alliance that we've seen on SmackDown, the "new" Roman Reigns seems like anything but a Paul Heyman guy. The dynamic is entirely different from what it is with Brock Lesnar and it was a change that even Paul Heyman needed after being in the same role for close to a decade.
It's perhaps better for Paul Heyman now that he's an on-screen character again and he also gets to explore unchartered territory in his career.
