Many considered this past Friday’s SmackDown episode to be one of the brand’s strongest episodes of some time. The event featured significant moments such as Drew McIntyre’s vicious beatdown of CM Punk in his hometown, Chelsea Green receiving a massive ovation from the WWE Universe as she qualified for Money In the Bank, and the shocking debut of Jacob Fatu as a new member of The Bloodline.
Fans may have credited the episode’s quality to WWE putting in extra work this week to deliver strong content, especially following highly praised episodes of RAW and NXT. However, there might be more to it than just that.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, the blue brand has a new head writer at the helm. The outlet reports that John Swikata has been promoted to the lead writer position, replacing Ryan Callahan who Fightful Select noted has conversely parted ways with the company.
Some may remember Callahan after he was named in Britney Abrahams’ wrongful termination lawsuit last year. Abrahams claimed that she was let go from the company as retaliation for her objection to “several offensive creative pitches.” In the lawsuit, Abrahams alleged that Ryan Callahan had once suggested a storyline where then WWE Superstar Mansoor, who is Saudi Arabian, would have been revealed as the culprit behind 9/11. Abrahams Voluntarily Dismissed the suit in August of 2023.
Fightful Select reports that Swikata has been with the company for “years”, with sources close to WWE stating that he has already made a “huge impact” on the SmacDown product.Â
It was recently reported that those within WWE had considered the June 21st edition of SmackDown to be one of the “biggest” SmackDown since WrestleMania season, and it is certainly hard to argue with that.
Cody Rhodes reveals injury after SmackDown
During a WWE live event in Bloomington, Illinois, WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes revealed to the WWE Universe in attendance that he suffered “two broken ribs” at the hands of The Bloodline and Jacob Fatu on SmackDown.
“A little scoop for you Bloomington, last night I did break two of my ribs. And the thought [backstage] was ‘Well, you can take off Bloomington, you can take off Kalamazoo. You can even take off next Friday where the story began in 1978, New York City’ And my answer to that was emphatically, 100% ‘Hell No!'”
Cody Rhodes and the new self-proclaimed Tribal Chief Solo Sikoa seem to be set on a collision course, as fans should expect an epic showdown between the two men this summer. Whether WWE books the match for next month’s Money In The Bank PLE in Toronto or for Summer Slam in August is yet to be determined.
It is the opinion of this writer that WWE may look to use both events as part of this Cody Rhodes vs The Bloodline 2.0 rivalry. Much like last year, WWE used MITB to host a “Bloodline Civil War” tag team match between The Usos and Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, with a Tribal Combat match between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns set the following month. This time around, we could see a multi-person tag match involving Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens taking on some combination of The Bloodline.
Unlike a Paul Heyman spolier, this is just some fun fan predictions.