Vince McMahon On AEW Ratings Rebounding While RAW And SmackDown Drop, Paul Heyman

WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon commented on AEW vs. WWE NXT, Paul Heyman being dismissed from his creative job, and Triple H working creative during WWE's Second Quarter 2020 earnings call with investors from this evening.

Vince took the loaded call from Brandon Ross of Lightshed Partners. Ross asked Vince why he thinks WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite have bounced back from the initial COVID-19 shock better than RAW and SmackDown have, if Triple H could help in an elevated creative role on RAW and SmackDown given his NXT success, why why he fired Paul Heyman from the RAW Executive Director job and if 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 get over new talents on the main roster.

"That was a lot," Vince first responded to the question. He took the NXT – AEW question and said they are looking to make RAW and SmackDown have a more youthful feel. "I think some of those are new. It's something that's new, and what have you, and it's up to us to make RAW and SmackDown feel more youthful. That is where we're going."

Vince then commented on the strategy that he firs talked about during the Q1 call in April, where he said they are working on building new main roster Superstars, and that it will take some time to get them over. He did not directly answer if Heyman's creative dismissal means a change in direction when it comes to getting over new stars.

"As far as continuing on, acting on what's new and building and characters, you always have to build new characters. Constantly," Vince said.

Regarding Triple H possibly taking on an "elevated role" with the RAW and SmackDown creative teams, based off his success on the NXT brand, Vince noted that he already helps out.

"As far as Paul Levesque helping out on RAW and SmackDown, that happens," Vince said. "It's 'all hands on deck' in terms of all that we do."

Finally, Vince commented on Heyman's work in creative. While he will remain with the company as an on-air talent, Heyman was released from his role as RAW Executive Director on June 11 of this year, one year after he was hired for the role. Vince briefly spoke on Heyman but said he did a good job.

"As far as Paul Heyman's concerned, he did a very good job in terms of creativity," Vince said.

Stay tuned for more from the WWE Q2 2020 earnings call.