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What's the story?
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer is reporting that Paul Heyman plans to end WWE’s authority figure storylines in his new role as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw.
In case you didn't know…
Authority figures became an integral part of WWE programming following the 2016 brand split, with Stephanie McMahon (Commissioner) and Mick Foley (General Manager) running Raw and Shane McMahon (Commissioner) and Daniel Bryan (General Manager) running SmackDown Live.
Since then, we have seen multiple changes to the authority system on both brands, with Kurt Angle and Baron Corbin handling on-screen business on Raw and Paige having a short stint as SmackDown Live GM.
In December 2018, WWE’s decision-makers axed the Commissioner and General Manager positions and it was announced that Triple H, Stephanie, Shane and Vince McMahon would have the power to book matches on both main-roster brands.
The heart of the matter
Following Paul Heyman’s appointment as the new Executive Director of Raw last week, comments have come to light from an Inside the Ropes live show in which he explained that he does not feel the need for wrestling shows to have General Managers.
Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentioned that Heyman does not want to be a GM himself and he plans to end WWE’s ongoing authority figure storyline.
“He was very adamant about not wanting to be an authority figure on television. That’s one of his key things. The authority figure thing has been played out years and years and years ago, and it’s one of the changes that he wants. No authority figure stuff on television.”
What's next?
If Paul Heyman does indeed decide to end WWE’s authority angles, it will be very interesting to see how the likes of Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon are used in on-screen roles moving forward.
