How WWE Creative REALLY Works In 2026 (WWE News)

The latest on WWE's creative team.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Unreal Triple H Creative
WWE/Netflix

With the second season of WWE: Unreal less than two weeks away, there's now a little bit of an extra insight into how the WWE creative process works these days.

Per PWInsider Elite, Paul 'Triple H' Levesque is the one who has final say over any and all storylines, with, as seen on WWE: Unreal's debut season, Bruce Prichard and Ed Koskey in key positions when it comes to the day-to-day running of creative. However, in somewhat of a new development, Ryan Ward is now in the position of WWE's Vice President of Creative Writing, helping to map out plans for both Raw and SmackDown. Ward was previously an instrumental part of NXT, receiving particular praise for his creative work during the famed Black & Gold days of the brand.

This report also notes that Alexandra Williams and Jonathan Baeckstrom are the co-leads for the Raw creative team, having a team of writers working underneath them. Over on SmackDown, it's Brian 'Road Dogg' James and John Swikata as the blue brand's co-leads, again with a writing team operating beneath them.

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The creative process of 2025 will be firmly in the spotlight when WWE: Unreal Season 2 lands on Netflix on 20 January, with WWE once again peeling back the curtain to give fans a glimpse behind the scenes; a glimpse presented in the way WWE wants you to see it, of course. According to Netflix, this five-episode new season will pick things up on the road to last year's SummerSlam, with one key element being the Seth Rollins 'injury' that culminated in the Visionary cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on CM Punk to walk out of SummerSlam as the new World Heavyweight Champion.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.