Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff are two of the most infamous figures in the world of professional wrestling, and now they will both be taking on much larger roles with WWE.
The company announced today that Paul Heyman will serve as the Executive Director of Raw, and Eric Bischoff will be the Executive Director of SmackDown Live.
Heyman and Bischoff will oversee creative development of their respective brands and report directly to Vince McMahon.
Sports Illustrated reports that there are no plans for their new roles to be part of a TV storyline. In October SmackDown Live is moving to FOX and it’s also being reported that Eric Bischoff is expected to work directly with FOX executives.
WWE posted the following announcement:
“WWE® NAMES PAUL HEYMAN AND ERIC BISCHOFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Stamford, 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.”
[…] WWE made a big announcement today when it was revealed that Paul Heyman will be the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw, and Eric Bischoff will be the Executive Director of SmackDown Live. Over the last few years Triple H has seemingly been groomed to take on more responsibilities with WWE, but in the end WWE decided to put Heyman and Bischoff in these powerful positions. […]