"It hurts my feelings" – Road Dogg on the importance of ratings during his stint as WWE SmackDown lead writer (Exclusive)
Former WWE Superstar Road Dogg recalled the significance of ratings when he was the lead writer for SmackDown.
After nearly a decade, the former Intercontinental Champion returned to WWE as a producer in 2011. However, he became a part of the blue brand's writing team in 2016 and was the lead writer for SmackDown before his resignation in 2019.
Speaking about the importance of ratings on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws, Road Dogg stated that while it wasn't the most important thing on their minds, low ratings certainly impacted his morale:
"Well, I don't want to say we lived and died by them because we got a chance to do it all again next week. It's episodic and it's every week of every year. So you don't live and die by them, as the lead writer if I get the ratings of a show that I thought was really good and the ratings sucked, it hurts my feelings. I still know the show I put on television was good, it's just nobody watched it."
The WWE Hall of Famer added that he feels the current ratings system is archaic and needs to be relooked at:
"I think the ratings are archaic and everybody knows that. But you don't go to Chris McCumber or whatever of USA and go, 'Yeah, ratings don't matter.' That's how he butters his bread. Ratings matter from a network standpoint, of course, but you gotta understand that none of the other shows on the USA network are doing great either. It's across the board that ratings are down again. I think it's an archaic system that needs to be relooked at. (from 11:43 to 12:50)
Check out the complete edition of The Wrestling Outlaws below:
Road Dogg recalled managing top WWE stars as SmackDown's lead writer
Road Dogg shared his experience managing top stars during his stint as SmackDown lead writer on a previous edition of The Wrestling Outlaws.
The former Champion detailed that it was tough for him to keep everyone content as a writer. He added that he had to be extremely cautious around the wrestlers.
After resigning from his post as the lead writer, Road Dogg settled into a new position at the WWE Performance Center, where he used to train newer talents. He was released from his contract earlier this year.
Please embed the YouTube video and credit Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use any quotes from the article.