Paul Heyman will no longer be involved creatively

[BestSportsEntertainer]

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/06/paul-heyman-removed-from-his-position-as-executive-director-671307/


WWE sent Wrestling Inc. a statement noting that the company is consolidating both teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group, which will be led by Bruce Prichard. The reason for the change is to 'streamline the creative writing process for television.'

WWE's creative process isn't the best so simplifying things makes sense.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Yes-man Bruce to the rescue!

[Y 2 Jake]

Raw was the best it's been in a while under Heyman. It was very boring.

[Jack-Hammer]

Can't say I was surprised to read this a few days ago, I'm just surprised it took this long.

In my opinion, the only way WWE is going to have any sort of chance to turn itself around is for Vince McMahon to pick someone to genuinely be head of WWE creative. I don't mean someone who has the title alone while Vince has the actual power to decide what does or doesn't happen, I mean he has to pick someone and say "Okay, I'm giving you a free hand. Within legitimate reason, what you say goes creatively and I'll give you 6 months to turn things around." I feel that things such as dumping the scripted promos, give the fans organic storylines to invest in, allow the wrestlers opportunities to get over organically the way their predecessors always did, get rid of the corny comedy skits and cheesy soap opera drama storylines, make your mid-card and tag team championships matter consistently, book your champions as strong champions and actually pay attention to what and who the fans are responding the most to. Maybe it wouldn't work but, then again, maybe it would. What I do know is that doubling down and doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results is not only insane, but it just simply won't work. Viewership for Raw has been dwindling steadily for a good decade; more and more fans are just growing tired of the way WWE does things and WWE does things the way it does because that's how Vince McMahon wants them done. So why not actually try something different, give it time to be fleshed out and see if it works?

Now, the coverage of COVID-19 on the news every night is a big reason for WWE's ratings woes right now, but one of the other big excuses Vince gave during WWE's Q1 report is that so many new stars are being featured. Simply introducing new faces without really giving them time to resonate with fans or fans a chance to acclimate to them, and reasons to acclimate to them, isn't going to help things.

However, Vince will do the same old thing he always does in that he'll go back to putting as many much older and/or established stars as possible into prime spots.

[OYDK]

Didn't seem like Heyman was doing a great job to be honest. While I commend him for attempting to shine the spotlight on new guys, I agree with the idea that he was focusing on the wrong talent. Are there two more bland wrestlers on the roster right now than Apollo Crews and Humberto Carillo? Where's Kevin Owens? What was Styles doing before being moved to Smackdown? Why is Aleister Black being lost in the shuffle? What the hell is with this Viking Raiders/Street Profits feud? I get that a lot of the above may have to do with McMahon than anyone else, but Heyman certainly didn't seem to be fighting it.

It would probably be a different story if Heyman had complete creative control, but that will never happen. Might as well hire someone who can work around Vince instead of against him.