Discussing Potential New Permanent General Managers
1. Paul Heyman
WWE.com
As the advocate for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman already has a position of power that most would be envious of. With the most dominant athlete in recent memory under his tutelage, he would have little problem intimidating people into being offered a position of power. It will also mean that Heyman can feature on TV more talking about the power of the WWE Champion, who has been entirely absent since defending his belt at Night of Champions in September.
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Bam Smack Pow
Heyman also fits the bill as a prominent figure in wrestling history. Starting as a manager of stars in WCW, he promoted the cult brand of ECW from 1993 until it closed in 2001. Since then he has been linked to WWE and has done everything a non-wrestler could do. Beginning as a commentator, he then became a backstage writer for SmackDown whilst the on-screen manager for the likes of Brock Lesnar, Big Show and Kurt Angle. Following this came his stint as the General Manager of the blue brand in 2003-04, and he left before returning to run the watered-down return of ECW in the second half of 2006.
Since then he has worked hard to limit his schedule to spend time with his family. But Heyman’s connection with the fans has remained absolute, and as a heel he can keep the crowd in the palm of his hand and hanging on his every word like nobody else. His promo skills, reputation and relationship with Lesnar therefore would make him impeccable as an Authority figure. He would mix a fair approach to the mid-card whilst maintaining his heel status by keeping his champion strong.
However, Heyman would likely be pushed away from this position for a number of reasons. Although he is supreme on the microphone, he has limited his schedule, and would likely be reluctant to appear every episode of RAW and SmackDown. Also, with the nefarious activities of the Authority still fresh in the mind, it would be unlikely that they assign another clear heel as the manager.