Ranking Every WWE Smackdown General Manager - From Worst To Best
5. Paul Heyman
After Stephanie McMahon's term as SmackDown's first General Manager came to an end, she was replaced by Paul Heyman. Heyman had spent most of the previous two years dealing with Brock Lesnar - first as a client, and then as a rival - but when he took the office, he and Lesnar were able to patch things up.
That meant bad news for anybody who was feuding with Lesnar - including Kurt Angle. Heyman helped Lesnar put together a Survivor Series team to take on Angle's, one comprising Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, A-Train, and Big Show. Despite the size advantage, the team fell to Angle, Chris Benoit, John Cena, Bradshaw, and Hardcore Holly.
What Paul Heyman's tenure as SmackDown GM lacked in historical significance, it made up for in pure entertainment. Even in the early 2000s, Heyman had established himself as one of the most entertaining personalities in WWE, and seeing more of him on TV was a good thing. His GM role was also a nice acknowledgement of the fact that Heyman had helped craft the SmackDown brand behind the scenes.