4 Ways Paul Heyman's presence was felt on tonight's episode of Raw (July 1, 2019)

WWE took the internet by storm after the announcement of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as the new Executive Directors of Raw & SmackDown Live. While we have to wait one more day to find out how Bischoff runs things on the blue brand, Paul Heyman is already making his presence felt on Raw.

While we expected WWE to acknowledge Heyman's new role on TV, it looks like he'll be working only backstage until the right time. He is still the advocate for Mr. Money in the Bank Brock Lesnar, and that could throw some light on why WWE didn't use him as an on-screen authority figure.

Heyman, however, didn't let his on-screen absence stop the fans from feeling his presence on the show. Let's take a look at four moments from tonight's Raw announcing the inception of the Paul Heyman era.

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#4 Samoa Joe getting one over on the WWE Champion

A big win for Samoa Joe!

Big E & Xavier Woods took on the Viking Raiders on tonight's Raw, but the match ended in a DQ after Samoa Joe interfered and attacked Woods from behind. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston made the save, leading to a six-man tag team match between the New Day and the Viking Raiders & Samoa Joe.

Samoa Joe picked up the win for his team after making the WWE Champion pass out to the Coquina Clutch and handing over Kofi Kingston his first loss since winning the WWE title at WrestleMania.

WWE has been making Kingston look strong with his undefeated streak since winning the title at WrestleMania. Heyman taking over the reins as the red brand's Executive Director would've wanted to spice things up in the WWE title picture.

Giving Samoa Joe a decisive victory over the WWE Champion will not only make Joe look strong in this feud but also will put some pressure on the WWE Champion to step up his game. The WWE title match at Extreme Rules will have even more value due to Joe's victory tonight, and that is a home run for Heyman on his first day on the job.

#3 Sassy wife segments

She said she's what?

There has been a slight setback in Raw's status as a PG show on tonight's episode, and we can blame the new Executive Director for that.

Maria & Mike Kanellis challenged Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins to a mixed tag team match on tonight's Raw. The ending saw Lynch getting the win by making Mike tap out to the Disarmher.

What was more interesting is Maria announcing she's pregnant, with Mike not being the father. That's not something parents would want their kids to see, but Heyman would certainly not care about any of that. It's still not sure if Maria made it up to evade Becky Lynch, or if WWE will proceed with this as a new storyline.

WWE needs edgier content if they want to compete with AEW, who are already tearing things up with just only two shows under their banner. WWE already has the children covered, but they need to concentrate more on the adult members of the WWE Universe if they need to do good with the greens.

Paul Heyman is the right guy to count on for writing some edgy content, and he delivered on his first day on duty. This kind of segments will include some much-needed controversy to the product and will surely catch the eyes of the old-school wrestling fans.

#2 Corey Graves' Commentary

He would've been a very happy man!

Corey Graves would've felt like a free man during tonight's episode of Raw. WWE imposes certain restrictions on the commentators on what they're supposed to say during the matches, but it seemed like they were allowed to take a cheat day on tonight's show.

Corey Graves had some surprising and controversial use of words during his commentary, especially when Strowman & Lashley went through the LED boards in the opening segment.

He also had some controversial stuff to say about Canada Day when Michael Cole brought up Parma, Ohio has officially declared July 3 as "Mike the Miz Day". There was also another moment when he quoted Maria Kanellis' surprising name for her husband.

Paul Heyman is known for going off the PG standards with his choice of words. It looks like he has convinced Vince McMahon to give Corey Graves the freedom to go out of the box during his commentary, which is a very welcome sign to deal with their new competition.

#1 Strowman & Lashley destroying the stage

4th of July came early on tonight's Raw

We had an explosive beginning to Raw tonight after Braun Strowman drove himself & Bobby Lashley through the LED boards, causing the entire stage to explode.

Lashley & Strowman squared off in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and Paul Heyman provided an unexpected twist after their disappointing segment last week.

The feud was already getting stale with lackluster segments like an arm-wrestling match and a tug-of-war contest. Heyman provided the Midas Touch by adding a much-needed twist to the feud between the two behemoths. WWE also made sure the commentators and other superstars sold the explosive start until the end of the show.

It's been a while since we saw segments like this on Raw or SmackDown Live. With WWE desperate to retain their viewers and to increase ticket sales for the events, bringing in Heyman & Bischoff was the last arrow in their quiver.

Heyman has hit a home run with tonight's Raw, and we'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out how Eric Bischoff manages to do a counter-attack on SmackDown Live.