JBL defends Road Dogg’s creative criticism: ‘It’s just bulls**t’
Earlier this year, in March 2026, Road Dogg left his creative role in WWE and parted ways with the promotion. Now, veteran JBL has come to his defense regarding the ongoing criticisms.
However, shortly after his release, the internet addressed his time in WWE and criticized his booking style and tenure on SmackDown’s creative team.
Recently, wrestling legend JBL was asked about the reactions to Road Dogg’s creative run on WWE SmackDown, as well as his clips from WWE Unreal, where his ideas were often shot down by the WWE management.
“These guys that are out there, they’re talking about Road Dogg didn’t do a good job, man f**k you. It’s just bulls**t. These guys are selling out arenas all over the world, making more money — we never dreamed that people would make money like this. Road Dogg was one of the guys behind it,” JBL shared while speaking during a Q&A session for Something To Wrestle.
“I can tell you all of the things that Vince failed with. I can also tell you that Vince bought a company from his father for a million dollars and sold it for $9.3B and somehow retained control. That’s Game Of Thrones s**t. But do you fail a lot? Absolutely. When you got 52 weeks a year live, no reruns, do you think you’re going to make some mistakes? I would hope so because if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying,” the Hall of Famer further added.
“This isn’t a TV episode show where you can do 13 episodes, and you film it, you put it in a can, and then if you don’t like it, you go back and edit it. This is live. You’re talking about people who may or may not deliver what you’re thinking they’re going to deliver. Sometimes they do something that is not what they’re supposed to do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work, you get the blame for that, too. There’s a lot of things going on.
“I love AAA, and I love working down there. I think it’s the hottest show in the world right now. It’s a lot easier what they’re doing, when you’re filming an hour a week, and you’ve got great stars, as compared to filming 50 hours a week or whatever WWE does. You’ve got great stars there too, but it’s just — it’s not even hardly the same business. It’s tough to do what they’ve done. I think Road Dogg did an excellent job. Those guys who are complaining about it, man, f**k you.” (H/T Fightful)
Road Dogg explains his decision to leave WWE
Earlier this month, in an interview with Busted Open, the Hall of Famer explained his decision to leave WWE.
I wasn’t having any fun. It got to be so much work, that it stopped being fun,” he explained. “I actually stayed longer than I wanted to just out of fear of unemployment. I didn’t do well with my money. I’m a drug addict and recovering alcoholic. I didn’t manage my money well. That fear of the unknown kept me for a long time. I was about to go into a meeting, and my wife told me on the phone, “I lived with you in a tent.’ I said, ‘I’m coming home right now.’ If you lived with me in a tent, I don’t need to pay the mortgage.”
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.