WWE: SD Lead Writer Release & Paycuts Update, MVP on Return to WWE, Updated SD Ratings

More on Release of SmackDown’s Lead Writer and Newest Paycuts

As noted before, former SmackDown lead writer Chris DeJoseph was released by WWE last week.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that the reason for DeJoseph’s release was stated by his sources to be due to “unprofessional behavior” during company meetings.

In regards to the recent pay cuts issued by the company, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that backstage producers and referees have also been affected, with both groups seeing their pay cut by as much as 20% for the foreseeable future.

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MVP Comments on His Return to WWE and New Backstage Role

A recent episode of the Chasing Glory with Lillian Garcia podcast had MVP as the guest and one of the topics discussed included his return to WWE and new backstage role in the company.

“So I made a call — and they had asked me about coming back as a surprise at the Rumble before and at the time, it just wasn’t something I was interested in, and I reached out and like, ‘Hey, you guys asked me before. If you’re still interested, I’d love to come back now.’ Just for the Rumble, surprise entry, and they were like, ‘Sure, we’d love to have you come back.’

And then the next night — well the highlight for me that night was my son was in attendance. His first WWE event was the Royal Rumble. I know it was at Minute Maid [Park], it was this huge — and after the show, I brought him to the back. His favorite wrestler is Rey Mysterio and he got a chance to meet Rey Mysterio and Rey gave him a mask, because he’s so amazing and then they asked me if the next night if I’d wrestle in San Antonio which was I was like, ‘Yeah sure. It’s an easy drive,’ and Paul Heyman, he and I have been cool for a very long time and I had told him about Rey being my son’s favorite wrestler and then the next thing I know — first I was in some sort of a tag match. A little while later, Paul Heyman comes back, ‘It’s you and Rey, go have fun,’ and I was like, ‘Wow!’ And I knew my son was watching, and then after that, John Laurinaitis called me over to the side, said, ‘Hey, let’s have a talk’ and they offered me a position as a producer and I had intended to retire this year anyway. I was like 46 now, you know?”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

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Updated WWE Friday Night SmackDown Ratings

This past Friday’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown drew a final viewership of 2,054,000 on FOX, according to Showbuzz Daily. This was down compared to the initial overnight number of 2,150,000 viewers on the network.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that both the initial overnight number and initial final number of 2,170,000 viewers were misleading because several FOX stations had preempted SmackDown for news coverage of the on-going protests around the country.