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WWE’s huge move

By Bill Hughes for The 3 min read
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There has been plenty of negative publicity towards WWE in recent months, and rightfully so.

Thursday, the company made huge news, and it has been looked at as positive from all angles, as it announced that Paul Heyman is now the Executive Director of Raw and Eric Bischoff has been hired as the Executive Director for Smackdown.

Both will slowly be worked into their respective positions and each will answer directly to, and only to, Vince McMahon.

The move has created a universal breath of fresh air around the WWE product.

Morale in WWE as of late has been at is lowest since the mid-1990s, but if Heyman and Bischoff are given complete control without Vince meddling, it could give WWE the creative boost that it has so sorely needed for a long time.

Will both shows be massive hits right away?

No, but look for things to go in a much different direction.

It will make sense for WWE to dump the ill-guided Wild Card rule and have both shows separate again, minus the womenĢƵ tag titles as they will still be defended on both shows.

More on this topic next week.

Taylor retains ROH TV title

Friday night, Shane Taylor retained the Ring of Honor TV title with a victory over Bandido.

The match took place on ROHĢƵ Best in the World PPV.

AEW continues momentum

Saturday night, All Elite Wrestling held its Fyter Fest show which aired on Bleacher Report Live.

AEW will have another show on BL/Live next month.

On This Day…

In 1944, former NWA champion Terry Funk is born.

In 1985, Cody Rhodes was born.

In 2008, CM Punk won his first WWE world championship when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to defeat Edge to win the World title.

In 2009, Sheamus debuts on WWEĢƵ main roster.

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This weekĢƵ question: Last week, you mentioned Steve AustinĢƵ line and I think it is the most important line in pro wrestling history. Without Stone Cold, and without the Austin 3:16 line, does The Rock become the worldĢƵ biggest movie star? Mike, Greensburg.

This is a topic that never crossed my mind.

Had Vince kept running WWE (then WWF) in the mid-1990s the way he had been running it, the company would have gone out of business.

Vince knew something had to change and he took the company in an edgier direction.

The assumption here is that had the product not transitioned to a more adult-oriented content, then Austin would have never given that specific promo.

When The Rock debuted, everyone saw that “Rocky Maivia” wasn’t going anywhere and his change in characters happened when WWE was full speed ahead into the Attitude Era and AustinĢƵ promo expedited the process.

The Rock, as we know him, would have never been allowed to show the charisma which helped lead him right into Hollywood had WWE not gone down the extreme route.

So the guess here is that no, The Rock would not have gone on to be the biggest movie star in the world had it not been for AustinĢƵ line, although there could be way more detail in explaining why.

Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.

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