Eric Bischoff has been released from his post as SmackDown's executive director in quite the shocking turn of events.

The former WCW boss was appointed as the blue brand's director back in June, with Paul Heyman getting promoted to the same role for Raw. But, according to a Tuesday press release, Bruce Prichard will be stepping in to replace the 64-year-old.

Prichard will report directly to Vince McMahon and, per the press release, will "oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business."

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"Stamford, Conn., October 15, 2019 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Bruce Prichard the Executive Director of Friday Night SmackDown, reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

"Prichard will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business, replacing Eric Bischoff.

"Prichard brings nearly 40 years of experience in sports entertainment with an extensive background in character development and creative storytelling. Over the course of his career, Prichard has served in a variety of roles including announcer, producer, agent and on-screen personality. Earlier this year, Prichard returned to WWE as a member of the company's creative team."

WWE made changes to its creative teams in September, sending Raw writer to SmackDown after his many years on the red brand. Per The Wrap, the changes were made to solve "creative problems" on SmackDown ahead of the show's move to the FOX Network.

We Don't Know What To Make Of This

This is all pretty surprising. While Heyman seems to have done very well in his first four months as Raw director, Bischoff apparently didn't make as many waves and was admittedly very quiet since his appointment.

Prichard, though, is popular among WWE fans and his replacing Eric will probably come as good news to some.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

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