WWE Hall of Famer “Road Dogg” Brian James believes that the company’s Superstars feel more creatively comfortable under the new regimen compared to the old one.
Vince McMahon’s four-decade hold on WWE ended when, in June, he retired from all positions in the company. He was replaced by Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan as co-executive directors, while his creative director duties went to Triple H.
After assuming command, the new regime set out to make executive changes in the company. One of them was bringing James back to the promotion and replacing Jeff Jarrett with him as senior vice president of live events.
Speaking with Josh Martinez at Superstar Crossover, the six-time WWE Tag Team Champion compared the creative freedom given to Superstars under the previous and current regimes.
“I think there is already a feeling that creativity is alive again. Many times individual creativity was stifled, due to the creative desires of the studio, I’ll say, rather than the creative writing team. So it stifled a lot of individual creativity, but I think the conversation needs to be had with everyone who is a wrestler or creative about wrestling going forward, about how we can make it the best it can be. I feel like that conversation wasn’t as well received under the last regime as it is under this regime, and I think this regime only knows about collaboration.” [h/t Fightful]
Road Dogg explains why WWE Superstars feel more comfortable creatively now
In the same interview, Road Dogg explained why WWE Superstars, especially those raised through NXT, now feel more creatively comfortable.
From his time as Creative Director of Character Development on NXT in the past, the DX member explained how Superstars stuck to one name and one character in the developmental brand, only to be renamed as soon as they hit the main roster. .
She went on to state that the feeling behind the scenes now is that these superstars won’t change much, so they’ll be more comfortable working with the character they’re familiar with.
“I know that just having conversations with several of them, it will feel great. Various people, various talents will prosper. Because we’re going to go back to the old names, we’re going to go back to the old characters, you’ll see that people feel more comfortable with their act because it’s closer to who they are. I think that’s where we’ll be heading in the future.” [h/t Fightful]
Allowing NXT Superstars to bring the gimmick that worked on the developmental brand to WWE’s main roster is one way the company can avoid the pitfalls they’ve faced with talent calls.