Heyman became the lead writer for the “SmackDown” brand a few months after the first-ever WWE brand extension. He remained in that position until February 2003. Conrad Thompson, the “Grilling JR” co-host, asked Ross how he felt Heyman led the blue brand creatively. 

“The creative ideas that he came up with speak for themselves,” Ross said. “They were strong. Same thing; sometimes you can say, ‘Well, Paul didn’t play well with others at times’ … He did a hell of a job there, creatively. He just had those same issues. Controlling his emotions and not being divisive. It took him a while to get away from that. I don’t know how he is today, I’d say he’s probably a lot improved in that regard. He’s 58 years old; it’s time. 

“But yeah, he did a great job on that show, and he booked it like a territory. He had his six top guys, and he was gonna make sure they were front and center and utilized in a good way. And also, those six guys were pretty damn good.”

The wrestlers that were dubbed the “SmackDown Six” during Heyman’s run as lead writer for “SmackDown” were the late Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, Chavo Guerrero, Edge, Kurt Angle, and Rey Mysterio.