Several Major WWE Pushes Are Now In Jeopardy

WWE stars are getting worried about their pushes now that there is a new boss in charge of the company’s creative process.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc), “a lot of the talent” on Monday Night Raw are “concerned” about how they will fare on the red brand following Paul Heyman’s dismissal as Raw Executive Director. The site writes, “A lot of the talent on the WWE RAW brand are reportedly concerned with Paul Heyman being removed as the head of creative for Monday Night RAW, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.”

Heyman didn’t even last a year as Raw’s creative head, but during that span, he made a concerted effort to push new talents to the top of the card. Among the names Heyman was keen on pushing are Aleister Black, Andrade, Drew McIntyre and Ricochet, though many of those stars’ pushes fell by the wayside for various reasons even though Heyman knew that they were virtually all long-term projects.

Wrestling Inc writes, “According to The Observer, Heyman had pushed Vince McMahon on the idea that it would take 18 months or longer to create credible new stars, as the company had been failing to push new talent to the top…It was noted that Heyman’s projects included newer stars like Drew McIntyre, Andrade, Angel Garza, Zelina Vega, Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, Austin Theory, The Street Profits, The Viking Raiders and Murphy, as well as established talent such as Charlotte Flair, Rey Mysterio, Asuka and Nia Jax. Meltzer stated that a lot of the talent are concerned because they’ve never had a big push, with some floundering before Heyman took charge.”

Of course, Heyman was the driving force behind the rise of so many promising talents over the course of the past year, including those aforementioned names. While some of those stars—like McIntyre and Asuka—were able to climb up the card and stay there, many of those talents—such as Viking Raiders and Murphy—have had a lot less success. According to Wrestling Inc, however, some of those stars will still be “safe” even with Heyman out as Raw’s creative head: “Meltzer also reported that the belief is that McIntyre and The Street Profits are the stars that are most likely to be safe as McMahon likes them. However, they might not continue to be protected as well.”

Meltzer also notes that “everything on Raw is changing” now that Heyman is out, and while names like McIntyre, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and Seth Rollins are expected to maintain their push, once-rising stars and younger wrestlers are rightfully concerned about their spots. Fightful Select (h/t WrestleTalk) adds, “Younger wrestlers we’ve spoken to were particularly disappointed, as Heyman was well known for wanting new blood on his shows.” Meanwhile, WrestleTalk’s Louis Dangoor notes that WWE’s rising stars are “not pleased” with the move to remove Heyman from his role:

Shayna Baszler is among the names whose push could be in jeopardy while Aleister Black and Andrade were specifically mentioned by Meltzer as two stars who Vince McMahon isn’t as high on as Heyman was. Heyman was also said to be a big supporter of McIntyre while the same was true of Liv Morgan as well as Ricochet and Cedric Alexander, whose pushes have all disappeared without a trace. McMahon is reportedly more comfortable pushing established stars like Orton, and even though USA Network apparently is “very unhappy” with Heyman’s removal, the widespread expectation is that WWE will continue to rely heavily on the likes of Orton, Rollins, Charlotte Flair, Brock Lesnar and other established stars to carry the red brand.

That certainly doesn’t bode well for the likes of Morgan, Black, Andrade and countless other rising stars who are in serious danger of getting lost in the creative shuffle. The very popular Morgan, for example, is said to be incredibly well-liked backstage, has a lot of supporters and is viewed as someone with the potential to be a multi-time women’s champion. She isn’t Flair, however, and under WWE’s new creative direction, it is much more likely that stars like Flair will be pushed than it is for stars like Morgan, especially as record low viewership had become the norm for the red brand during this bizarre audience-less era.

Much of the blame for WWE’s recent ratings downfall can be put on lackluster booking and these strange Performance Center shows, but with McMahon already putting that blame squarely on the shoulders of WWE’s new stars, those new stars are going to be the ones who are hampered by it.