WWE President and CEO Vince McMahon commented on AEW vs. WWE NXT, firing Paul Heyman for his creative work, and Triple H working creatively during WWE’s second-quarter 2020 earnings call with investors tonight.
Vince received the charged call from Brandon Ross of Lightshed Partners. Ross asked Vince why he thinks WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite have recovered from the initial COVID-19 download better than RAW and SmackDown, if Triple H could help in a high creative role on RAW and SmackDown given their NXT success, why he fired Paul Heyman from the position of RAW Executive Director and whether firing Heyman means that Vince has abandoned the strategy he spoke about during the Q1 call in January, where he indicated that they had to be patient with the plan to overcome new talents on the main roster.
“That was a lot,” Vince answered the question first. I take the NXT – AEW asks and says they are looking to make RAW and SmackDown feel more youthful. “I think some of them are new. It’s something new and what you have, and it’s up to us to make RAW and SmackDown feel younger. That’s where we’re going.”
Vince then commented on the strategy he first talked about during the Q1 call in April, where he said they are working on building new Superstars from the main roster, and that it will take time to get over them. He didn’t directly answer whether Heyman’s creative layoff signifies a change of direction when it comes to overcoming new stars.
“As for continuing, acting on what’s new and building and characters, you always have to build new characters. Constantly,” Vince said.
As for Triple H, possibly taking on a “high role” with the creative teams RAW and SmackDown, based on their success in the NXT Mark, Vince noticed that he already helps.
“When it comes to Paul Levesque helping on RAW and SmackDown, that happens,” said Vince. “It’s ‘everything on deck’ in terms of everything we do.”
Finally, Vince commented on Heyman’s creative work. While he will remain with the company as an on-air talent, Heyman was released from his position as RAW Executive Director on June 11 of this year, a year after being hired for the position. Vince spoke briefly about Heyman but said he did a good job.
“As far as Paul Heyman is concerned, he did a very good job in terms of creativity,” Vince said.
Stay tuned for more information on the WWE Q2 2020 earnings call.
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