Tag: RAW

Backstage Notes On Paul Heyman Influence On This Week’s RAW, Was Corey Graves’ Line Scripted?, Eric Bischoff SmackDown Note

Paul Heyman reportedly had “his fingerprints” all over last night’s WWE RAW episode, with most of the material going through him, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. However, Vince McMahon and red brand head writer Ed Koskey were the main ones discussing the show at the big production meeting for this week’s RAW, not Heyman.

Last night’s RAW was not 100% Heyman’s show, but it was a “very heavy Paul Heyman” episode, essentially his first as the new Executive Director of the red brand.

It was speculated that Corey Graves’ “Holy s–t!” line after the stage explosion with Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley may have been scripted. Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the line was scripted. We had noted earlier how WWE didn’t use the 7+ second delay to bleep the word. There was reportedly a feeling that they did the line to add to the recent efforts to make RAW seem more edgier.

Fans online seem to be under the impression that Heyman ran last night’s RAW as it came off as a better episode compared to what we’ve seen in recent weeks. There was a light “thank you Heyman!” chant in the American Airlines Center following the stage explosion angle with Strowman and Lashley last night. Regarding that explosion angle, WWE used the overhead shot backstage because they wanted to make it look like it wasn’t a part of the planned show.

Heyman did appear on RAW as Brock Lesnar’s advocate, in a backstage segment to get WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits over, but there are still no plans for him to be an authority figure on TV. Heyman has been very adamant about not working an authority figure role on WWE TV, with the feeling that the role has been played out for years. One of the changes Heyman reportedly wants to make is doing away with the authority figures.

New SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff is expected to be at tonight’s blue brand show from San Antonio. Bischoff’s “fingerprints” may end up being on tonight’s SmackDown, but word is that his first official episode will be the post-Extreme Rules show on July 16.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Mentions AEW In Social Media Error During RAW (Photo)

It’s very possible that a member of WWE’s large social media team was reprimanded during this week’s WWE RAW episode after All Elite Wrestling was accidentally mentioned by the official WWE Instagram account.

The AEW mention came when the WWE Instagram account posted a backstage photo of WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits, who made their first main roster appearances during backstage segments on RAW.

The original caption on the photo read, “The #NXT Tag Team Champions AEW here on #Raw!”

They meant to say, “…are here on #Raw!”, but for some reason AEW was on the mind of the social media employee who made the post, or they fell victim to auto-correct.

WWE’s Executive Vice President of Digital & Social Content Jayar Donlan spoke with Sports Business Daily in May 2018 and revealed that he then had a staff of 90 employees who worked WWE’s social media department. There’s no word on if that number included interns or how big the team is today.

The error received several thousand likes and comments on Instagram before it was fixed. The corrected photo, seen below, has many comments from fans about the botch, with most people joking about someone getting fired.

You can see a screenshot of the AEW botch below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Maria Kanellis Pregnancy Update Following WWE RAW

Last night on RAW, WWE shot a backstage segment with Mike and Maria Kanellis approaching Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins. Maria challenged Lynch and Rollins, referring to Mike as “my bi–h” and saying that they wanted to face Becky and her “bi–h,” which led to a mixed tag team match.

During the mixed tag match, Maria announced that she was pregnant. Maria took the mic and wondered how Mike got her pregnant because he wasn’t man enough. Maria continued to berate Mike on the air before he tapped to Lynch’s “Disarmher” finisher.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Maria is actually pregnant. That would be the explanation as to why she didn’t compete inside the ring.

Prior to Monday’s RAW, Mike had been wrestling on 205 Live. Both Mike and Maria recently signed new five-year deals with the company. The deal is reportedly worth $500,000 per year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Highlights 7/1/19 – AJ Styles, The Club, The Undertaker, Strowman & Lashley, Kanellis’s, 24/7 Title, Street Profits & More

Last night on RAW there was a heel turn by AJ Styles and The Club are officially back together as they beat down United States Champion Ricochet after he retained his title in the main event of RAW against Styles.

Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre called out The Undertaker and he came out to the ring and had a message for Shane & Drew.

Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley were both taken by ambulance to the hospital after Strowman speared Lashley through the stage’s LED boards which sparked some explosions.

Mike and Maria Kaneliis had a mix tag team match against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. During the match, Maria announced as Becky was about to hit her that she was pregnant, but that she doesn’t believe Mike was man enough to be the one to have impregnated her. After The Kanellis’ lost, she got on the microphone and further berated her husband.

Drake Maverick regained the 24/7 title from R-Truth just as he was heading out on his honeymoon.

Watch these highlights and more below:

WWE RAW Preview 7/1/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas as the road to Extreme Rules continues.

* Falls. Count. Anywhere.

* The New Day and The Viking Raiders to throw down in tag team action

* How will Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans exploit Seth Rollins’ “kryptonite”?

* The Big Dog and The Deadman unite

* Is AJ Styles in line for a U.S. Title opportunity?

* Is Samoa Joe our next WWE Champion?

Backstage News On WWE Hiring Paul Heyman And Eric Bischoff, Former TNA Employees “Baffled”, TV Roles

As noted, WWE has hired Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman to work as Executive Directors of RAW and SmackDown. Bischoff will head up the blue brand while Heyman will run the red brand, and both will report directly to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

Below is a new WWE Now video with Cathy Kelley looking at the buzz surrounding the latest WWE creative shake-up. While this is not currently planned to be a part of any storyline, the WWE website did cover the announcement after WWE issued their press release to us and other media outlets. The story was originally reported by Sports Illustrated, and has since been picked up by some mainstream media. The story is currently the featured article on the WWE website.

It’s possible we see significant creative changes to RAW and SmackDown as soon as Monday and Tuesday as Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that he’s heard Bischoff and Heyman will begin their new roles immediately. It’s unknown if that means right now or next week, or soon after, but we should have an update on when they are starting soon. Meltzer also noted that Fox officials had no idea that the Executive Director hires were coming, but it was indicated that they did want to work with Heyman.

“I do know the Fox people had no idea this was coming… but they wanted the other guy,” Meltzer said.

Bischoff will be working closely with Fox officials as the blue brand prepares to premiere on Fox Friday nights in October.

On a related note, Bischoff’s full-time return to WWE has surprised a lot of people. Meltzer noted that people who worked with Bischoff in TNA, that are working with WWE now, were more than baffled by the news.

It looks like the former WCW President will continue to be involved with his “83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff” podcast. John Pollock noted on Twitter that there will be “no change” regarding Bischoff and the podcast, which features Starrcast founder Conrad Thompson as the co-host. The podcast takes a weekly look at Bischoff’s time in the business, mainly in WCW. It will be interesting to see if the podcast continues as Bischoff gets settled into his new gig with WWE.

Heyman and WWE just recently came to terms on the new role but they have been going back and forth on the new deal for a long time, according to PWInsider. The former ECW boss has been in WWE’s inner circle when it comes to the creative process for some time, but without an official title. That changes with the announcement. We noted earlier how WWE has been pursuing Heyman to officially sign on to work in their corporate circles since February. An offer was made to Heyman to work as a full-time member of the creative process back around the same time Bruce Prichard was brought back as a Senior Vice President. The talks were slowly progressing, and just recently finalized. It’s no secret that Heyman had been working creatively on storylines involving Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar, but he has also been working on material for Alexa Bliss and many others, long before the talks.

Regarding Bischoff’s return, WWE looked at his previous work with Turner Broadcasting, Spike and other networks in building past TV series, and that was one of the reasons they hired him for the role, according to PWInsider. The deal with Bischoff was inked within the last few weeks.

As noted, while they will still report to Vince, Heyman and Bischoff will essentially be running RAW and SmackDown. One source compared the new roles to Triple H’s role in WWE NXT, in that they will be in charge, but this is still Vince’s company and he still has the final say-so. There’s no word yet on how Triple H and others will factor into this shake-up.

Heyman is expected to continue his TV role as the mouthpiece for Lesnar. Despite this not being a part of any TV storyline as of now, there’s obvious speculation on when we will see Bischoff return to TV, if he’s brought back at all, given how he’s always done well in those character roles.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Names Eric Bischoff And Paul Heyman As New Executive Directors Of RAW And SmackDown

WWE has named Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman as Executive Directors.

Bischoff is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE SmackDown while Heyman is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE RAW. Both will report directly to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

The new roles are full-time executive roles. According to Sports Illustrated, there are no current plans for these roles to be introduced as part of a TV storyline.

Bischoff will also work directly with Fox executives as the blue brand plans to premiere on Fox Friday nights in October, SI reported.

The major move will allow WWE to establish “two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.”

Below is the full press release that WWE sent Wrestling Inc.:

WWE® NAMES PAUL HEYMAN AND ERIC BISCHOFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSStamford, Conn., June 27, 2019 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Paul Heyman as Executive Director of Monday Night Raw and Eric Bischoff as Executive Director of SmackDown Live, newly created positions reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

In their executive roles, 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.

With more than 30 years of experience in the sports entertainment industry, Heyman served as President of ECW from 1993-2001, securing pay-per-view distribution for the company as well as a national cable television deal with TNN. After his time with ECW, Heyman joined WWE’s Creative team and is widely credited with helping launch the careers of many current and former WWE Superstars.

Bischoff is a former WCW President and New York Times bestselling author. During his WCW career, Bischoff oversaw the signing of some of the biggest names in sports entertainment and helped create and develop the NWO storyline. He was also instrumental in securing a television deal for WCW Monday Nitro on TNT and WCW Thunder on TBS. After WCW, Bischoff co-founded Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment, a production company that launched TV reality shows and mobile games.

PWInsider reports that WWE has been talking to Heyman about the new role as far back as February of this year. The deal with Bischoff came together within the past few weeks.

WWE reportedly made an offer to Heyman to come on full-time as a top member of the creative team around the same time Bruce Prichard was hired as Senior Vice President a few months ago. Heyman has been working on various storylines and with certain talents for months now, including Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey.

Bischoff has been working on pre-production of Netflix’s planned biography on WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, and had a number of personal appearances booked. He likely came to terms with WWE over the last week as he started quietly canceling some of personal appearances.

While Bischoff and Heyman are still reporting to Vince, they are essentially running RAW and SmackDown now. It will be interesting to see how Triple H and others factor in to this latest creative shake-up.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Undertaker Makes Surprise Appearance On RAW (Video), Set For Match At WWE Extreme Rules

The Undertaker made a surprise appearance last night on WWE RAW.

Taker made the save for Roman Reigns as he was being double teamed by Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in their 2-on-1 Handicap Match. The crowd loudly cheered Taker on, for one of the loudest RAW pops in recent memory, as he chokeslammed Shane and dropped Drew. Taker would continue the attack on Shane and Drew before sending them retreating up the ramp.

There was no interaction besides Taker and Reigns, but Taker did briefly look down at Reigns as he recovered in the corner. The segment ended by going to commercial as Shane and Drew looked on from the ramp, shocked at The Dead Man’s return.

Later it was announced that The Undertaker will be returning to the ring at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Taker will team with Roman Reigns against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre.

The 2019 WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view will take place on July 14 from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Below is the updated card:

Winners Take All
Lacey Evans and Baron Corbin vs. RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins (c)

The Undertaker and Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 6/24/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington with the fallout from Sunday’s Stomping Grounds pay-per-view.

* Roman Reigns to battle Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

* United States Champion Ricochet to battle AJ Styles tonight

* Seth Rollins’ Universal challenges

* The Man might not be finished with The Lady in the aftermath of WWE Stomping Grounds

Backstage News On WWE Making A Major Change To RAW And SmackDown This Week

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon reportedly held a meeting last week at WWE TV and told everyone that there will be no more wrestling during commercial breaks. It was noted that apparently you can have a match that goes through the commercial break, but there can’t be any actual wrestling during the break. This would explain why they had several 2 of 3 Falls matches on RAW and SmackDown last week.

John Pollock of Post Wrestling reported that the edict was announced last Monday during the usual pre-RAW production meeting. The idea is that legitimate sports don’t play during their breaks, so WWE is adjusting their match presentation.

It was noted that there would still be two matches on SmackDown that would that run through the commercial breaks with the picture-in-picture feature that airs the match in one window and the advertisement in another.

This new rule led to the 2 of 3 Falls matches and other ideas to pause the matches, and then resume after the commercial breaks. Pollock and Dave Meltzer both pointed to how it will b a challenge to come up with organic ideas to pause the matches, especially during RAW due to the multiple segment matches for the three-hour format. This will likely make the product harder to watch for fans on TV, and in the arenas.

Source: Wrestling Inc.