Watch: Paul Heyman Describes WWE General Managers as 'Played Out'

WWE officially hired Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff on Thursday to serve as the respective executive directors for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, putting them just under Vince McMahon in terms of authority for their show's creative team. Since then fans have been going over both men's previous comments with a fine-toothed comb to see what ideas and opinions they might be bringing to the table. The latest is from a resurfaced interview between Paul Heyman and Inside The Ropes that took place several years back, a small portion of which was uploaded to YouTube on Monday.

In the interview Heyman was asked about the role of general managers and authority figures on WWE television. While both shows had their respective general managers removed back in December, the McMahon family (particularly Shane McMahon) has continued to play the onscreen role of a heel authority figure. Heyman stated flat out he had no interest in taking a similar role like he did back in the early 2000s as SmackDown's GM, believing that the role serves no purpose anymore.

"The role of the general manager is played out," Heyman said. "I don't want to do it because it's been going on for 20 years. And whether you're the hero general manager or the villain general manager, it's enough. I don't know how many people really turn on WWE or any form of sports entertainment to see how a match is made. The show has become too much of, 'Here's the story behind the show you're watching.' And I think sometimes people just want to see the show.

"I think people just want to understand who the characters are and see the characters pitted against each other in compelling situations or riveting storylines that have nothing to do with the corporate structure that orders the match because the general manager needs to sign the contract," he continued. "It's too much. It's goes back to simplicity."

He then gave a hypothetical scenario where Kevin Owens was booked in a match against Sami Zayn, saying it was more compelling just to be told that the match was happening rather than how the match was made.

WWE initially put out advertisements for this week's Raw and SmackDown that teased Heyman and Bischoff being involved in their new roles. However it was later reported that those ads were never meant to be put out, and Heyman's involvement on Raw this week will likely not extend beyond his role as Brock Lesnar's advocate.