Report: USA Network Were "Very Unhappy" About Paul Heyman Being Replaced As WWE Raw Executive Director

On June 11, WWE announced overnight that Paul Heyman had been removed from his position as Executive Director of Monday Night Raw and replaced by Bruce Prichard. Fans were shocked by the news as Heyman was seemingly in for the long haul on Monday nights as he had devoted much of his time on the red brand to building new stars.

Reports noted Vince McMahon replaced Brock Lesnar's advocate because of Raw's ratings and the boss didn't think the Superstars Heyman was pushing were getting over with the audience at home.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the recent change has upset the USA Network, who are "very unhappy" about Heyman being replaced. Meltzer noted the TV network wasn't thrilled about the recent ratings but they understood the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has impacted viewership. They had also previously been told by WWE that Raw was in a rebuilding phase which would lead to improved ratings down the line, but now that rebuild has seemingly been scrapped.

Meltzer said: "I know USA were actually unhappy with the change. Very unhappy by the way. I don't think that they were happy with the ratings, they understood the ratings. I mean, they were told a long time ago that this is a rebuilding period and it was going to take time and they understood that."