Who is the main writer on Smackdown?

[Guest pappajacks]

I've been reading conflicting reports and Vince Russo's recent quotes have confused me even more.

 

Is it Paul Heyman or Stephanie?

[Guest Choken One]

Heyman-Smackdown

Stephanie/Gerwitz-Raw

 

Vince oversees each.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Actually Paul books both RAW (with Gewritz) and Smackdown (with Stephanie).

[Guest Choken One]

Huh? Stephanie's handprints are all over Raw...not SD. So really, It's all Gerwitz.

[Guest Brian]

Paul and Gerwitz are head writers of SmackDown and RAW respectively. Stephanie overseas the commitee processes of both shows, as well as reviewing the final product. It then goes back to the writers and agent, who put out a final for Steph's approval. Afterwards, Vince makes changes and finalizes the script.

[Guest Sassquatch]

No, it's not.

 

Paul helps Gewritz book RAW and gives him input.

 

Same deal with Steph who oversees both shows.

[Guest Brian]

Never read anywhere of Heyman having any input in the RAW writing process, from the Observer to the Torch.

[Guest Sassquatch]

It was reported at tOa several months ago that Paul helps Gewritz book RAW.

[Guest Brian]

The Other Arena? Which thread? I've heard Paul has given Gerwitz a little input, but nothing along the lines of aiding him in the process like Steph does.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

It was reported at tOa several months ago that Paul helps Gewritz book RAW.

Then again, the tOA board in general HATES Heyman with a passion, so......

[Guest Sassquatch]

I do not remember where the original thread in question is that acknowledged Paul's booking status for both RAW and Smackdown but it was posted there a while ago.

 

But if you want to hear it from the horses mouth then here you go.

 

This is John's response to the comment:

 

"Stephanie, Paul Heyman, and Triple-H

: are expected to be the key forces in

: this situation. Stephanie,

: overseeing both creative branches"

 

- artDDP

 

"*rolls eyes*

 

For the last time - Paul writes for BOTH FUCKING SHOWS!!!

 

There. If people want to continue to bury their heads in the sands, don't blame me."

 

- jdw

 

 

Here is the thread where someone asked John where he found out about Heyman booking both RAW and Smackdown:

 

": I've seen many people (jdw

: especially) post that Heyman books

: both Raw and Smackdown. When and

: where was this information first

: stated?"

 

- Brian Kenny

 

 

"Here. Several months back.

 

 

John"

 

 

If you would like to press the matter some more Brian then I suggest you go over to tOa and ask it there.

[Guest eirejmcmahon]

So some tosser posted it on a message board ?

 

That's pretty conclusive proof right there.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"Then again, the tOA board in general HATES Heyman with a passion, so......"

 

- Mulatto Heat

 

 

It's justified.

[Guest Brian]

Well, I've read a lot of Williams writing but I find it hard to believe that. Especially when his answer is it was first posted there.

[Guest geniusMoment]

Which show do Chris Kreski and Tony Blacha book again???? All yeah, thats right they fired them after summerslam 2000, after the most successful year in wwe history. Damn am I glad Steph came and saved us and immediatly screwed up stone colds return and then booked the worst survivor series in history

[Guest Sassquatch]

"If people want to continue to bury their heads in the sands, don't blame me."

 

- jdw

 

 

Go right on ahead and believe whatever you want Brian.

[Guest Brian]

Am I supposed to believ JDW, without any sources whatsoever? It's been reported all over that Heyman books SmackDown. And because one person on the tOA board says otherwise, that's right.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

JDW attributes HLA to Heyman along with the other smutty things. He basically says Heyman throws out ideas for raw and that makes him a writer. However Heymans overall style is just not apparent on Raw.

[Guest Sassquatch]

I have known John and Frank for several years and their track records speak for themselves when it comes to being right about wrestling news. Meltzer and Keller might have missed or not picked up on the info at the time. But after time would pass, Dave and Wade would acknowledge what John and/or Frank was saying and thus verify the information.

 

Both John and Frank have been good friends with Meltzer for nearly 15 years. John also knows both Keller and Bruce Mitchell since John use to write for the Torch several years ago and was one of their best writers at the time. They have their own sources of information along with Dave and Wade, which they have made back handed comments about over the years.

 

I understand where you are coming from Brian. When John or Frank use to bring up tidbits of info in the past that were not mentioned in my copy of the Observer and the Torch, I would skeptical about what they were saying write them off as bullshit artists. That and the fact that they were just posters on a message board like me who received our copies of the Torch and the Observer the same time as they would. But as time would go on, John and Frank proved to me that they were not bullshiters and were right about more things than Meltzer and Keller were sometimes.

 

Just like Meltzer and Keller have over the many years that they have been in business, both John and Frank have built up a trust with people over the years in being right about things and later being proven right when it was verified that they were speaking the truth.

 

It's all about a matter of trust and John and Frank have proven themselves to be trustworthy on matters over the years.

[Guest Brian]

Well, that's not hard to believe that Heyman throws out ideas (even though he probably doesn't sell them hard). Figure Four has a big story going about how Vince brough up the idea of having Brock lose the title to Big Show, because the plans with Lewis are off and he's stalling on Angle/Lesnar. The Boston Globe story made no mention of Heyman at RAW.

[Guest Brian]

Oh, and I know JDW's track record with writing puro updates on the Torch. I still have some of those back issues. But, when there's so much pointing the other way and two shows being written totally different and SmackDown reflecting nothing that Steph wrote, it just doesn't make sense.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Oh yah, tOa boards, hahah, I remember about 3 years ago when that board was at least SEMI-respectable.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"But, when there's so much pointing the other way and two shows being written totally different and SmackDown reflecting nothing that Steph wrote, it just doesn't make sense."

 

- Brian

 

 

You'd be surprised at how many times I use to say the same thing about how "it just doesn't make sense" to John and Frank when they would roll out the shocking news tidbits of the week.

 

Of course I would later look like a fool when John and Frank would be proven right.

 

In wrestling, a lot of things do not make sense and most of the time you will find nothing but half-truths and a ton of bullshit in front of the actual reason/truth.

[Guest Brian]

That's not an adequate explanation though. I mean, RAW reflects nothing of Heyman's fingerprints, and if the ratings were falling that bad, Heyman would have been demoted. He has no pull, no priveledge.

[Guest Cheech13]

It's been my understanding that as of several months ago it was switched to Paul Heyman booking Smackdown and Gewirtz/Hayes on Raw, with Stepahie McMahon overseeing the the writing process, and Vince ultimately approving the product.

 

This was not true until recently when the feeling was that the shows each needed a distinctive feel. That is why we have seen SD become a worker's show and Raw becoming, well whatever it is.

 

Ultimately though all the writers work for the WWE and would all throw out ideas for both shows, which would explain any supposed Heyman influence on Raw or vice versa.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"I mean, RAW reflects nothing of Heyman's fingerprints, and if the ratings were falling that bad, Heyman would have been demoted."

 

- Brian

 

 

This is Paul Heyman we're talking about.

 

Gerwitz is *right* there with half the locker room pissed at him while the same guys that hate him love Paul and believe he is a booking genius that is also looking out for them.

 

The Victoria stalker angle is right out of Paul's book. So is the Snow/Maven/Nowinski angle. Same deal with the women matches that are shown on RAW at least once a week. Bubba Ray, RVD, Tommy Dreamer and Spike Dudley have all maintained substantiated pushes on RAW despite their lack of heat and winning anything of note in the last couple months.

 

Funny how they all came from ECW and even funnier is how Paul had heat with Rob at the end of his tenure with the company and how RVD has been unceremoniously squashed by HHH over the last two months. Not to mention how Bubba Ray was being built up as a RAW main eventer while RVD was right there to be pushed to headline another PPV along with being one of the most over guys on RAW at the beginning of summer.

 

Paul's fingerprints are all over RAW but you need to stop and look hard to see them. Once you have closely looked at the angles/matches/finishes the RAW's over the last couple months, it's easy to see where Paul is sticking his hands.

 

Paul has survived in this business for nearly 20 years and using scapegoats has always been his way of survival:

 

TNN screwing ECW over.

 

XPW lawsuit along with the ECW fans being swooned by XPW tactics.

 

Gordon acting as the mole for WCW and stealing talent away from ECW.

 

Shane Douglas responsible for locker room misery.

 

Mike Awesome and Steve Corino extort money from him.

 

First ever PPV cancelled and then set for a later date.

 

Raven was the one who came up with the crucifix angle.

 

The WWF and WCW are the reason he can't get a break in PPV.

 

"Fuck Sabu"

 

There are many other scapegoat moments with Paul. Each time that Paul looked as if he was on the ropes, he bounced back and found something/someone else to blame for his own problems. If Paul didn't take advantage of a goober like Gerwitz then I would think Paul was losing his touch.

 

"He has no pull, no priveledge."

 

- Brian

 

 

You give Paul so little credit. If the world was ever nuked into oblivion, you can count on cockroaches, Cher, and Heyman to be around afterwards.

[Guest cabbageboy]

That was a bunch of bullshit. You think that RVD jobbing to HHH has something to do with Heyman being mad at him? That is ignorant. First off, Heyman and RVD haven't had any sort of heat with each other in about 5 years (during the initial ECW/WWF angle). Heyman certainly didn't hold it against RVD that he filed for breach of contract in ECW because he was NOT BEING PAID.

 

I'd hardly say RVD is someone with no heat and not worthy of being pushed either. Bubba perhaps, but I think Dreamer can get a crowd behind him if given a chance.

 

To settle it once and for all....Heyman is the main booker on SMDN, Gewirtz books Raw. Stephanie is the overseer of both shows, and then she reports to Vince. Sometimes Vince throws out basic concepts he wants done, like gay weddings and necro angles.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"You think that RVD jobbing to HHH has something to do with Heyman being mad at him?"

 

- cabbageboy

 

 

Go back and look at the build-up to Bubba's programs with Brock and HHH over the last 5 months. Then go back and compare the build up RVD's programs with Brock and HHH over the last 5 months as well. Then go and look at the aftermath of each program for both Bubba and RVD.

 

One was trying to be built up as a serious title threat while the other one came out and made jokes that never made the audience think that he cared about his match with title match HHH.

 

"First off, Heyman and RVD haven't had any sort of heat with each other in about 5 years (during the initial ECW/WWF angle)."

 

- cabbageboy

 

 

5 years?

 

I suppose that encompasses Rob and Paul arguing over unpaid paychecks along how much his merchandise sales were which Paul had promised to pay in the middle of 2000 but never did.

 

Not to mention Rob's frustrations with Paul's inability to pay for his wife Sonya's medical bills which Paul had promised to pay for that were starting to stack up due to the severity of Sonya's leg injury.

 

"Heyman certainly didn't hold it against RVD that he filed for breach of contract in ECW because he was NOT BEING PAID."

 

- cabbageboy

 

 

Just like how Paul isn't holding any grudges against Steve Corino who had asked Paul pay to him at the beginning of 2001 for the PPV money that was owed to him while he was the champ which Paul had said early into Corino's reign that he would pay him. But Paul blew it off because he felt that Corino had betrayed him by questioning his character.

 

Paul could get Corino a job in the WWE regardless of Vince's odd distaste towards Corino's scars which is funny considering that Vince has let guys into the WWE that came with far more baggage than Corino would.

 

"To settle it once and for all....Heyman is the main booker on SMDN, Gewirtz books Raw."

 

- cabbageboy

 

 

Who do you think helped book RAW with Gerwitz while Brock was still on the show and was protected from ever looking bad for all those months leading up to the KOTR win?

 

Gerwitz didn't just happen to stumble upon angles that Paul had booked several years ago that are now watered down versions of the original's.

[Guest nikowwf]

How is XPW mentioned in a thread about wrestling? Thats insulting to me.

 

Niko

[Guest RedJed]

I don't buy Heyman is with Raw at all, the two shows are like night and day. If he was there, I would be inclined to think stars would actually be attempted to be made, and that is clearly not the case, as it is on Smackdown. I have no fucking idea either how the women's division matches have any of Heyman's fingerprints on them, they have been the same as they have always been for awhile, and from what I understand that is Fit Finley's doing.

 

Now maybe Heyman has thrown a few ideas Raws way (and Raw writers may have for SD as well), but that doesn't mean he's sitting in meetings week after week coming up with the script for the show, and much less that they even use those ideas from the other side.

 

The latest on the teams from Meltzer approx. a month or so ago was that Prichard was moved to the Smackdown team and Hayes was moved to Raw in a sort of creative trade. The reason was that Raw wanted some of the elements that made Smackdown what it was, and they brought it Hayes for that. Also, Prichard was not being involved alot recently, and Heyman had no problem pulling his load more. They were struggling to compensate for Prichard not being there on Raw from what I understood.