Drew McIntyre, Aleister Black and Stars Finding Success in Heyman Era of WWE Raw

The arrival of Paul Heyman as executive director of the Raw creative team has brought opportunities for young stars who may not have had them prior to his ascension to power in June 2019.

They are performers who have demonstrated flashes of potential, signs of greatness or hints of charisma but, for whatever reason, had been shoved into the background in favor of other Superstars.

The Heyman era of Raw has brought them the chance to showcase their skills in high-profile matches with top stars and in angles and vignettes they otherwise were unlikely to attain.

As the flagship's underrated run to WrestleMania 36 continues, let's take a look at six performers who have most benefited from Heyman's creative genius.

Drew McIntyre

No Superstar has benefitted to a greater extent from Heyman's creative influence on Raw than Drew McIntyre.

The Scottish Psychopath has been allowed to showcase a personality the audience has never really gotten to see. He has either been an entitled "Chosen One," a jobberific third of 3MB, or a stoic assassin of a bad guy. With Heyman at the helm, he has proved he can be charismatic, funny and engaging, all while running roughshod over the roster with his patented Claymore.

On top of it all, he eliminated Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble before going on to win the match and cash his ticket to WrestleMania 36.

The fans have reacted favorably to the discovery of his personality, and the result is a performer riding a tidal wave of momentum heading into the biggest show of the year.

After years of hearing about McIntyre's potential, Heyman has finally brought it to life.

Aleister Black

Aleister Black carried himself with such an aura while in NXT that it was disappointing to see him arrive to the main roster as part of a thrown-together tag team with Ricochet.

Throw in some other booking missteps, and you have a Superstar who could have been this generation's answer to The Undertaker but was instead the victim of questionable creative.

Since arriving on Raw, The Dutch Destroyer has regained the aura that made him a star with the black-and-gold brand. 

Black is calculating, cold, dark and thought-provoking. His words come from a deeper place than a half-hearted script. He is precise, steals the show with nearly every significant match he wrestles and engages audiences in compelling squashes.

Heyman has introduced the Black we all knew and loved in NXT to the WWE Universe. An unstoppable force to this point, he appears well on his way to capturing gold and establishing himself as one of the top stars on Monday nights.

With the way he is trending right now and amid reports Heyman originally chose Black to win the Royal Rumble, it is only a matter of time before the tattooed alt star of the flagship show becomes its champion.

Andrade

Andrade is a star who always appeared destined for great things in WWE but too often found himself on the receiving end of start-and-stop booking.

Since debuting on Raw, Andrade has enjoyed his most sustained success under the creative tutelage of Heyman.

Currently the United States champion and in feuds with the likes of Rey Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo, he is a featured player on the flagship and a Superstar who is thriving by showcasing his incredible in-ring skills to the audience at large.

A recent ladder match with Mysterio saw him take incredible bumps and display his toughness to the fans, while his intensely personal program with Carrillo has gotten both over to the point that a match for the U.S. title at WrestleMania appears likely.

Unfortunately, Andrade recently found himself suspended for 30 days for violating the company's Wellness Policy. If there is a silver lining to the situation, it will allow him to return to WWE in time for The Show of Shows on April 5 and the conclusion of the program.

Liv Morgan

Prior to her re-emergence on Raw over the last month, Liv Morgan was a mere afterthought in WWE.

The disintegration of The Riott Squad and a trip to SmackDown during the 2019 Superstar Shake-up left her on an island, with no friends on screen and no creative support off it.

Then came a return to Raw and a series of vignettes that promised a reborn Morgan. Throw in a tease of a same-sex relationship with Lana during The Ravishing Russian's wedding to Bobby Lashley, and you have an explosive return for the New Jersey native.

Since then, creative has been a bit disjointed to say the least, but Morgan has been featured prominently and fans have reacted prominently.

After defeating Lana for the second consecutive week Monday night, she found herself the victim of betrayal by former friend Ruby Riott. That sets up a program which ensures Morgan will continue to be featured on Monday nights, the breakout star of a women's division that could use one.

Humberto Carrillo

Not all that long ago, Humberto Carrillo was left to wallow in the creative wasteland that is 205 Live. A high-flyer from Mexico, he was sent to the cruiserweight brand to provide depth on the roster and showcase his abilities with little or no expectation of getting a fair shake on Raw or SmackDown.

Fast forward a few months, and the 24-year-old finds himself in the thick of a feud with Andrade over the United States Championship that intensified Monday, with Angel Garza and Rey Mysterio also added to the mix.

While the biggest knock on Carrillo continues to be his lack of character development, he has shown increased intensity, going as far as to deliver a hammerlock DDT to Andrade that wrote El Idolo off television and served as fitting revenge for an assault that left him on the shelf prior to the Royal Rumble.

Booking tendencies suggest Carrillo could be in line for his first major singles victory come WrestleMania 36, one that would anoint him as one of the top young stars in the company while providing him his first taste of gold. If that is the case, do not be surprised if 2020 is the year of the young star.

Buddy Murphy

WWE's Best Kept Secret was exactly that, because Buddy Murphy could never seem to catch a creative break in the company. In NXT, he was overshadowed and underutilized thanks to a roster full of indie darlings.

On SmackDown, he had a fleeting moment of success that saw him pin Daniel Bryan and go toe-to-toe with Roman Reigns, but the push was not sustained.

Why he struggled to catch on despite an in-ring output that rivaled the best workers in the company was a mystery.

That all changed with his jump to Raw in last fall's WWE draft, though.

Murphy squared off with Aleister Black in a series of extraordinary matches that put them both on the map after frustrating stints on the blue brand.

From there, the Australian aligned with himself with Seth Rollins in a carefully orchestrated booking decision that will allow him to siphon some of the heat from The Monday Night Messiah while he continues to connect with the viewing audience.

It is a push that Heyman will hope works through association alone.

Rollins is undeniably one of the top stars in the industry. If Murphy sticks by him and gets to work with the established main eventer, fans will see him as such sooner than later. On top of that, he can learn and develop into the top-tier player Heyman sees him as.

Then, when the time comes, he can execute a significant push not unlike the ones Randy Orton and Batista enjoyed following their time in Evolution, learning from Triple H and Ric Flair.

It is a tried and true formula for success, and Murphy finds himself benefiting from it and the attention of a creative genius who recognizes his incredible talents.