Published: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
WWE
An update has emerged on the status of former WWE SmackDown co-head writer ‘Road Dogg’ Brian James ahead of TNA Wrestling Slammiversary.
It was recently reported that ‘Road Dogg’ Brian James was expected to be in attendance at TNA Slammiversary on June 28.
PWInsider has now provided further details on the status of the WWE Hall of Famer ahead of this weekend’s event.
According to an unnamed TNA Wrestling source, PWInsider has been told that the deal with James is “99% there”.
While James may have departed WWE in March of this year, following an annual review that he reportedly “wasn’t happy with“, signing with TNA Wrestling would still see the star working closely with NXT.
As the previous report notes, James has a “close relationship” with NXT head writer Johnny Russo, no doubt further benefitting the partnership between WWE and TNA Wrestling.
The TNA Wrestling & WWE Partnership
Officially announced in October of last year, the partnership between TNA Wrestling and WWE has seen an exchange of talent primarily focused on Impact and NXT.
For the first time in both companies’ histories, signed WWE stars have held TNA Wrestling championships, while Joe Hendry would go on to secure a WrestleMania moment, facing Randy Orton at last year’s two-night PLE. 2025 also saw the then X-Division Champion Leon Slater compete at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December, a show that saw main roster stars face their NXT counterparts.
It’s a partnership that continues to pay dividends for all involved, allowing crossovers to emerge as stories dictate and, importantly, seeing matches that would otherwise be unlikely to take place.
It could be argued that TNA Wrestling will, once day, become another asset for WWE, being absorbed by the TKO Group-owned entity. For the time being, however, they broadly function as two separate entities, crossing over from time to time.
Seeing WWE work with a different promotion, particularly one that enjoys a television deal, was seen as unthinkable for many years, although that mentality has clearly changed under the current leadership.
WWE may be the bigger company, but TNA Wrestling has a number of stars already familiar to fans of Raw and SmackDown, with many under contract that will no doubt follow the likes of Jordynne Grace and Joe Hendry when the opportunity arises.
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