Superstar Reactions, & His Planned Pushes

In a stunning move, WWE announced last week that they were relieving Paul Heyman from his duties as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw.

WWE said in the statement that Bruce Prichard would take over for Heyman, leading the Raw and SmackDown Live teams, while the latter will continue to work "as an in-ring performer."

A front office worker in WWE told Dave Meltzer that Vince McMahon didn't like Heyman, and they knew that his firing "was coming."

On Thursday, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com was able to provide plenty of details regarding Heyman's firing. According to Sapp's report, there was "general disappointment and surprise" among some superstars, but other talents saw it coming.

The report also noted that Heyman played a major role in Drew McIntyre's push, noting that the current WWE championship was "protected for his main roster push."

Heyman was keen on pushing and working with younger superstars, per Sapp, looking "too build the Raw brand around future stars". This included Angel Garza, Cedric Alexander, Ricochet and Humberto Carrillo. Although Vince sees a lot in Garza, he reportedly ended the pushes for three other stars.

It also sounds like the staff members and talents were also just as surprised as we were. Those in WWE that Fightful spoke to haven't heard the reason behind Heyman's firing.

RELATED: [Report] Backstage Reaction To WWE Removing Paul Heyman As Executive Director

Last week, Meltzer reported that USA Network was "very unhappy" with WWE's decision to remove Heyman. Meltzer said that they were understanding of the ratings, and they knew that "rebuilding" the show would take some time.

But the WWE chairman, as usual, made the decision that he believes was best for business. It certainly feels like a knee-jerk reaction, but only time will tell if he made the right call in letting Heyman go.

WWE Didn't Give Heyman Enough Time

Heyman lasted less than a year as the Executive Director of Raw. He was trying to bring a brand new television product, and Heyman was finding creative ways to use superstars that had been underused for far too long. The company didn't give him enough time nor the opportunities to see his plan through. WWE has an extremely difficult task in fixing Raw without Heyman's creative mind and vision.

NEXT: The Undertaker Explains What He Thinks Is Wrong With Today's WWE Superstars