Road Dogg quits as SmackDown head writer

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

WWE Hall of Famer Brian James informed WWE yesterday that he was stepping down as the co-lead writer of the Smackdown brand, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources.

James had been heading up the brand with Stephen Guerrieri (aka Steve G.) with James going on the road while Guerrieri would remain working out of WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT. Guerreri has been working in creative since 2012 and has held a lead writer position since 2014.

Sources cited James' increasing frustration with changes made to the Smackdown scripting by Vince McMahon with James finally hitting a "breaking point" at this past Tuesday's Smackdown taping in Brooklyn, NY.

On his Twitter account yesterday, James wrote, "Today I pray that I face the change, that is inevitably coming, head on and with faith and courage. The only constant is change! #HOPE #FAITH #OUDK"

There is no word who may be replacing James in the role, although several WWE sources stated that the way creative is currently driven, the lead writer is more of a formality today vs. a specific voice that drives the show as everything pitched comes through the team for that series to Vince McMahon, is then approved (or shot down) by McMahon, who then tweaks the series all the way to the actual taping - as late as during the taping.

There is no confirmation yet whether James will be transitioning to another position within WWE.

www.pwinsider.com/article/125638/brian-road-dogg-james-resigns-as-head-writer-of-smackdown.html?p=1

We don't have the old D-O-double G to kick around anymore.

[The Peoples Elbow]

AEW?

[Deleted]

What is the f***ing point of writers if Vince just changes everything anyway.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Apr 11, 2019 5:02:16 GMT -5 @scsa316 said:

What is the f***ing point of writers if Vince just changes everything anyway.

Someone has to take the blame.

[Moppy]

What, no Cody gif yet?

[héad.casé]

I was always one of the guys who would give Road Dogg a break. A few acted like everything he and his team wrote never was rewritten by Vince and always gave Roadie the shit for a shit angle. Being a writer for WWE, especially when you're a Head Writer has to be a headache and a thankless job when your ideas end up nothing like you envisioned by the time Vince is done.

[Deleted]

Guess he finally had enough of being a whipping boy and going to bat for Vince's insanity.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Vince really needs to be put out to pasture.

[Deleted]

On one hand, I sympathize with Road Dogg in being jerked around and will grant the show's issues probably aren't necessarily his fault.

On the other every interview or Twitter post I've ever seen from the man he comes off like a total freaking idiot.

[4TheGlory]

to be blunt. He has run his course in that position.

[Deleted]

Apr 11, 2019 5:14:27 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

On one hand, I sympathize with Road Dogg in being jerked around and will grant the show's issues probably aren't necessarily his fault.

On the other every interview or Twitter post I've ever seen from the man he comes off like a total freaking idiot.

Pretty much what I came in to say

[Mozenrath]

I am curious who will take the position, though I guess we'll know how much of the bad writing on Smackdown can be chalked up to him.

Honestly, if Smackdown was also 3 hours long, it'd be just as bad, or worse, than Raw most weeks. It just doesn't get the Raw Tax of it just also fatiguing the audience, so people give it a pass for some truly lazy shit. People would disappear for weeks and weeks. Hell, if EC3 had been on Smackdown, his absence would have hardly been commented on, because there are usually at least 3-4 guys in that same position.

[Ishmeal Loves Kaseyhausen]

Road Dogg took more than his fare of shit when Smackdown took a downturn, and was further lambasted when he defended the show. We all know by now who makes the decisions, and the head writer is, as was said earlier in this thread, the whipping boy that takes the abuse. I fault none of the writers and can't imagine the good ideas that have been left on the writing room floor because of a 70 year old man's whims.

[spagett]

To defend Road Dogg a little, when Smackdown was absolute ass in 2017 it wasn't all his fault.

It can't be easy having to write a show with a complete jobber nobody cares about as your top champion which is what happened with Jinder. The Jinder push was 100% Vince so he's the blame there.

However like others have said, he came across as such a moron on twitter or in interviews trying to defend the show. Who could ever forget him trying to defend turning Becky heel at Summerslam?

"That's not the story you were told", hilarious.

[Dub H]

Someone post the Road Dogg face for old times.

And yeh,Road Dogg is a bad baaaad writer, but I`m not sure that with Vince there the replacement will do that much better.Here hoping.

We don't even need to especulate he is bad,just watch him trying to defend the Charlotte "Faced the same challenges" as Lynch.

[TGM]

[Prince Petty]

The WWE will never be taken seriously by anyone other than hardened wrestling fans, while it's still run by a mad old carny who flips out ever day and demands complete rewrites, bans on certain words, arbitrary character changes and who knows what else.

If this is an entertainment company, which wants to honour the very lucrative TV deals it has, then they need to get a professional writing room, with quality control and a process for producing their shows. One that doesn't involve Vince saying "start again!" an hour before they go on air.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Good he was also behind the Jinder push. That killed Smackdown for a long time.

[Welfare Willis]

He added, "SEE YOU AT THE ALAMO!"

[RedSmile]

Road Dogg is a dope with dopey ideas, and when people expressed unhappiness or criticism of those dopey ideas Road Dogg would then take to Twitter to lecture and blame and then block fans, like the f***ing dope that he is. On top of that he likes to attach #HOPE, #FAITH, and #BLESSED to everything, solidifying himself as the basic white bitch that he is. Half of the reason Dogg even had that job, is because his old Klique buddy is heir to the company.

That being said, I bet that there's actually half decent chance that Jeff Jarrett replaces him.