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Official Wrestling News Thread

— On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, it was noted that Rusev’s contract with WWE “is up relatively soon” and him leaving WWE would not be surprising at all. Dave Meltzer stated that if Rusev hits free agency, it is expected that both AEW and NJPW would be interested.


-- It was also re-iterated that Rusev reportedly asked for some time off recently and was granted it, which probably means the company will add that time to the tail end of his deal. Rusev for his part seemed to deny asking for or getting the time off as he recently tweeted something to the effect of the dirtsheets being fed "wrong information."

— On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, it was noted that Rusev’s contract with WWE “is up relatively soon” and him leaving WWE would not be surprising at all. Dave Meltzer stated that if Rusev hits free agency, it is expected that both AEW and NJPW would be interested.


-- It was also re-iterated that Rusev reportedly asked for some time off recently and was granted it, which probably means the company will add that time to the tail end of his deal. Rusev for his part seemed to deny asking for or getting the time off as he recently tweeted something to the effect of the dirtsheets being fed "wrong information."
 
WWE has named Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as Executive Directors, Sports Illustrated has learned.

Heyman is set to become Executive Director of Monday Night Raw, while Bischoff will fill the same role for SmackDown Live. Both will report directly to WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

WWE confirmed the news with Sports Illustrated, with an official announcement expected later today.

The two positions are full-time executive roles, with no plans at the current time for this to be introduced as part of a TV storyline.

Heyman overseeing the creative development of Raw is scintillating news for wrestling fans. Best known as a pioneer for his innovative work as ECW president from 1993-2001, Heyman took the company to unfathomable heights on pay-per-view and through a national cable television deal with TNN. He is a must-see attraction as an on-screen performer as the advocate for Brock Lesnar, but Heyman’s longest-lasting work happens off-camera with the character development of many on the WWE roster.

Bischoff will also work directly with executives from FOX, which will air SmackDown Livebeginning this October.

The former WCW president, immortal in the industry for igniting the New World Order storyline, started a wrestling war in 1995 against Vince McMahon’s WWE on Monday nights. With Bischoff in charge, WCW’s Nitro even defeated McMahon’s Monday Night Raw in the television ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. Bischoff made his WWE debut in the summer of 2002, appearing as the Raw General Manager.

His full-time run with the company ended in 2007, though he has made the occasional return, most recently during the Raw 25th Anniversary show in January of 2018.
Bischoff is a valuable addition for WWE. Most recently, he lent his expertise to Conrad Thompson’s 83 Weeks podcast on Westwood One, as well as delivered a TEDx Talk last November on how the news media is copying from the pro wrestling blueprint. A former New York Times bestselling author, Bischoff is also serving as a producer for the upcoming Hulk Hogan biopic, where Chris Hemsworth is set to play Hogan.

The move also allows WWE to further establish two distinct brands on Raw and SmackDown, ones that are immediately recognizable for their storytelling, wrestling, and ability to captivate on a weekly basis.
 
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It may not mean much if Vince still won’t change and get with the times. I’m optimistic though
 
I mean I think he'll listen to them more than anyone else.

Unless he just promoted them to that position, knowing they'll do whateva he says, and won't push back. Who knows. We'll see.
 
The announcement today that Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff have signed on with WWE to become Executive Directors of the Raw and Smackdown brands is a legitimate announcement, not a storyline situation.

WWE has been pursuing Heyman to come on officially in their corporate circles as far back as February, PWInsider.com can exclusively confirm. An offer was issued to Heyman to come on board full-time as a top member of the creative team around the same time Bruce Prichard was brought back as a Senior Vice President. Heyman had been working on certain storylines and with certain talents, including Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnars and others dating back far before then. He's been in the inner circle when it comes to the creative process for some time without an official title. He and WWE have been circling around this deal for a long time.

The Eric Bischoff deal came together within the last several weeks. Bischoff has been working on pre-production of the planned Netflix Hulk Hogan biography film and had a slew of personal appearances booked. Over the last week, he quietly began canceling those appearance dates, so that is likely when he came to terms with WWE. We are told he will be working directly with FOX as WWE builds their relationship with Smackdown's new home. To say this is a massive return to form for Bischoff is a grand understatement. We are told that WWE approached him about the role.

We are told that they will be overseeing all aspects of their individual series, answering directly to Vince McMahon. They are now the top of the pyramid, respectively, for Raw and Smackdown. Heyman is expected to continue his role as Brock Lesnar's advocate. There is no word yet whether Bischoff will appear on camera, but given how good of a performer he is, one would think it's just a matter of time.
 
All 3 companies who went to war in the 90s teaming up to take down the new threat, that's pretty hilarious yet dope. Cody's promo on the Attitude Era would of been more spicy after this news.
 
The Heyman/Bischoff signs are seriously needed in WWE. I really hope they can turn the game around in that company b/c this company has been on a real slide for a 1yr 1/2 now.
 
Holyy shit! thats big news.

Does this mean that Kevin Dunn is out the picture? or what? for the last couple of years I've seen several people name drop him as one of the problems w/ creative
 
I wouldn't mind having Bischoff back on air either a SD GM or something if thats gonna help get Shane tf off TV
 
Eric Bischoff officially came to terms with WWE for his new role as Executive Director of Smackdown two weeks ago.
Since we keep getting questions about this, the Bischoff and Paul Heyman positions are new roles created within the WWE corporate hiearchy. These are not worked roles, but legitimate executive roles that would have had to have been approved by the company's Board of Directors, given their importance.
 
I wonder the what the weight of their roles actually are. We have heard that Vince likes to accept ideas but later shut them down, supposedly due to forgetting that he actually approved them in the first place, that also coupled w the fact that he thinks his ideas are the best ever.

So, with three powerfully creative minds, I see a lot of heads clashing here and a lot of arguments. If Vince is cool enough, he would allow both men to run their shows for a few months giving them the opportunity to prove themselves as creative monsters without having to go through Vince to get approval. I’d much appreciate the approvals come from Steph, Shane and Trips.
 
VIBE said:
I wonder the what the weight of their roles actually are. We have heard that Vince likes to accept ideas but later shut them down, supposedly due to forgetting that he actually approved them in the first place, that also coupled w the fact that he thinks his ideas are the best ever.

So, with three powerfully creative minds, I see a lot of heads clashing here and a lot of arguments. If Vince is cool enough, he would allow both men to run their shows for a few months giving them the opportunity to prove themselves as creative monsters without having to go through Vince to get approval. I’d much appreciate the approvals come from Steph, Shane and Trips.
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They shouldn't have to prove anything to Vince...he knows. Those 2 was his biggest threat to WWE. Heyman and Bischoff aren't rookies. They got just as much experience as Vince does.

So I'm hoping he'll give them creative freedom w/o him changing everything.
 
IP360 said:
They shouldn't have to prove anything to Vince...he knows. Those 2 was his biggest threat to WWE. Heyman and Bischoff aren't rookies. They got just as much experience as Vince does.

So I'm hoping he'll give them creative freedom w/o him changing everything.
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This was added to the original report


We are told that they will be overseeing all aspects of their individual series, answering directly to Vince McMahon. They are now the top of the pyramid, respectively, for Raw and Smackdown but obviously McMahon will always have the last say. One WWE source compared their roles to Paul Levesque's in NXT in that they will be in charge, but it's still Vince's company.


If that’s the case, there should be definite change in WWE creative
 
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