Paul Heyman Removed From WWE Creative Team
Bruce Prichard will lead WWE's new, consolidated creative dept.
A major shakeup has gone down in WWE's creative department, as the promotion has announced the consolidation of their Raw and SmackDown writing teams.
This means that Paul Heyman has been removed from his position as Raw Executive Director. He will effectively be replaced by SmackDown chief Bruce Prichard, who will be the creative lead for both mainline brands going forward.
WWE released the following statement on Thursday evening:-
"In an effort to streamline our creative writing process for television, we have consolidated both teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group, led by Bruce Prichard. Paul Heyman will concentrate on his role as an in-ring performer."
Heyman had served as an Executive Director since June 2019. Promoted at the same time as Eric Bischoff was brought back to the company to lead SmackDown, his fingerprints were soon all over the Monday night brand, with flourishes of edginess breaking through familiar tropes and styles, though major, fundamental changes weren't forthcoming. Regardless, his demotion will be mourned by many fans.
Prichard returned to the promotion in October 2019, replacing the departing Bischoff. He has traditionally been considered a closer Vince McMahon ally than Heyman so his elevation isn't a massive surprise.