WWE Rumors: Paul Heyman’s Reported Plans For ‘Monday Night Raw’ Prior To His Firing Revealed
Citing Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sportskeeda reported on Friday that Paul Heyman reportedly had specific plans for WWE Monday Night Raw that would have taken 18 months to complete.
Heyman, who was let go from his executive director position earlier this year, reportedly wanted to build the roster around younger superstars. When he sat down with Eric Bischoff, who was hired in the same role for the Friday Night SmackDown brand at the time, he was even willing to give up top stars such as Bray Wyatt in order to focus on the future.
According to the report, Heyman required the services of AJ Styles and Randy Orton. Since both performers are established veterans, he felt that they wouldn’t be hurt by taking losses. However, when it came time for their respective programs at this year’s WrestleMania, the company was less enthused about making either superstar lose in the lead-up to the event.
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were also viewed as valuable to Heyman due to their relationship with Styles. In recent weeks, however, Gallows and Anderson, along with Styles, have been criticizing Heyman in interviews, as they believed he was behind their releases back in April.
Their stories suggested that the former executive director didn’t want to push either performer toward the end of their WWE tenure. According to the rumors, he also felt that the former Tag Team Champions didn’t justify their price tag.
The report stated that Heyman also wanted to target the Hispanic demographic, which is why Humberto Carillo was brought to the red brand last year. Carillo was also joined by Andrade and Angel Garza, indicating that Heyman had big plans to cater to that audience.
He also had a vision for Ricochet and Cedric Alexander. Both of these stars were given brief pushes during Heyman’s term as a backstage official, but Vince McMahon didn’t agree with his vision for them, which is why they’ve both been relegated to the lower midcard recently.
While not every superstar mentioned above has been successful on the red brand, Heyman was reportedly behind the pushes of Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. He supposedly saw McIntyre as championship material, which has proven to be the case.
Lashley, despite being a veteran, was also viewed highly by Heyman as he felt the performer hadn’t been utilized to his full potential since joining WWE. Lashley is currently featuring heavily on the red show, and it doesn’t appear as if he’ll lose his push any time soon.
