Backstage Update on WWE RAW and SmackDown Creative Leadership – Road Dogg has officially taken on a significant creative leadership role in WWE, now serving as the co-writer for SmackDown.
The former WWE star previously worked as the head writer of SmackDown from 2016 to 2019 before stepping down from the position. However, he remained with the company in various roles, including working as a coach at NXT from May 2019 until his release in January 2022. In August 2022, WWE rehired him as Senior Vice President of Live Events.
Road Dogg recently reflected on his first tenure as SmackDown’s co-head writer during an appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, sharing insights into his experience in WWE’s creative process.
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Road Dogg, whose real name is Brian James, and John Swikata are now leading SmackDown’s writing team. Meltzer noted that due to the current creative workload, WWE felt it necessary to have two lead writers for the show.
“We were told that there is so much going on right now that one lead writer on the show wasn’t enough. Raw has Ryan Ward and Jon Baeckstrom. Ed Koskey is there overseeing and editing the scripts, Bruce Prichard is the buffer between them and Paul Levesque.”
Swikata replaced Ryan Callahan as SmackDown’s head writer in June, and with Road Dogg now back in a major creative role, WWE continues to refine its writing structure to manage the evolving landscape of its programming.
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Backstage Update on WWE RAW and SmackDown Creative Leadership
