Former WWE co-lead writer Brian “Road Dogg” James has opened up about his decision to exit the company.
News broke back in March that the Hall of Famer had left WWE. Prior to his exit, James was one of the lead writers of SmackDown. James had been a backstage figure in WWE since 2011.
Speaking with Busted Open Radio, James admitted that the job not being fun anymore was a major factor in his departure. The Hall of Famer added that fear of unemployment was one reason why he stayed longer than he had intended to:
“I wasn’t having any fun. It got to be so much work, that it stopped being fun. I actually stayed longer than I wanted to just out of fear of unemployment. I didn’t do well with my money. I’m a drug addict and recovering alcoholic. I didn’t manage my money well. That fear of the unknown kept me for a long time. I was about to go into a meeting, and my wife told me on the phone, “I lived with you in a tent.’ I said, ‘I’m coming home right now.’ If you lived with me in a tent, I don’t need to pay the mortgage.”
Road Dogg Says WWE Was “A Money Grab”
Later in the interview, James was asked about how things have changed when it comes to contract negotiations. With AEW now a viable competitor to WWE, talent are able to still be paid well in a different company to the industry leader. James admitted that AEW was a factor, adding that now money is a much bigger factor than it used to be:
“It’s definitely a thing. When it comes to renegotiation time, you’re going to lock some people down that you don’t want to go there. Truth me told, there is such a wide range of talent. I don’t watch shows for one talent. The rosters are such that you’re going to see a range of talent, male and female. It’s definitely a think you’re going to talk about. If Santos Escobar is going to go there to make a difference, maybe you say, ‘We’ll re-sign you for three years.’ The difference is, I think the booking used to be about wrestling and maybe it’s always been about the money, and I just thought it was about the wrestling. It feels like it’s all about the money now. They can go over there and make some money too, so the money is deciding everything. It feels like WWE, for me, was a money grab. It didn’t feel right,” he said.
The former WWE writer was also asked how much of the business influenced various booking decisions. James recalled multiple decisions that were made above the writers’ room level, adding that the business side took precedent over the wrestling itself:
“I really don’t know. It seems like the later it got, the more decisions were made above the writing room’s head and the inner circle’s head. They are business people, and they do good business. Record-setting everything. The facts don’t give an F about your feelings, and that’s the facts. I don’t know how you argue with that. To argue with that would be business stupid. No business wants to be business stupid. It gets down to, ‘How business do you want to be?’ It felt like it turned into the business wrestling instead of the wrestling business, and in my mind, that’s backward. In my wallet, it makes perfect sense. It felt weird and I wanted to get out there.”
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcriptions.
Featured image: WWE
