“Now it all makes sense”- Wrestling fans in splits after Triple H’s close friend reportedly gains prominent role on SmackDown

WWE Hall of Famer will look to turn the tides for SmackDown as he is now reportedly the new co-lead writer for the show.

“Now it all makes sense”- Wrestling fans in splits after Triple H’s close friend reportedly gains prominent role on SmackDown

D-Generation X [via- WWE]

At the start of the year, SmackDown transitioned into a weekly three-hour television show. However, this has not been a welcome change so far. The on-screen quality has arguably diminished, with fans irate at the lack of effort from head booker, Triple H. Amidst the ongoing backlash on social media, WWE has made a significant change behind the scenes on the blue brand.

According to PWInsider, WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg Brian James is now the new co-lead writer for SmackDown. James will join John Swikata in heading the creative for the blue brand. This isn’t the first time that the former Tag Team Champion has been involved in WWE’s creative process.

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Back in 2014, James worked as a backstage producer, taking on the responsibility while wrestling sporadically. Two years later, the former D-Generation X member joined the SmackDown creative team as a writer.

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James subsequently led the team for a few years before resigning after WrestleMania 35. However, he would continue to work several roles, including being re-hired in 2022 as the Senior Vice President of Live Events.

With WWE making these changes behind the scenes, fans are hoping for a much better on-screen product. The Stamford-based promotion hasn’t had the best of starts to the year. A number of decisions have received polarizing opinions online, most notably Jey Uso‘s Royal Rumble win.

The quality of SmackDown itself has not helped matters. Due to the $5 billion Netflix-Raw deal, most of the main event talent has been transferred to the red brand.

As such, a depleted roster and three-hour airtime have contributed to the significant downfall of the show. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see whether the new acquisition turns things around for SmackDown.

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WWE Universe reacts to Road Dogg being named as new SmackDown co-lead writer

As expected, the Internet Wrestling Community was in splits after learning about the new changes on SmackDown. During Road Dogg’s tenure as lead writer in 2017, SmackDown went through one of its worst years in history. Therefore, fans weren’t particularly excited about the WWE Hall of Famer returning to this role.

Road Dogg
Road Dogg [via- WWE]

Many users poked fun at Triple H for various reasons. Some fans called out the WWE CCO for hiring one of his friends in such a prominent position. Meanwhile, others believed this was his way to deflect the criticism off himself and onto his former DX teammate.

Fans predicted that SmackDown would get even worse than WWE’s developmental brand, NXT. Furthermore, another user joked that Asuka would win more titles, as she did during James’ first run.

Related: WATCH: Solo Sikoa almost comes to blows with Jacob Fatu during chaotic main event on SmackDown