5 harsh realities about Heyman & Bischoff's new WWE role that nobody wants to talk about

So the news was broken on June 27th that Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff would be named executive producers of RAW and SmackDown Live respectively. They're expected to begin their roles imminently, but not immediately.

Naturally, there was both shock and excitement with regards to the news. There was shock because nobody expected to see Heyman and Bischoff in off-screen backstage roles again. Heyman has been an on-screen figure for the last 6-7 years for a reason (and we'll get to that later).

Either way, this isn't to say that we'd like to be negative about it. We sincerely hope that their presence backstage does make a difference to the product, because WWE really needs a big change.

But with that being said, there are quite a few harsh realities about their signing as WWE executives that nobody wants to talk about. Here they are.

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#5. The brand split is still dead

A RAW star and a SmackDown commissioner?

WWE is all over the place in terms of the brand split. Simply and harshly put - it's dead. The Wild Card rule has completely killed off the brand split and any sense of brand exclusivity and WWE has just seemingly forgotten that the brand split exists.

Now that any superstar freely appears on the opposite brand, it's resulted in even more superstars becoming underutilised and sitting on the sidelines. Despite Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff being assigned to two different brands, they're going to have a hard time because the rosters are now merged together.

When there are fewer hands on deck, it simply makes it easier and with the brand split gone, it's going to be harder to oversee the show and give it its own identity as they're probably expected to.

#4. They're still working under one man

He lurks behind

Here is probably the biggest barrier and obstacle in the way of Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman. They're still answering to one man - Vince McMahon. Ultimately, we can't reveal how the nature of backstage interactions are, but when you're at odds with Vince McMahon over ideas, it may not work out too well in the long run.

All the creative disarray and the supposed low morale in WWE boils down to the same man and despite old names and old faces being brought back, the product is still the vision of McMahon and he has the final say as to what is presented.

So what's the guarantee that he won't be shooting down their ideas on a constant basis? They know McMahon well and know that there's a big possibility of this happening. There may be new (or old) names on the board, but they still answer to the same man.

#3. Paul Heyman's last stint with WWE didn't end well

When Paul Heyman went on a rant against Vince McMahon

Getting back to what we mentioned earlier, Paul Heyman's last stint with WWE didn't end well, which is why he's remained solely an on-screen figure since returning to WWE for Brock Lesnar.

As you probably know, Heyman was at one point the head of creative for SmackDown, making it a raving success. He was displaced from the position and then helped with OVW, where he encountered CM Punk.

However, where it all went sour was when WWE decided to revive ECW as a third brand looking at the success of One Night Stand PPVs. As you may have guessed, Heyman was put in charge of ECW, but his vision was nothing close to what Vince McMahon wanted for the brand. It culminated in one of the worst PPVs in WWE history - December to Dismember.

The disaster of it all saw Heyman confront McMahon after the PPV, blaming him for the failure of it all. He left WWE and didn't return until 2012.

#2. There is going to be a clash of visions

Will it be take 2 for Paul Heyman?

As you figured from the last point, the creative difference was what ultimately drove Heyman out of WWE. Let's take for example the very same PPV - December to Dismember. The poorly-promoted show saw an Elimination Chamber main event, featuring the likes of CM Punk, Bobby Lashley, The Big Show, Hardcore Holly, Test and Rob Van Dam.

Heyman was big on Punk, but the young Straight Edge superstar wasn't anywhere close to Lashley - who was Vince McMahon's definition of a superhero and a top star. While Heyman wanted Punk to go over, McMahon was adamant that Lashley was the man who needed the win.

So in classic fashion, Punk was eliminated first with no pinfalls, while Lashley won to a chorus of boos. The point of this is that there's bound to be creative differences even now. With McMahon being adamant about certain ways, Heyman and Bischoff may have a 100 incredible ideas for their respective shows, but it's very unlikely that they'll come to fruition.

#1. There's no guarantee that the product will magically get better

Will they be allowed to make a difference?

The harshest reality that fans are going to have to accept is that Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman's addition won't instantly make the product better. It's a combination of a lot of factors, including the previous points mentioned.

While we do agree that Paul Heyman is a great wrestling visionary and that Eric Bischoff is the right man to deal with TV executives from FOX, it may not necessarily end up translating to the product.

Ultimately, it all boils down to how much freedom Vince McMahon gives them. WWE backstage is known to be a rather controlling environment, so Heyman and Bischoff may get frustrated when they find out that the product isn't instantly getting better as hoped.

For that, WWE needs to look at a lot of fundamental problems right now.