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Big Change In WWE Creative, Lead Writer Fired

6K views 50 replies 35 participants last post by  CM Rom 
#1 ·
- According to today's Wrestling Observer Daily Update, there was a change in WWE creative when Tom Casiello was let go. Casiello was the managing lead writer, who oversaw the Raw & SmackDown writing teams. It's noteworthy that he was a key person who was very influential in the push of the women wrestlers of late.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/1209/620178/big-change-in-wwe-creative/
It'll be interesting to see if there will be a noticeable shift in the product.
 
#15 ·
I have noticed RAW has been better over the past few weeks. The Enzo/Lana segments are a clear sign WWE is going in a new direction with their storylines. If WWE allows Seth to use the Curbstomp on Triple H or even Stephanie, that will be a great sign.
Curbstomp isn't banned because of PG (lawsuit) and neither is violence against women (advertisers/Mattel), which means there is 0 chance of either of these things changing.
 
#41 ·
Theory on the Voices of Wrestling podcast this past week:

Vince touches everything, we know this, its undisputable. But he doesn't touch everything equally.
Very reasonable to think he cares MUCH more about some things than others.

For example, Wrestlemania. Summer Slam. Survivor Series. Royal Rumble. Overall network subscriptions. Overall ratings. Ticket sales. Lesnar's contract status. Any angle involving Cena, HHH, or Reigns, and in general, the main event picture of Raw. These things he will focus on 24/7 and micromanage THE SHIT out of it, usually to his detriment.

Other things get less attention. Smackdown's main event gets attention, but i bet less than Raw.

Still others things get minor attention. NXT i bet he foists mainly on HHH.

The CWC is a very interesting case - its network only, doesn't affect any PPV's or cable partners, its short term, weekly, and no big names. Vince "approves" everything, but on his list of priorities, its probably the last thing he puts his time into.

As a result, its brilliantly executed.

Then its time to actually use the Cruiserweights on TV, and thats more Vince's speed, so BOOM. Failure on every level. No CW champ on the very first fucking debut night on Raw - i cannot say enough how stupid that was. Focusing on Brian Kendrick and that stupid storyline. Toning down the workrates and move sets. Not having promos or background pieces on each guy. all the details were fucked up. So Vince has a new toy and its not as fun as it seemed. he kicks it to 205, and it still sucks, and might get worse b/c its tainted now. Even if talent is added (Tozawa?), people are bored of the CW's bc they're so poorly handled.

So yeah, WWE will never truly change until vince dies, and whoever is in charge starts planning LONG TERM, and also delegates and works colleboratively with a bigger pool of people, and a more DIVERSE set of people. It needs younger leadership to blend with the old, it needs more women, it needs more color, and they need to act like a professional company, not just Vince's toy.
 
#43 ·
I'm listening to Wrestling Observer Radio and Meltzer says Tom Casiello was basically the #3 guy in creative after Vince and Triple H and he was basically in the old Stephanie McMahon position where he oversaw the writing teams of both shows. The lead writer of Raw is still Ed Koskey while the lead writers on SmackDown are Ryan Ward and Brian James (Road Dogg). Apparently Casiello was told that they were eliminating that position for budgetary reasons and that's the reason why he was let go. Meltzer noted that if they cut him for budgetary reasons then there might be more cuts coming but he doesn't know for sure. Casiello was also apparently the one who convinced Vince to put the women's HIAC match in the main event.
 
#6 ·
Re: Big Change In WWE Creative

This can only be a good thing. Creative has been piss poor for how many years? The only bright spot for me has been Ryan Ward and Triple H.
None of the writers have been there for years, the turnover is extremely high, so the state of creative can't be blamed on anybody but Vince. This firing comes at a strange time IMO, Raw's writing had improved a lot over the last few weeks, at least as far as backstage segments go.

It would suck if he got fired for the non-PGness of that Enzo and Lana segment. It would be just like WWE if Mattel complained and they offered this guy up as a sacrificial lamb.
 
#7 ·
Interesting. I hope this leads to an improvement. The overall product is still stale but RAW has been ok recently. This could go either way.

Sasha/Charlotte might not be so prominently featured from now on anyway :lol
 
#19 ·
No way to tell if this guy was responsible for the good shit or the bad shit unless we can hear directly from somebody else in Creative or in the production meetings. Nor do we know who is responsible for promos being written word-for-word and saddled on the talent rather than giving them talking points and letting them sink or swim by their own abilities. There are so many fucking things wrong with this company's overall product right now and so much turnover in Creative for so many years, we can't possibly know all the reasons or people responsible for what. With people burning out and getting shitcanned at such a high rate, all we know for sure is that their process is broken and that company is not exactly running like a well-oiled machine, contrary to what they'd have their investors believe.

Management 101: the inherent problems with a Theory X manager.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Why do so many people shit hard on Vince and him alone? All the Smackdown dick riders (and there are many, both on WF and elsewhere) seem to forget he is calling the shots there too. If Smackdown is better than Raw and Vince runs both shows then there is only one possible conclusion: The writers make a difference. You're kidding yourselves if you think they have absolutely no effect on the show.

As for the women, very little if anything will change. Stephanie and Triple H are still there and are almost certainly the primary forces behind the new focus on them.
 
#29 ·
Why do so many people shit hard on Vince and him alone? All the Smackdown dick riders (and there are many, both on WF and elsewhere) seem to forget he is calling the shots there too. If Smackdown is better than Raw and Vince runs both shows then there is only one possible conclusion: The writers make a difference. You're kidding yourselves if you think they have absolutely no effect on the show.
Made this argument before: If the show is bad - it's Vince's fault; if the show is good - must be some writer who knows what he's doing.
 
#36 ·
 
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