Two Writers Are Gone From WWE Creative After Reported Conflicts With Vince McMahon

WrestleMania and all the events surrounding it must understandably add up to a turbulent time for WWE and its various employees. So when you think about it, it’s not too surprising that some people backstage would quit or be fired over the course of the weekend, especially if there were already ongoing problems. Per PWInsider, it seems that two members of WWE creative left their positions after unrelated conflicts with Vince McMahon in the last few days.

The first and most prominent is newly-inducted Hall of Famer Road Dogg, aka Brian James, who has worked for WWE Creative since 2012, and for the last few years has been the Head of Creative for Smackdown Live. The story is that he’s been increasingly frustrated with Vince McMahon’s habit of changing things at the very last minute, and that this week’s Smackdown was a “breaking point.” We don’t know what change McMahon made this week that set James off, but it seems likely to have something to do with Matt and Jeff Hardy suddenly winning the Tag Team Titles from the Usos, since that was the biggest and most unexpected thing to happen on the show. In any case, Road Dogg has reportedly resigned his position as Head of Creative, but that doesn’t automatically mean he’s released from the company (although it seems likely).

Robert Evans, the other writer in question, has definitely been released from WWE, although there seems to be some disagreement about whether that was his choice. Evans was once known as Archibald Peck on the indie wrestling scene (you may remember when he and Chuck Taylor posed in front of paintings during a Chikara match), and also wrestled for a time as RD Evans. PWInsider says that Evans was fired after Bret Hart talked about Vince McMahon in a speech Evans helped him write for the Hall of Fame Ceremony. Talking about Vince is apparently a no-go at the Hall of Fame, which might explain why DX flaunted their ability to do it later in the show. However, Evans himself tweeted an “official statement” that simply says “I quit WWE,” and then turns into a grocery list, showing that he still has Archibald Peck’s sense of humor. It’s possible, of course, that he was confronted for letting Bret talk about Vince, and then quit over it rather than being fired. Honestly, that would seem like a pretty reasonable response to a lot of people.