WWE News: NXT Head Writer Moved To ‘Smackdown,’ Top NXT Takeover Dallas Matches Announced

There’s a big reason why WWE NXT is the hottest wrestling product in the world today. Yes, the talent is one of the best all-around in professional wrestling. Triple H wanted to make a change in WWE NXT and start a revolution. That clearly resonated with the entire locker room and now every NXT superstar wants to do the same thing. However, after NXT R Evolution, one man’s name was circulating on the internet because of how good that show was. His name is Ryan Ward.

Ward was the lead writer for WWE NXT. He became synonymous with wrestling royalty after writing one of the best wrestling shows of all time. NXT R Evolution, one of the first NXT specials on the WWE Network, was written by Ward, and then passed on to Triple H for supervision and any corrections he felt needed to be done. Even if HHH made a ton of alterations to the show Ward prepared, it was still Ward who initially wrote the show.

Since that night, he’s been praised as being one of the best wrestling writers in the world. Each show at WWE NXT feels new, fresh, and they make sense. For those that complain about WWE Raw or WWE Smackdown, watching NXT is simply different. That’s what most wrestling fans want, and that’s a different product to watch. This is because of Ward’s direction and booking. It appears that the main roster caught wind of his excellence and decided to act on it.

According to SEScoops, officials are taking Ryan Ward from WWE NXT and moving him up to the main roster to write WWE Smackdown.

“NXT head writer Ryan Ward has been moved to the SmackDown writing team, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on who will be replacing him. WWE has already taped NXT TV through WrestleMania weekend, so we’ll see next month if the there are any noticeable changes.”

NXT is taped until NXT Takeover Dallas, so it will still be Ward’s writing until then. After that, a new regime will likely take over, when Ward moves to WWE Smackdown full-time. The match card Ward, as well as Triple H and the other NXT officials, put together is looking like a stacked card with all must-see matches.

Wrestlezone has the latest list for NXT Takeover Dallas:

• Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT championship
• Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin
• Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
• Bayley vs. Asuka for the NXT Women’s championship
• Dash and Dawson vs. American Alpha for the NXT Tag-Team championship

At the moment, the bottom two matches haven’t been officially announced yet. They will be in the next set of NXT TV episodes in the coming weeks. With under four weeks until WrestleMania weekend, this is a great opportunity for NXT stars to shine and show the main roster they are a force to be reckoned with. Most of the talent aren’t seen by main event wrestlers on a regular basis.

Unless they watch WWE NXT, the rosters are indirectly separated. Guys like Zayn, Kevin Owens, Breeze, Kalisto, and the Ascension must have impressed WWE officials in order for them to get called up. Even though the Ascension and Breeze aren’t treated well whatsoever, it was still that initial reaction that made their ears perk up.

Ryan Ward will easily improve the way WWE Smackdown is run, only if he’s allowed to have creative freedom. If it’s anything like Paul Heyman’s run as Head of Creative, then Smackdown will become relevant again under Ward’s tutelage.

[Image via Between The Ropes]