WWE Raw: Paul Heyman’s removal will hurt brand’s rising stars
Vince McMahon has, once again, made a rash decision, and WWE Raw will suffer.
Sometimes it seems remarkable how Vince McMahon has taken WWE so far, because he consistently makes a decision you’d expect from an absolute amateur. Over the past several months, Paul Heyman has been busy building the next generation of stars on WWE Raw, earning the trust of the locker room in the process.
Early into a rebuild that was supposed to take between one to two years, Heyman has already been removed from his position as a reflexive reaction to a decline in ratings which almost certainly has more to do with factors outside wrestling.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer News’ Dave Meltzer, via WrestlingInc.com’s Raj Giri, “a lot of” wrestlers on WWE Raw are worried about the future without Heyman.
More from Daily DDT
- It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
- Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
- Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
- Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
- Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline
And they should be. We’ve seen how Vince McMahon shut down Heyman’s attempts to push two excellent young stars in Cedric Alexander and Ricochet, who held championships to great effect on Triple H-led brands.
It takes time to build new stars, which is why some wrestlers haven’t quite broken out, and it will thus take time for the ratings and interest in the product to reflect the hard work.
But the foundation has been set by Heyman already. Look at how excellent Drew McIntyre has been as WWE Champion; the fans have really taken to him since WWE went all-in on his push at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 36.
Other wrestlers are in much better positions now, such as Apollo Crews, Aleister Black, and Angel Garza.
But Heyman has been slowly building to something better for each of them. The same goes for members of the women’s division, most prominently Liv Morgan.
That said, Heyman has had some failings. His sensational storylines all backfired, wasting valuable television time that could have been used on actually building up future stars. Raw’s had some bright spots in the women’s division, as Becky Lynch, Asuka, and Shayna Baszler were among the show’s top performers in 2020. Yet more could have been done with wrestlers like Ruby Riott and Liv. And since Bianca Belair’s exciting call-up to WWE Raw, she hasn’t been used much.
Still, Raw’s young wrestlers – and the show as a whole – are in a better place with Heyman’s leadership. It seemed like he was setting the wheels in motion and doing his best despite a pandemic and multiple roster changes, including Charlotte Flair’s brief NXT Title reign.
Next. Dominik Dijakovic needs to join Seth Rollins. dark
Hopefully Vince continues to believe in wrestlers like McIntyre, Garza, the Street Profits, Zelina Vega, Aleister, and others Heyman was positioning for a big future on Monday nights.