After '#FireTripleH' Trends, WWE Reportedly Changes Creative Staff to Help SmackDown

WWE is reportedly shaking up the SmackDown creative team amid recent discontent from fans.

According to BodySlam.net (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg is expected to remain SmackDown's lead writer, but some other writers will be added to the team in an effort to "make the show more enjoyable."

This comes after "#FireTripleH" recently trended on X, in reference to WWE Chief Content Officer and WWE Hall of Famer Paul "Triple H" Levesque.

More so than the hashtag, the creative changes on SmackDown may be related to the steep drop-off in viewership the show experienced, going from an average of 1.238 million viewers two weeks ago to 1.030 million viewers last week on USA Network.

Last week's SmackDown also posted a 0.23 rating in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic compared to 0.35 the week before.

Ever since the advent of social media, it has been commonplace for wrestling fans to use that platform to voice displeasure over booking decisions and shows delivered by wrestling companies.

At times, the criticism is louder than others, and right now appears to be one of those times for WWE.

It is difficult to pin down a specific reason, but the handling of John Cena's retirement tour, in particular, seems to have drawn the ire of many fans.

Earlier this year, Cena turned heel by attacking Cody Rhodes at The Rock's behest at Elimination Chamber. However, The Rock was not part of the story after that, and Cena and Rhodes had a disappointing match at WrestleMania 41 due largely to interference from rapper Travis Scott.

Then, before SummerSlam, Cena turned back to babyface on a dime with little explanation.

Even more recently than that, Cena lost to Brock Lesnar in a glorified squash match last month at Wrestlepalooza, leading many to question why WWE would "waste" one of the legendary champion's final matches in such a way.

The tide does seem to be turning to at least some degree with WWE booking the much-requested Cena vs. AJ Styles match at Crown Jewel this weekend, but the company may need to deliver several strong shows in a row in order to change the overall perception of the product.