The past 24 hours has seen the news break that two members of WWE’s Creative Teams – one from Raw and one from SmackDown Live – have both left their positions, with rumors and speculation running rampant. As the dust settles, it seems that the original reports were a little preliminary, but while some of the facts weren’t as spectacular as originally thought, there’s a still an element of bizarre in the story.
ROBERT EVANS LEAVES RAW CREATIVE
Originally broken by Sean “X-Pac” Waltman on his podcast, it was mentioned that Raw Creative member Robert Evans, who produced Bret “Hitman” Hart‘s Hall of Fame induction segment on Saturday night, was fired by the WWE for a cardinal sin during Hall of Fame induction ceremonies – that of not mentioning Vince McMahon during the speeches. While Evans didn’t actually write the induction speech of Bret Hart, he would have to proofread the speech and during the Hitman’s speech he mentioned a story of Vince McMahon. This resulted in a heated exchange backstage. And while original reports stated, including X-Pac’s, stated that Evans was fired over the incident, in later developments on Thursday afternoon, it was revealed that during the altercation, sensing he may be released from the company over the mention, Evans chose to pull the old “you can’t fire me, I quit” scenario. Evans even took his personal Twitter to clarify the reports of his firing.
My Official Statement: pic.twitter.com/m8AIQcMOBr
— R.D. Evans (@Oh_Robert_Evans) April 11, 2019
Robert Evans joined the WWE in 2016 and joined the Raw Creative team, but prior to that he was a 15-year veteran of the independent scene, best known as indie star Archibald Peck. The Canadian wrestler moved to Texas in the early 2000s, where he was trained by former wrestler and manager Skandor Akbar. In 2011, he debuted with CHIKARA, and also wrestled in Ring of Honor from 2013 to 2014.
ROAD DOGG SHIFTS ROLES ON SMACKDOWN LIVE
News broke early on Thursday morning that SmackDown Live‘s head of creative Brian James, best known to WWE fans as “Road Dogg” Jesse James of D-Generation X, had resigned his position following frustrations from Vince McMahon constantly re-writing SmackDown Live‘s scripts every Tuesday night. By the afternoon, that story had changed considerably. It has later been stated that he did not actually resign, but instead, both he and WWE management mutually agreed on a new positional shift within the company, where he’d take on more of a utility role in the company as SmackDown Live prepares its fall move to FOX Sports. It was reported that he could actually be taking more of a lead producer/agent role at Live Events, a position still void since the departure of Arn Anderson.
Today I pray that I can relax and breath thru every step I take and every task I take on. Too often I’m a bundle of nerves and anxiety, like a duck on a pond; underneath the water it’s feet are going 90 mph! #HOPE #FAITH #OUDK
— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) April 11, 2019
