In spite of naming Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff Executive Directors of Raw and SmackDown respectively as a full month ago, their transition into their roles has been a slow one. Paul Heyman’s influence has crept up week to week, whilst Bischoff is still easing in to merely appearing regularly at the tapings. But the word is that atleast for the Raw side some real progress has been made. Per a report from F4WOnline, last night’s Raw is said to have had more Paul Heyman influence than any other before it.
Coincidentally, this past Raw was also much better received than others in recent weeks…
At a glance, you can see his fingerprints growing. Raw ended with a truly chaotic brawl that included eight superstars fighting all across the arena fit with a dive off a titantron. Dolph Ziggler coming out to Shawn Michaels’ music was reminiscent of previous creative ideas of Heyman’s as well. The gauntlet match saw a keen investment in getting younger stars over, always a hallmark. But most distinctively to me was Brock Lesnar’s prolonged destruction of Seth Rollins. It included a moment in which Lesnar F-5’d Seth leg-first into the turnbuckle post. This hearkened back to the days of the SmackDown Six, when Lesnar did the same to Zach Gowen.
You could say this is a retread, but I see it as a very deliberate message. This was a spot we’ve seen only once, during the last period where Heyman truly had a real say in WWE’s creative. To see it again seems to be a statement that he really is in charge now, atleast as much so as he ever will be.
You can see a clip of the assault in question below:
It’s easily among the most violent assaults I’ve seen on Raw in some time, probably in quite a few years. Each F-5 seemed more brutal than the last. We’ve seen Lesnar destroy Rollins before and even put him on a stretcher in the past. But this one was certainly a bit different. And it needed to be, this is a long-running feud at this point and it needed a spark like this ahead of SummerSlam.
Raw’s certainly gotten edgier over the past few weeks, and going by this segment even a little bloodier. Which is hilarious in contrast with Vince talking about AEW being all ‘blood and guts’. To me, PG was never the issue so much as just putting on a product that felt cool. NXT convinced me you can be PG and still feel cool. That said, if you want an edgier product, there’s no better man to turn to than Heyman. Suffice to say he has a good track record with making that come across well. It’s an area where so many have failed miserably trying to duplicate his success, really.
But the important thing about him is always that he’s never been one to look back. He’s forward thinking, supportive of younger stars. And despite his age, he’s always kept a finger on the pulse of modern pop culture as well as what’s working in the wrestling business. That’s what Raw and WWE as a whole desperately needs right now. Hopefully he can deliver it.
