10 WWE Creative Secrets The Writers DON’T Want You To Know
4. The Alleged Toxic Culture
When Cody Rhodes voluntarily left WWE in 2016, he released an exit statement.
In it, he expressed his frustration that neither Vince McMahon nor Triple H saw him as the guy. He was also disillusioned with the abandoned plan to drop the stifling, embarrassing Stardust gimmick. In an under-reported story, he also criticised the lead writers of Raw and SmackDown for failing to write him into worthwhile storylines, alleging that one was too busy "pretending to be Brian Gewirtz" while the other was "too busy hitting on developmental Divas" to do their jobs.
In the May 30, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer speculated that Cody was referring to Ed Koskey with the former criticism, who, much like Gewirtz in the twilight of his run, had developed a reputation for writing banal, unfunny material in a bid to endear himself to Vince McMahon. That would leave Ryan Ward, who oversaw SmackDown at the time, as the subject of the more sordid accusation.
In an anecdote that somehow reeks far more than it did then, former writer Jensen Karp discussed the "Labiagytis" angle with Vince McMahon and Candice Michelle with Signature Views in 2016. Karp revealed that Vince McMahon "wanted to clearly make out with her in the scene", from which it can be inferred that the creative acted as pretext for exactly that.
Rumblings of a toxic culture within creative have persisted for years (and the recent lawsuit hardly suggests things have changed now).
While it was reported in February 2008 that former writer Dave Lagana was terminated for apparently leaking plans to news sites, Matthew Randazzo V alleged in 'Ring Of Hell' that Lagana abused his power to solicit sexual favours from talent. Randazzo has stated that multiple sources corroborated the story, and what's more, new sources reached out to him confirming his reporting in the wake of Lagana being named in #SpeakingOut.
Those within positions of power should not abuse this dynamic in order to manipulate budding talents with a promise of furthering their career. They should nip that behaviour in the bud.