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Today's edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup might as well be renamed the Paul Heyman Rumor Roundup. As you may have imagined, there are various stories doing the rounds regarding Paul Heyman's removal as the Executive Director of RAW.
Paul Heyman is the star of the show today but for all the unfortunate reasons.
Why did WWE strip him of his position? What was Vince McMahon's reasoning behind the surprising move? What was the backstage reaction of the Superstars?
How will his ouster impact the RAW roster and the Superstars who are currently getting pushed on the Red brand? Could Paul Heyman manage a different Superstar? Who was fired due to an incident during a Zoom conference call?
We have answers to all the questions mentioned above in the latest edition of Sportskeeda's WWE Rumor Roundup.
#5. Speculation on Paul Heyman possibly managing another Superstar
As confirmed by WWE, Paul Heyman is no longer the Executive Director of RAW, and he will now focus on his on-screen duties moving forward.
Tom Colohue revealed in his new YouTube video that there had been suggestions for a while that Paul Heyman could become the manager of other members of the roster.
Will Paul Heyman be given another WWE Superstar to manage?
Heyman could not do that as he was too caught up with his backstage role on RAW. Now that he is free from the creative burden on RAW, Tom stated that WWE could book him to become an advocate of a Superstar who is not Brock Lesnar.
It was noted that the part of the thinking behind WWE mentioning that Heyman would be concentrating his attention on his on-screen role could be a hint of the change to come.
Tom explained:
There have been suggestions for a while that Paul Heyman is someone that they could have acting as an advocate or manager of some other members of the roster.
However, thus far, because of the distractions of the Executive Director role that is not something that has come to fruition. That may be part of the thinking here and one of the reasons that it was mentioned that he would be focussing on his in-ring career, even though Paul Heyman, as we know, very rarely wrestles.
Brock Lesnar's sporadic appearances leave the door open for Heyman to manage other Superstars on TV. However, there is no confirmation that it will happen, but it does sound like a good plan to execute. If WWE does go down that path, who should he take under his wing?
#4. Apollo Crews' push could reportedly end soon
Apollo Crews was one of the many Paul Heyman projects that benefited on Monday Night RAW. With Paul Heyman now out of the decision-making position, Crews' push could reportedly come to an end sooner rather than later.
Tom Colohue reported in his new video that many people who were pushed under Paul Heyman's regime are likely to suffer going forward, and Apollo Crews could be a prime example.
Vince McMahon is also reportedly not a fan of Apollo Crews, which means that his US title reign could be cut short.
"A lot of people who were pushed by Paul Heyman in his time in that role, are likely to suffer now... Ricochet is someone we've already seen had the rug pulled out from under him. Apollo Crews is apparently someone that Vince McMahon really isn't a fan of, and we could see this push could end sooner rather than later."
It would be really unfortunate if WWE gives up on Crews as he hasn't even had enough time to showcase his skill set as a performer. However, Vince McMahon is back at the wheel on RAW and that doesn't sound good for Crews' immediate future.
#3. Chris DeJoseph was reportedly fired due to the comments he made during a conference call
Chris DeJoesph was fired from the WWE a few weeks ago and backstage details about his WWE departure have now come to light.
As revealed by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the former lead writer of SmackDown was on a conference call with two WWE executives during which he made a few unnecessary comments and Vince McMahon was informed about the same.
Vince McMahon then took the decision to fire DeJoseph.
Meltzer noted:
The consistent story is that he was on a Zoom conference call with Stan Stansky, the Senior Vice President of Creative Services, and Kevin Moore, the Senior Vice President of E-Commerce and Venue Merchandise. Essentially he said things that he shouldn't have and according to some versions came off to them in a bad way, and Vince McMahon found out and that was it.
It's interesting to note that Chris DeJoseph, who has been in the business for a long time, was promoted weeks before he was fired. He first worked for the WWE from 2004 to 2010 before returning as a creative team member at the end of 2019.
The veteran was one of the lead writers of SmackDown before he was shown the door.
#2. Reported reason behind Paul Heyman's removal and more backstage details
There are so many details about the Paul Heyman story that we don't know where to begin.
Let's start with the reason. Paul Heyman did not quit and it was reportedly Vince McMahon's decision to remove him as the Executive Director. Vince McMahon was said to be unhappy with the RAW ratings and it was added that the backstage situation on the Red brand was a 'mess' of late. Someone had to take the fall and it ended up being Paul Heyman.
A source told Dave Meltzer that Vince McMahon never really liked Paul Heyman and the news of his demotion wasn't a shocker.
The writing was apparently on the wall and Vince McMahon felt it was time to steady the ship on RAW.
That's not all. As per Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co, Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman were not on the same page as Heyman's long-term plan was to build new Superstars. Bruce Prichard's way of operating was said to be more in line with how Vince McMahon wants the shows to be run and that was the biggest reason why the RAW and SmackDown teams were consolidated and brought under Prichard's control.
Tom Colohue added that with XFL shutting down, Vince McMahon was left with more time on his hand and he has been more hands-on with RAW over the past few weeks.
It was a combination of factors that marked the end of Paul Heyman's year-long run as the Executive Director of RAW.
#1. Backstage reaction to Paul Heyman's demotion, impact on the roster
The fans are not pleased with WWE's decision but what about the talents backstage?
Sean Ross Sapp reported in a Fightful Select post that the initial reaction was that of general disappointment backstage. Others stated that the writing was on the wall as the situation behind the scenes on RAW wasn't that great.
The young talents, in particular, are dejected as Paul Heyman was a big proponent of pushing new blood on his shows. None of the Superstars knew about the news until the WWE announced it on social media. There are also no reports of there being any backstage incident or altercation between Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman. As things stand, Heyman and the WWE management are on good terms.
When it comes to the backstage impact, Dave Meltzer stated in the Newsletter that almost every talent barring a select few names are in danger of being affected.
Edge, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair are established names who will be safe. However, the others may not be so lucky. Even though Vince McMahon likes Drew McIntyre and the Street Profits, if push comes to shove, they may have to suffer the consequences of McMahon's decision-making.
Meltzer noted:
Still, with the exception of people like Edge, Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair and Randy Orton, who are locked at the top due to tenure as stars and proven ability to talk, this would open up a question as to virtually every other wrestler on the Raw roster, including McIntyre. The belief is that McIntyre and the Street Profits are liked by McMahon and are probably safe, although they will be more subject to the whims of booking that may or may not protect them as well. As far as everyone else, it's anyone's guess.
