Stephanie McMahon supervised the creative direction of RAW in 2004, while Paul Heyman worked in the same role for Smackdown. Jim Ross, WWE commentator at that time, recently addressed a disagreement that both had behind the scenes.
In 2004, Stephanie McMahon organized a conference call with other members of the RAW creative team. Subsequently, it was revealed that Heyman connected and heard part of the call despite not having been invited. As a result, WWE's hall member lost his position as the main creative figure of SmackDown.
Speaking with the host of Grilling JRConrad Thompson, Ross explained the logic behind Heyman to enter the call without permission:
“Well, in his opinion, Conrad, Paul betrayed Stephanie's confidence. I disagree with you (in which Heyman listened to the meeting does not matter). You would think that the main writer of the program that will be recorded the next day should be informed about what was happening. It is like this. Stephanie has planned a cage fight in Raw. Well, that would give Heyman the opportunity to make a decision to make a decision. Cage or do something different? (29:53 – 30:36)
Heyman went on to work in the renewed WWE ECW brand in 2006 before leaving the company. After an absence of six years, he returned in 2012 as a personality on the screen.
Jim Ross defends Paul Heyman after the conflict with Stephanie McMahon
Reflecting, Jim Ross does not see any problem that a member of the creative team listens to the plans of another WWE program.
The legendary commentator believes that Stephanie McMahon's ego played a role in the elimination of Paul Heyman from his position in SmackDown:
“I should have been listening anyway, but it wasn't welcome,” Ross continued. “They wanted to separate and had a competition and all that other type of shit **. It's weird. It shouldn't seem strange, Conrad. It's very rare! They are egos and political and all that garbage. Heyman was lucky not to be fired. Very, very lucky.” (30:42 – 31:07)
In the same episode, Ross gave his honest reaction to the recent outbreak of Corey Graves after being degraded to NXT.
