Eric Bischoff made a guest appearance on tonight’s Raw as an official for the wedding renewal vows between The Miz and Maryse.
Bischoff appeared in a backstage segment and thanked the Miz for letting him be the official. He officiated the vows in the main event segment of the program that was eventually ruined by Edge.
Bischoff had left the company back in October of 2019 after briefly serving as an executive director of SmackDown. He has made several appearances on AEW television since 2020, including an appearance back in May of this year, hosting a party featuring Inner Circle members. He was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year.
The main event of Raw had Miz and Maryse exchanging vows. Eric Bischoff eventually interrupted himself, saying that everyone knows where this is going. This led to Edge coming out and running down Miz. After mentioning that he hoped they weren’t expecting a white wedding, The Brood’s music played and what appeared to be blood fell from the ceiling, landing on Miz and Maryse.
AEW head Tony Khan said that while he respects Eric Bischoff, the former WCW and TNA executive’s recent comments about him were “laughable.”
On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said that his advice to Khan would be to “shut up and wrestle,” admitting that the comments may seem strange coming from him. Bischoff said the difference is that he was actually going to head-to-head with WWE every week and that Khan was “inventing mistakes” by both comparing AEW to WWE and deriding the competition without actually going head-to-head.
“That’s real competition,” Bischoff said, adding that he was disappointed in some of the rhetoric he’s heard Khan say. He added that talent should also “shut the f**k up” until they are actually competing.
He also seemed to take offense to Khan comparing this era to 1996, saying he kicked Vince McMahon’s ass back then and that it’s not “cosplay” competition like AEW vs. WWE.
Speaking on Wednesday’s Busted Open Radio, Khan said that was he amused by the comments and that he respects that Bischoff is doing an act.
“I really like Eric and was surprised by (his) comments because they were coming from Eric Bischoff who is probably the last person to say the president of a wrestling company should be quiet,” Khan said, later adding, “This is the ultimate example of glass houses considering how he conducted himself as the head of WCW.”
Khan said that he is balancing stars like CM Punk and Chris Jericho with emerging TV wrestling stars like Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks and that Bischoff ran out young talents like Jericho and Eddie Guerrero from WCW while he is committed to keeping them.
“It would be naive to look at this and not examine the person talking is Eric Bischoff,” he said. He never addressed Bischoff’s other criticisms.
Bischoff has made several appearances on AEW Dynamite in various role and Khan has called him a friend in the past.
While not mentioning WWE by name, Khan said he thought it was “aggressive” what WWE came in with on last Friday’s extended edition of SmackDown, putting some of their big talents commercial free against Rampage. He contemplated changing up his lineup to have a bigger box office match, but stuck to his guns and worked with TNT to make the Punk vs. Matt Sydal match commercial free, bumping back an ad break.
“I didn’t ask for (this head-to-head). Someone came into our time slot aggressively and it wasn’t the first time they made an aggressive move like that,” he said.
During his appearance, Khan also said that he is planning on doing a college football/AEW Dynamite countdown show Saturday but didn’t say when or where it would air.
Eric Bischoff will make his return to AEW Dynamite this Friday, reunited once again with one of his old employees.
On Busted Open Radio Wednesday, Chris Jericho revealed that Bischoff will host “A Celebration of The Inner Circle,” a segment designed to honor the group if it is their final time together as a unit.
The reason for that possibility is that the faction will face their rivals The Pinnacle at Sunday’s Double or Nothing in the second-ever Stadium Stampede match. If MJF”s Pinnacle wins, Jericho’s group must split up forever.
The Pinnacle defeated the Inner Circle earlier this month at Blood & Guts with the Stampede challenge being laid out on the following Wednesday’s Dynamite by MJF to Jericho after the Inner Circle ruined their celebration.
Bischoff was the moderator of last August’s debate between Jericho and Orange Cassidy ahead of their Mimosa Mayhem match and then returned to ask questions as part of the media for The Inner Circle town hall last October.
The 2021 WWE Hall of Fame class has its second member and one that decades ago wouldn’t have ever seemed possible: Eric Bischoff.
Bischoff is a former executive producer, executive vice president and president of WCW, a former executive producer of TNA, and a former executive director of WWE SmackDown. Bischoff also has an extensive on-air resume with AWA, WCW, WWE and TNA, and has also made sporadic cameo appearances for AEW.
Bischoff was informed of his induction on Thursday’s After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph. The ceremony will stream on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network worldwide on Tuesday, April 6.
Triple H tweeted: “@EBischoff has done so much for this industry both in front of and behind the camera, creating some of its biggest characters and events. Now, it’s time to take his place in the #WWEHOF! Congratulations Eric!!”
Jim Ross tweeted: “Congrats to my friend @EBischoff on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021! Deserved and earned!”
After last year’s Hall of Fame ceremony was canceled due to the pandemic, this year will see both the 2020 and 2021 classes inducted. Last year’s class was comprised of Batista, the NWO (Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman), Nikki Bella & Brie Bella, JBL, British Bulldog, and Jushin Thunder Liger.
Eric Bischoff appeared on AEW Dynamite tonight as the moderator for the Chris Jericho/Orange Cassidy debate.
Bischoff came out and asked questions to both Cassidy and Jericho. In the end, he chose Cassidy as the winner, noting that the answer to an unrelated question regarding climate change helped him decide.
Announcers noted that this was the first time Bischoff appeared on TNT since the summer of 2000. That was the period when Bischoff and Vince Russo were in charge of WCW programming. He also appeared via phone call on the second to last episode of Nitro in 2001.
Bischoff most recently was a part of WWE creative, serving in a creative role as an executive director of SmackDown. Last October, it was announced he had been replaced by Bruce Prichard, who has since taken over as executive director for both Raw and SmackDown.
Cassidy and Jericho will face off in a singles match next week on Dynamite.
After the second WWE Smackdown episode on FOX and completion of the draft, Eric Bischoff was fired by WWE and was replaced by Bruce Prichard as the Executive Director of Smackdown.
The idea still remains to have Raw and Smackdown be separate entities with the idea that the Executive Director, and their wrestlers, would be in competition with the other brand when it comes to things like television ratings, live events and other business measurements after the brand split goes into effect. Still, it’s hard to be in real competition when Vince McMahon’s fingerprints and the WWE system is still in place with both brands with at best only minimal changes. Bischoff and Paul Heyman were hired to head up Smackdown and Raw in late June. Heyman, who had been with the company for years, started immediately and Bischoff started a few weeks later after moving to Stamford, CT.
On the day after it was confirmed that he’s no longer with WWE, Eric Bischoff was announced for the next Starrcast convention.
Bischoff will be appearing at Starrcast IV, which is being held in Baltimore, Maryland from November 7-10. Bischoff previously appeared at Starrcasts I and II.
Conrad Thompson — the founder of Starrcast — co-hosts the 83 Weeks podcast with Bischoff.
WWE announced yesterday that Bruce Prichard is replacing Bischoff as the executive director of SmackDown. Prichard will report directly to Vince McMahon and will “oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business.”
Bischoff tweeted yesterday: “Bruce is a great producer, good friend and I am certain he is going to thrive in his position. He’s going to be working with a great team of the most dedicated and hard working people I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know.”
Starrcast IV is taking place on the weekend of AEW’s Full Gear pay-per-view. The convention isn’t an AEW event but has coincided with All In, Double or Nothing, and All Out and features collaboration with the promotion.
Full Gear is taking place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, November 9.
The most important week in recent pro wrestling history reached strong heights before ending with an embarrassing low.
The Wednesday Night War began, with AEW Dynamite debuting on TNT opposite a stacked episode of NXT on USA. SmackDown made its move to FOX two days later and featured an appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a WWE Championship change, and the debut of Cain Velasquez. Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view looked like it was only going to be a footnote, but the main event made the show memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Here’s a look at three stories that defined the week:
1. AEW wins first night of Wednesday night ratings war
Pro wrestling returned to TNT last Wednesday as the premiere of AEW Dynamite averaged 1.409 million viewers. That topped the 891,000 viewers that NXT averaged. In the 18-49 demo, AEW posted a 0.68 rating — second for the night on cable and more than double what NXT did.
Smackdown on FOX, the ratings, what they mean, how this relates to Raw, the Velasquez vs. Lesnar and Fury vs. Strowman matches is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer.
This week’s Observer also covers:
How FOX did with the competition, how FOX did compared to last season’s premieres, how the show did in Canada, note on how the kickoff show did, match-by-match and how the ratings changed, who drew big and who didn’t, the usage of legends, the story behind Velasquez’s negotiations, the end of Kingston’s reign, plus match-by-match coverage.
What went wrong with Hell in a Cell, the disaster of a main event, the reactions by fans, Vince McMahon’s reactions to those reactions, how the match order hurt the show, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Wednesday night war with ratings, where both sides lost viewers the most, the fall from the first week on TNT, the average viewer age for AEW and NXT and how different the makeup is, how every segment on both shows did.
What segments were strong set with what age groups, and how teenage viewership both shows differs greatly.
Smackdown draft, 205 Live going forward, the plans for Saudi Arabia, why the cruiserweight distinction in NXT makes no sense anymore, new WWE signings, Mae Young Classic, WWE injuries, Goldberg and Matt Riddle situation, Hulk Hogan wants a match with Vince McMahon, former Miss America contestant signs with WWE, U.K. star moves to Florida, remake of “Badstreet USA,” value of WWE stock, most-watched shows on WWE Network over the past week, plus notes on every live event by the WWE main roster and NXT this past week with business notes, results and highlights.
Jeff Hardy’s recent arrest and a look back at his other issues over the years.
A full report on the UFC show from Australia, the record crowd, business notes, and a look at Israel Adesanya.
The situation with Dragon Lee going forward as well as where WWE and AEW may fit in, his being pulled from the New Japan tour as well as a look at this year’s Junior heavyweight tag team tournament that starts this coming week.
A full report on the debut of NWA Power, the new Internet television show Billy Corgan and Dave Lagana have put out, glory days of Georgia Championship Wrestling and its ratings, a look at Nick Aldis as NWA champion, business notes and economic realities regarding the company as well as what kind of Youtube numbers the different shows are doing.
Full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
A special preview of WWE Backstage will air tonight following the Astros-Yankees ALCS game on Fox Sports 1. Triple H will be on the show to announce a trade between Raw and SmackDown. Renee Young and Booker T will be joined by Paige and Christian. Shawn Michaels and Sting will also be on the show to break down their favorite match.
On Twitter, Eric Bischoff commented on Bruce Prichard replacing him as the executive director of SmackDown: “Bruce is a great producer, good friend and I am certain he is going to thrive in his position. He’s going to be working with a great team of the most dedicated and hard working people I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know.” WWE has confirmed that Bischoff is no longer with the company.
Cain Velasquez on Ariel Helwani’s show mentioned that WWE is allowing him to work one more AAA date.
Maria Kanellis on Instagram noted that she has not asked for release and attempted to clear up misconceptions about her and Mike’s situation: “1. Family first. 2. I love and support my husband. 3. I make no apologies for either of my pregnancies. 4. Mike never went to rehab nor did WWE pay for it. 5. Mikes addiction was from about September 2013-July 2017. 6. We debuted in June 2017. 7. He never took time off. 8. I have not asked for my release. 9. You can unfollow me at anytime if you don’t like what I stand for. 10. Suck it. P.S. Have a nice day!”
Roman Reigns spoke to Forbes about how fans reacted to the finish of Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend at Hell in a Cell: “I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect. Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.
Tommaso Ciampa tweeted about returning to the ring against Angel Garza on tomorrow’s episode of NXT: “I had neck surgery on March 7th. At the time, I was told that my estimated return date was March 7th, 2020. Tomorrow, I have my first match back. That’s 142 days ahead of protocol. Good luck, Garza.”
WWE posted an AOP video with them reacting to not being picked in the WWE Draft. In the promo, AOP said they’re going to take their frustrations out on somebody sooner than later.
AEW uploaded The Lucha Bros, Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Private Party & Best Friends from AEW Dark with Spanish commentary from Alex Abrahantes and Dasha Kuret (formerly Dasha Fuentes in WWE).
The firing of Eric Bischoff, which was not a shock to those close to the situation, happened this morning.
Both Bruce Prichard and brand head writer Ed Koskey will be the main people in charge of the show going forward. What was interesting is that Bischoff was brought in partially on the recommendation of Prichard and the two had been working together on the show.
In other WWE news, regarding the Crown Jewel show, Seth Rollins at this point is only scheduled to work one match on the event, his falls count anywhere Universal Championship match with Bray Wyatt. Rollins was originally set to be the captain of Team Hogan in the five vs. five Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match. As of right now, he is no longer scheduled for the match and his removal will likely be addressed on television over the next week.
Regarding The Usos, after Jimmy’s most recent arrest for a DUI in late July, The Usos and Naomi were all taken off the road. While they were at a recent television taping backstage, there is right now no creative for them nor return date, nor a decision regarding which brand they will be with. Because of that, they weren’t involved in the draft.
Also, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan have been broken up as an act.
WWE has confirmed that Eric Bischoff is no longer with the company.
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Less than four months after he was announced for the position, Eric Bischoff is being replaced as executive director of SmackDown.
WWE issued a press release today announcing that Bruce Prichard has been named the new executive director of SmackDown and will report directly to Vince McMahon. Prichard “will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business, replacing Eric Bischoff.”
Prichard returned to the WWE creative team this February.
In June, WWE announced Paul Heyman as the executive director of Raw and Bischoff as the executive director of SmackDown, hyping that “the creation of these roles further establishes WWE’s ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.”
Bischoff moved to Connecticut for the role at the beginning of July.
SmackDown made its FOX debut on October 4. This past Friday’s episode was the first night of the WWE Draft.
As it turned out, the latest Raw re-set, using Eric Bischoff in the role of figurehead GM, was of much bigger proportions than any of the previous ones.
Unlike the others, which added old favorites and re-mixed talent, the 7/22 Raw was like a completely new show. There was a 180 in the attitude of the company in recent weeks away from pretending that nothing that happened outside of WWE historically mattered, to instead rebuilding based around a storyline recreation of the Raw vs. Nitro real feud that propelled the industry to its greatest heights.
Using Bischoff as the catalyst and as the star of the new Raw, they are building a strong Raw vs. Smackdown feud and apparently making the two shows as different as possible, both moves that were needed from the start to make the brand extension work. But it went much farther, as Raw was reminiscent of an angle and gimmick laden show, and was supposed to look like the glory days of Nitro.
WWE hit the reset button for about the seventh time over the past year with a new storyline of feuding Raw and Smackdown General Managers featuring the debut of Eric Bischoff on the 7/15 Raw at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ.
In the new storyline, Vince McMahon will phase down his television presence, with Bischoff playing the slimy heel GM of Raw, and Stephanie McMahon playing more of a ruthless babyface GM of Smackdown. The idea of the new storyline is that the rosters will be shaken up, with both sides making trades and also raiding the other roster, so there will be a more frequent change of the talent mix. The feuding GM storyline was an idea those in the company are crediting to Vince (McMahon, not Russo, although there is a story there as well), who came up with it right after the last reset just five weeks earlier when Vince destroyed the feuding owners gimmick in a desperation move by killing the Ric Flair as owner storyline in an attempt to take focus away on 6/10 in Atlanta from the fact that Steve Austin had left the company.
Joseph Currier recaps Extreme Rules, which saw Brock Lesnar cash in to again become Universal Champion.
Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view ended with Lesnar cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Seth Rollins to win the Universal title. After Rollins & Becky Lynch defeated Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans in the main event, Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out with the briefcase. Rollins charged at Lesnar, but Lesnar gave him two German suplexes. The bell rang to start the match — and Lesnar hit an F5 to again become Universal Champion.
Rollins will get his rematch for the Universal title at SummerSlam next month. He won a number one contender’s battle royal on the post-Extreme Rules edition of Raw, defeating Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Corbin, Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Big E, Bobby Lashley, and Cesaro.
Rollins’ three-month reign as Universal Champion ended up being pretty lackluster. It started strong with a great defense against AJ Styles, but Rollins’ matches were only as good as his opponents allowed them to be. It’s difficult to succeed when the majority of your PPV title defenses are against Corbin.
A look at Paco Alonso and his role in running the most traditional of all pro wrestling promotions, and what happens next with CMLL, is the lead story i the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at Alonso’s death, an update on who will be running the company, how things will stay the same, what could change, the 2008 Hall of Fame election, and the career of Alonso as a promoter including the wrestlings wars he was in and the boom periods he presided over. We also look at where things stand and why Alonso is the only promoter with so much tenure in the business who has never lost money promoting wrestling.
We look at the first show of the G-1 Climax tournament, including unique aspects of the crowd, the business notes and what was good and bad about the crowd, this week’s G-1 bouts, Dallas coverage with star ratings and poll results and will AEW and NJPW promote together any time soon.
We also look at a Saturday with five major shows, running down all of them and the story behind the change in WWE policy.
We also look at Dwayne Johnson and Conor McGregor earnings, Reigns winning award, new signings, Reigns talks why AEW isn’t competition, WWE’s latest network strategy, ideas that were nixed of late that were pitched, Eric Bischoff update, Stock price notes, new WWE television show, most-watched shows of the week on WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the arena events of the past week with results, highlights and business notes.
We’ve got full coverage of UFC 239, with all the different stories that came out of the show, the judging of Jones vs Santos, the future of several fighters, all of the business notes regarding the show as well as match-by-match coverage, fighter pay, and poll results.
We also look at the changes in All Japan Pro Wrestling and what it means going forward.
We also have coverage of the Impact PPV show, where Impact stands, how the PPV did, the crossover in buyers of Impact with other companies as well as match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
We also run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
SmackDown tonight will be at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Several segments have been announced, including a town hall meeting hosted by Shane McMahon. Daniel Bryan will also make a “career-altering announcement.” Two matches have been set for tonight, including The IIconics vs. The Kabuki Warriors for the Women’s Tag Team titles and Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose vs. Ember Moon and a mystery partner.
205 Live tonight will see Chad Gable return to the brand to face Jack Gallagher in a rematch from last month. Akira Tozawa vs. Samir Singh is also set, and Mike Kanellis will be in action.
Per Dave Meltzer: “Eric Bischoff is not in Worcester tonight. Bischoff has had zero impact on tonight’s show, was not involved in any creative meetings putting it together.”
Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported that Finn Balor will be taking two months off from WWE starting sometime in August. Balor began a program with the returning Bray Wyatt on last night’s Raw.
TMZ Sports reported that police documents allege that Jeff Hardy was “passed out in a public stairwell and reeked of booze” prior to his public intoxication arrest on Saturday morning. It was also noted that Hardy admitted to police that he had been drinking vodka. Hardy paid a $153 ticket and — assuming he doesn’t fight the ticket in court — the case is considered to be closed.
Rhianna Sammut, a 17 year old who suffers from systemic mastocytosis, visited the WWE Performance Center, met with Stephanie McMahon, and attended an NXT taping on the latest edition of SportsCenter’s “My Wish” series.
Jim Ross noted that he was invited to attend next week’s Raw Reunion but politely declined: “Because some are asking, I was cordially invited to attend #RAWReunion by @VinceMcMahon but I politely refused. @TonyKhan left it up to me. Nonetheless I hope the #RAWReunion is a ratings success.”
Today is Bobby Lashley’s 43rd birthday.
Pro Wrestling
GLOW’s Betty Gilpin was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in this year’s Emmy Awards. GLOW was also nominated for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy or Variety Program, Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic), Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Period Costumes. WWE Raw wasn’t nominated for Outstanding Structured Reality Program.
The first episode of AEW’s Road to All Out, which will premiere on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, will feature a sit-down interview between Jim Ross and Shawn Spears.
John Nord was recently sentenced to five years probation following a March 23 arrest for felony driving while intoxicated/operating a car while under the influence of a controlled substance. The Star Tribune reported that Nord, 59, has ALS and uses a wheelchair.
Austin Gunn, the son of Billy Gunn, has been announced for ROH’s Top Prospect Tournament. The tournament will begin at Mass Hysteria in Lowell, Massachusetts on Sunday.
This week’s episode of Fusion is now available on YouTube. Teddy Hart & Brian Pillman Jr. vs. MJF & Richard Holliday in a ladder match for the MLW Tag Team titles headlined the show.
Former UFC fighter Abel Trujillo has been arrested and charged with obscenity and sexual exploitation of a child in Colorado. His next court appearance will be on Thursday.
Alen Amedovski vs. John Phillips has been set for UFC’s show in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 28.
Cris Cyborg threw shade at UFC by praising Bellator’s Featherweight division. Her next match, which is against Felicia Spencer on July 27, is the final one under her UFC contract.
Pedro “El Perro” Aguayo, a wrestler who is widely believed to have drawn more live fans to matches than anyone in Mexico, and at a level of all but a few in history, passed away on 7/3 at the age of 73.
Aguayo, Rey Mendoza and Gori Guerrero are generally considered as the three biggest stars in the history of Lucha Libre who were not masked wrestlers. Known for brawling, bleeding and throwing his body around, Aguayo made his name as a heel and as he got older was one of the most beloved wrestlers of any wrestler in history.
His family reported the death without any other information.
Aguayo had been battling dementia in recent years and was kept from doing public interviews when his son, Perro Aguayo Jr., passed away after an in-ring accident on March 21, 2015, at the age of 35.
The Aguayos are one of only five father-and-sons in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, along with the Funks (Dory Sr., Dory Jr., Terry), The Guerreros (Gori, Eddy), The Harts (Stu, Bret), The McMahons (Vincent James, Vincent Kennedy) and the Guzmans (El Santo, El Hijo del Santo).
It’s rare when professional wrestling news comes out of nowhere in this era, but a bombshell regarding WWE creative broke last week.
WWE announced via Sports Illustrated that Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff are joining the creative team in newly-created positions. Heyman will be the executive director of Raw, while Bischoff will be the executive director of SmackDown. Both will report directly to Vince McMahon.
While describing their roles, WWE stated that Heyman and Bischoff “will oversee the creative development of WWE’s flagship programming and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business. The creation of these roles further establishes WWE’s ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.”
Sports Illustrated reported that there aren’t any current plans for this to be part of a TV storyline.
