Stephanie McMahon oversaw RAW’s creative direction in 2004 while Paul Heyman worked in the same role on SmackDown. Jim Ross, a WWE commentator at the time, recently addressed a disagreement the two once had behind the scenes.

In late 2004, Stephanie McMahon hosted a conference call with other RAW creative team members. It later emerged that Heyman dialed in and heard part of the call despite not being invited. As a result, the WWE Hall of Famer lost his job as SmackDown’s creative figurehead.

Speaking to Grilling JR host Conrad Thompson, Ross explained the logic behind Heyman entering the call without permission:

“Well, in her view, Conrad, Paul betrayed the trust of Stephanie. I don’t disagree with you [that Heyman hearing the meeting didn’t matter]. You’d think that the lead writer on the show that’s being taped the next day would be informed as to what was going on. It’s like this. Stephanie’s got a cage match planned on RAW. Well, that would give Heyman the opportunity to make a decision. Do I duplicate another cage match or do something else? Well, the logical answer is probably to do something else.” [29:53 – 30:36]

Heyman went on to work on WWE’s revamped ECW brand in 2006 before leaving the company. After a six-year absence, he returned in 2012 as an on-screen personality.

Jim Ross defends Paul Heyman after Stephanie McMahon dispute

On reflection, Jim Ross sees no problem with a creative team member listening to another WWE show’s plans.

The legendary announcer believes Stephanie McMahon’s ego played a part in Paul Heyman being removed from his SmackDown position:

“He should have been listening anyway, but he wasn’t welcome,” Ross continued. “They wanted to separate, and they had a competition and all this other s**t. It is weird. It shouldn’t seem weird, Conrad. It’s f***ing weird! It’s egos and politics and all that dogs**t. Heyman was lucky he didn’t get fired. Very, very lucky.” [30:42 – 31:07]

In the same episode, Ross gave his honest reaction to Corey Graves’ recent outburst after being demoted to NXT.

What are your thoughts on Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon’s issues in 2004? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use JR’s quotes from this article.