Crazy news this morning folks. Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff have been named Executive Directors of Raw and SmackDown, in an official statement from WWE. You can see the press release here.
This has been confirmed to not be part of a storyline.
These are genuine backstage positions that they’ve created for the two of them. What this means, effectively, is that they will be heading up the creative teams of both shows, in a very official capacity.
This… is certainly interesting, and potentially a gamechanger. Heyman, for his part, is one of few to have actually made the creative system they use today work. He was the head of SD! during the fondly remembered SmackDown Six era, a style of product that I personally think would work excellently with the talent they have today. Bischoff on the other hand will be stepping into a creative role with WWE for the very first time, and I imagine he’s very motivated for that.
It’s true that neither of them are particularly new, fresh names. You could argue that now is really the time for younger minds to be in charge. But this is nonetheless a move that could seriously overhaul a product in dire need of it. In theory this should also make Raw and SmackDown feel like very distinct shows. These two are NOT going to want to create identical, cookie cutter products.
Now of course, this all hinges on one thing: how much Vince actually defers to Heyman & Bischoff.
The reason creative in WWE is so maligned is because no matter what writer signs on, Vince will effectively force them to write the same things he would. Trying to do that to these two would not work out very well for anyone.
But the fact that they’ve announced this so openly as headlining news on WWE.com is notable. Changes to the creative team are not usually made so loudly. The intent is clear: they want to send a message. This is a direct response to the intensifying criticisms, dwindling ratings and record low ticket sales. And in getting such respected names, it would seem Vince is atleast trying to find people he can actually bring himself to defer to.
Should they be allowed to do their thing, this could certainly lead to some fascinating changes in the coming months. Whether or not it works out remains to be seen, but we can hope for the best.
This creates an interesting dichotomy in wrestling.
Heyman & Bischoff, firing on all cylinders as WWE’s creative heads, as they go into this oncoming war with AEW, is fairly tantalizing. It furthers the narrative of old vs. new pretty convincingly. Paul E and Easy E will be out to prove that they still know how to get it done in today’s wrestling world. I’m certainly willing to let them try.
In the meantime all I can say is that they really missed out on the opportunity to refer them as Executive Vice Presidents…
