5 WWE Superstars who could be the face of Eric Bischoff's SmackDown Live
WWE announced the surprising news on Thursday that Paul Heyman has been named the new Executive Director of Monday Night Raw and Eric Bischoff has been named the new Executive Director of SmackDown Live.
Both men will oversee the development of their respective brands, ensuring that WWE has two distinct creative processes, and they will report directly to WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
The appointment of Heyman, 53, is not totally unexpected, as he has been working backstage with Superstars including Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey and Baron Corbin recently, but few people would have predicted that Bischoff, 64, would return to WWE in such a major role.
During his time away from the wrestling business, the former WCW Executive Vice President has not been afraid to give his opinion on what WWE should do with its programming and its top Superstars, including the likes of Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five Superstars who could be the face of SmackDown Live under Bischoff’s creative leadership.
Disclaimer: As the brand split essentially ended with the introduction of the 'Wild Card Rule', current brand statuses are not taken into account in this article.
#5 Kofi Kingston
Six months ago, it would have been unrealistic to suggest that Kofi Kingston could become the face of either Raw or SmackDown Live.
Now, after the rise of ‘KofiMania’ and a WrestleMania moment against Daniel Bryan that fans will remember forever, the WWE champion has been positioned as the top guy on SmackDown Live, even above Roman Reigns, over the last two months.
During that time, the New Day member has been on a winning streak of 21 matches, which is very rare for title holders in modern-day WWE, and he has retained his title against Bryan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler along the way.
Long-term, only time will tell if Kingston can keep up this momentum and remain one of the most prominent Superstars on SmackDown Live. Short-term, Eric Bischoff is walking into a role with the WWE champion as the main guy currently on the blue brand, so expect to see Kingston on top during the new Executive Director’s first few weeks in charge.