There has reportedly been a subtle reshuffling within WWE’s creative structure, with small adjustments made behind the scenes rather than a full overhaul heading into the New Year of 2026.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter at F4WOnline.com, WWE creative team member Ryan Ward has received what was described as “a little push,” while SmackDown co-head writers John Swikata and Brian “Road Dogg” James have seen a slight reduction in their influence.
Meltzer laid out the current creative hierarchy while explaining how responsibilities are divided within WWE.
“This is the current breakdown of creative,” Meltzer wrote. “Paul Levesque drives the show. Bruce Prichard and Ed Koskey weigh in on creative but they also handle the company-wide distribution of information. Ryan Ward is in charge of handling all the creative pitches to Levesque. Jonathan Baeckstrom and Alexandra Williams are the co-lead writers for Raw. John Swikata and Brian James (Road Dogg) are the co-lead writers of Smackdown. Ward has been picking up a lot of the slack on Smackdown. William Regal and Michael Hayes are also involved.”
That added responsibility reportedly led to the recent adjustment.
“Nothing has really changed in the last few months on this except there were issues with Smackdown creative that have been said to now be improved,” Meltzer continued. “But it was said to be a minimal shakeup, basically a little push up for Ward and a little push down for Swikata and James.”
One WWE source also commented on Michael Hayes’ portrayal in WWE: Unreal on Netflix, suggesting the series did not reflect his overall value to the company. The source noted it was unfortunate Hayes came across poorly, as he is known to make meaningful creative contributions when fully locked in.
The reported creative tweak comes at a time of transition for WWE SmackDown, which recently moved back to a three-hour format beginning with the January 2 episode.
SmackDown previously ran three hours from January through July of 2025 before reverting to two hours for the remainder of the year. A similar structure is expected in 2026, with the show potentially returning to two hours later this summer, although WWE has not officially confirmed those plans.
