Tag: Brian James

Road Dogg addresses WWE departure

Posted on by Joseph Currier

During a virtual signing with Signed By Superstars, Brian “Road Dogg” James addressed his recent departure from WWE.

James was co-lead writer of SmackDown before departing his position on the WWE creative team in early March. He told Signed By Superstars that the company was moving “too fast” for him, and he also wanted to spend more time at home with his family.

“It was moving too fast. It was just moving too fast for me,” James said. “We talked about my brothers and their grandkids, and I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with mine. So I’m going to do more of that now.”

This was James’ second stint as a top writer on SmackDown, having already left the position in 2019 before later returning.

James was asked during the virtual signing if he had any input in WWE’s upcoming WrestleMania 42 card.

“Yeah, I did. A lot,” James responded. “I think it’s strong. I think it’s as strong as you’re going to get. I really do. I’m excited about Brock and [Oba Femi]. Look, I got nothing bad to say. I think they’re moving fast and they are growing expeditiously. Financially, they’re setting records. Like, you can’t say nothing bad. It just was moving too fast for me. I’m getting older, and it’s a young man’s game. They’re running fast, and they’re running fast internationally.”

James mentioned during the virtual signing that he’d be interested in getting back into the podcast world again after previously hosting the show “Oh…You Didn’t Know.”

Road Dogg announced for three appearances following WWE departure

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

It’s now been announced that Road Dogg will also be appearing for Diamond Championship Wrestling in Alabama on March 20.

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Following his departure from WWE, Brian “Road Dogg” James has been announced for a couple of appearances.

News broke last week that James — a WWE Hall of Famer — had departed his position on the WWE creative team. He’s now set to make a convention appearance later this month, with Squared Circle Expo announcing that James will be at their event in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 27-28.

James is also set to reunite with his New Age Outlaws tag team partner Billy Gunn for an appearance this December. They’re the first guests announced for Blizzard Brawl 21, an annual indie event produced by Great Lakes Championship Wrestling. The show is being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Prior to his WWE departure, James served as the co-lead writer of SmackDown. It was his second stint in the role.

While reporting on the situation, Dave Meltzer noted that — before James left the company — WWE had given him permission to take a convention booking later this month before then rescinding it. The report didn’t state whether that was this Squared Circle Expo appearance or not.

“James got his annual review. The belief is that he wasn’t happy with it and left,” Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “He may say he left over something else and only he would know exactly why he did so. But it was his decision and it came after his annual review. One person close to the situation said that it has been brewing. He was going to do a convention later this month and it was approved, and then the approval was rescinded and he had to cancel, but in pulling out pretty much said that wouldn’t be an issue starting in a little while.”

WOR: Paramount & AEW, WWE WrestleMania 42, David Sahadi interview

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio discussing the major stories from today’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Producer, director, and writer David Sahadi joined the show to discuss his brand new book, Backstage Pass: Tales from Beyond the Squared Circle, which comes out next week.

Dave and I also talked about:

  • WWE WrestleMania 42 and the lack of long term storytelling
  • Paramount and AEW
  • WWE creative shakeup
  • Eddie Hearn vs. Dana White

Click here to listen (subscription required) or watch on YouTube

Wrestling Weekly: WWE creative shakeup & a rough Wednesday for Kevin Knight

Posted on by Victor Sosa

On a new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa look at the fallout from last weekend’s WWE Elimination Chamber and some creative team shakeups this week in the company.

The guys also talk about the newest members of the WWE Hall of Fame and a rough night for Kevin Knight and Jet Set Rodeo this past Wednesday in AEW.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click here to listen (sub needed)

Report: Brian ‘Road Dogg’ James no longer with WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s creative team has reportedly had a big departure.

BodySlam+ reported today that Brian “Road Dogg” James has departed WWE. He had been the co-lead writer of SmackDown, working alongside John Swikata on the brand. PWInsider notes that the word going around is that James “made the decision to leave his position” with the company.

This was James’ second stint on WWE creative after a previous run that also included him being the head writer of SmackDown. James departed that role in 2019 and stayed with WWE in a behind-the-scenes capacity until being released in 2022. He was later brought back after Paul “Triple H” Levesque ascended to power within the company.

During his first stint working as SmackDown’s head writer, James was often a target of criticism from fans. AJ Styles defended James by saying that, when Vince McMahon was with the company, James’ ideas were so picked apart that they were not actually his ideas anymore.

James is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2019 as part of the Attitude Era faction D-Generation X.

WWE creative had another change with Alexandra Williams announcing this week that she is now the lead writer for Raw. Williams joined WWE in 2020 and had the job title of Senior Writer/Producer until recently being elevated to Vice President/Lead Writer.

‘WWE: Unreal’ delves into R-Truth re-signing, return & creative disagreements

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The second episode of the second season of WWE: Unreal on Netflix delved deep into the R-Truth saga from 2025 and a bit further than the preview clip released on Monday.

The episode went into the longtime friendship between Truth and Brian “Road Dogg” James who is a lead member of the WWE creative team. One point, a creative meeting was shown leading into Truth’s match with John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event where James relayed that Truth wanted to shave his head for the match.

Paul “HHH” Levesque was shown questioning the rationale in the meeting, saying that it didn’t make any sense. James got upset and said, “This is why I am scared to pitch anything. Everything is just horrible and the sh*ts,” adding that he couldn’t wait for Cena to beat Truth so they could move past it.

“It hurts my heart. Let’s move on.”

“Sometimes, his personal feelings can skew his creative feelings over what is right for business,” Levesque told the camera later.

Two days after Truth’s surprise return at Money in the Bank, Truth is shown asking Levesque if he could “become his brother” and asked if he could shave it, Levesque said he was fine with it. Truth later joked he was going bald.

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The episode went into the Truth contract situation where he said he learned he wasn’t being renewed as he was taking his daughter to dance class which led to his tweet. He then let James know who put out his own tweet, later admitting the move did make perfect business sense due to his age but didn’t agree with it.

Levesque then gave the quote released in the preview clip Monday where he said Truth was never fired and was always under contract.

“He immediately went out on social and said he was fired — which, he was never fired, contrary to prior belief. He was never not under contract with us,” Levesque claimed.

They addressed the crowd chats and blowback for the decision with Levesque saying, “If there is a desire from the audience to see a performer, I would love to have the performer. It would be silly not to. Then, it becomes if we can get to a place where we can do business together. That’s the business side. No one ever wanted Ron to leave, we just wanted to get to an amicable place.”

Truth said he and Nick Khan “talked for about an hour a day” and that he “patted the wound.” The two made a deal that Bruce Prichard claimed was signed on the day of Money in the Bank when Truth made his surprise return at the end.

The episode detailed who was told what and when which included Khan, Levesque, Prichard, Ed Koskey, Cody Rhodes and Cena. Bobby Roode was told shortly before the match was starting while Pat McAfee was informed but Michael Cole wasn’t in order to get a better surprise reaction. Logan Paul and Jey Uso weren’t told of the run-in, learning about it as it happened.

Levesque was shown talking with Cena and came up with how Truth would dress before he came out which Cena completely agreed with.

James also didn’t know, relaying mixed emotions of happiness that his friend was back but also disappointment that he wasn’t told as a creative team member.

The second season of WWE: Unreal is now available on Netflix with coverage coming on this website throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.

WWE’s Road Dogg undergoing tests following ‘likely’ heart attack

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Brian James (Road Dogg) likely suffered a heart attack on Thursday.

James’ wife, Tracy, posted on Facebook this morning that he had likely suffered a heart attack after returning from Orlando for this week’s NXT tapings.

“I want to thank everyone for the prayers and text,” she wrote. “Brian most likely suffered a heart attack late Thursday night after returning from Orlando. He has had test run and we’re currently waiting for the results.he has also seen a kidney specialist and will have a stress test done. He’s always been on [blood pressure] meds for high bp. Just please pray all the test come back for something we can fix. I am a total wreck but I’m trying so hard to be positive! Please pray for Brian. He feels horrible and for God to please heal my husband so he can come hone ! Thank y’all all so much!”

She later provided an update, writing that kidney tests came back clear and a heart cath is scheduled for Monday.

Brian James currently works as a producer for NXT. Prior to that, he had been the head writer for SmackDown. He most recently assisted Shawn Michaels running the March 17 episode of NXT after Triple H was quarantined due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the WWE Performance Center.

Wrestling Weekly: The night of a million angles, Road Dogg, Sasha

Posted on by Victor Sosa

On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I discuss the fallout from the biggest weekend in wrestling along with some big happenings this past week.

Among the topics discussed: Brian “Road Dogg” James exiting his SmackDown lead writing position in part due to some of the most hilarious hypocrisy you’ll ever hear, Sasha Banks apparently leaving the building (for now), who is at fault for the clunky pinfall that ended WrestleMania’s main event, ROH turning the G1 Supercard into the night of a million angles and an interesting issue facing WWE when Matt Riddle moves up to the main roster.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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