It's just a fucking dumb mechanic that should be removed.
Your swings/blocks should be interrupted like any other hit, but you shouldn't be staggered.
I'd even say that it would be fine if you were "stun locked" for an extra half second (where you can't block or swing, but you can move, like if you block a very heavy weapon with your light weapon you can get stunned some times). But the paulstagger is fucking dumb, remove it already.
An arrow isn't going to stagger you more than getting pummeled by a heavy weapon. Pole stagger is gone, arrow stagger should be too.