Road Dogg Speaks On His Future, Possibly Joining AEW With Billy Gunn, & More

WWE Hall of Famer “Road Dogg” Brian James returned to Twitter following his WWE departure on Wednesday. James can now be found at @BrianRDJames. He joked about losing his Twitter verification due to changing his handle from @WWERoadDogg.

“This is the same Brian James aka RoadDogg I just lost my verified status and my employment status lol I’m back on Twitter now,” he wrote.

As noted, James was released from his WWE NXT contract on Wednesday as a part of the major overhaul of NXT and WWE Performance Center staff. Several longtime employees were let go, including James, William Regal, and Scott Armstrong.

Regarding his pro wrestling future, James noted on Friday night that he will be taking bookings for appearances and seminars after February, but will not be returning to in-ring action.

“Just wanted to let everyone know that I will start taking bookings after Feb 8. Email [email protected] – I will only be doing appearances & seminars. The D-O-Double G will not be lacing the boots up. Thank u all for the love & support. #OUDK #SmackDown #AEWRampage,” he wrote.

James also sent a message to the NXT crew on Thursday morning, the day after his release.

“I just want to thank all the individuals from @WWENXT especially the young talent. The relationships we’ve built will last forever! #THANKYOU,” he wrote.

James will be reuniting with fellow WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW star Billy Gunn as The New Age Outlaws for at least some indie appearances. As seen in the tweet below, they have been announced for the Squared Circle Expo on April 15-16 in Indianapolis. James joked about paying his bills when asked by a fan if we will see him join Gunn in AEW as a producer.

“This light bill ain’t gonna pay itself!,” he wrote.

James began working behind-the-scenes on the WWE creative team back in 2014, and was later promoted to the role of a lead SmackDown writer/producer in 2016. He resigned as head writer of SmackDown following WrestleMania 35 in 2019, but later that year he began working with talents on their promos and character development in NXT. James has also worked on producing NXT matches.

Stay tuned for more on James’ pro wrestling future. You can see the related tweets below: