THIS Is The One Man Who Can Save WWE

The prospect of Heyman usurping Triple H as successor isn't at all remote. The level of trust placed in him is quite extraordinary, even if he is still operating within certain, debilitating confines you'd expect he'd dispense with in an alternate timeline. Heyman has an eye for and is patient with talent, has for years created an incredible aura around Brock Lesnar, has conspired to sequence three hours of RAW in such a way that it doesn't feel quite as long, and books with a knack for the big angle and the episodic story beat alike.

There's too much in the way of big picture thinking and passé shock value, though; that Lesnar aura rarely benefits anybody, and the cuckold and wedding angles are short-term ratings grabs that don't reverse WWE's perception as the goofy, lame monolith. The darkened rooms and spiders imposed on Aleister Black and Erick Rowan give the impression that his brain is still wired in the worst of the '90s, and there's a real carny element to his bait-and-switch tactics that masquerade as cute. That carny complaint extends to his quite weird and desperate stipulations. Fist Fights? Mosh Pit Mixed Tag?

Heyman is a product of his time. As vastly improved as RAW is, it's still a very WWE show, and ratings have only barely improved under his quasi-stewardship.

If Vince McMahon isn't the present, and neither Triple H nor Paul Heyman are the future...who is?

CONT'D...(3 of 5)