Last week, WWE announced Paul Heyman as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw, with Eric Bischoff announced for the same role for Smackdown.
For wrestling fans, it was a breath of fresh air to have someone who is so forward-thinking and innovative to be at the helm of the creative development of the show. It put a bit of excitement back into the fanbase and hope that the product was going to be back to its old incredible ways.
Here are five changes Paul Heyman needs to make to Monday Night RAW.
An honorable mention must go to Bray Wyatt. He needs to implement Wyatt as an absolute monster and viable challenger for Seth Rollins and to not let the gimmick stagnate and wilt away after a few months.
1. Revive the Tag Division
Let’s face it, the tag division is abysmal. An example – Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins won the tag titles at Wrestlemania 35, they defended them on the following RAW and that was the last RAW we’d see them until June 8th when they lost the titles to The Revival. That is an absence of two months. The champions absent for that long? It’s just not good enough. We need to see the division back at top strength, and instead of focusing on ‘Wild Card’ tag teams, focus on the tag teams they have in the RAW division. The tag titles are barely defended on WWE PPV’s, and the main reason we see the current champions is because they’re in Shane’s stable.
2. Less Focus on Shane McMahon
Are you shocked that this is an entry? Every single show, RAW or Smackdown, is full of Shane. From the 30-minute promos to beating down the current roster, Shane is at the forefront of programming. Heyman can dictate to Vince to stop pushing Shane down our throats, let Drew be his own man and not a henchman for the rich, and stop Shane beating every single superstar he comes across. He handed Roman Reigns his first loss since his return after his illness, that speaks volumes in how hard Shane is being pushed.
3. Stop Dragging Feuds Out
This is for both shows, but if you look at the last 2 PPV’s, Super Showdown, Stomping Grounds and the next PPV Extreme Rules – Becky Lynch has defended her title against, and defeated, Lacey Evans both times. Seth Rollins has defended his title against, and defeated, Baron Corbin both times. The next PPV, we have both champions teaming up (did you know they’re a couple?) to face Evans and Corbin in a ‘winner take all’ tag match. Why are we not being given fresh matches? This match at Extreme Rules is Lacey’s 4th title match in 2 months, and Baron’s 3rd. The roster is filled with extremely talented wrestlers who could put on a ‘match of the year’ candidate with both Becky and Seth, and possibly dethrone them.
4. Make the Mid-Card Picture as Important as the Main Event Picture
The US Title went into a bit of a slump, not being used on PPV’s and generally being neglected. Not the fault of the performers, more the creative aspect, but it was bunny hopped from Nakamura to Rusev and back again, then to R Truth and he seemed to make it interesting by just being himself. He lost the title to Samoa Joe, who was then drafted to RAW along with the title. He got into a program with Rey Mysterio, trading the title with Rey before losing the title to Ricochet at Stomping Grounds. With such a packed roster in the mid-card, Heyman has an amazing chance to make this title as important, if not more so, than the Universal Title.
5. Keep the 24/7 Title Exactly the Same
Possibly the best thing going for the WWE! The 24/7 championship cannot change at all. Every single segment is a mix of the sports aspect and the entertainment aspect, especially with R Truth in the picture. The chaotic method in which the superstars vie for the chance to be the champion is absolutely brilliant to watch and the main reason I watch WWE programming.
If all of these aspects are changed, with a possible few other tweaks, RAW could possibly return to the giant it once was. We, as fans, have every single faith in Paul Heyman to fix the errors Vince has made in his run. I do understand Vince would still have an input, but we hope that Heyman is able to ‘override’ or argue the storylines being put across by the creative team to create something truly memorable.
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You can find the author of this article on Twitter @George_Geal_. Thanks for reading!