WWE veteran was responsible for 'new twists' on SmackDown - Reports

The recent episode of WWE SmackDown was full of surprises. The show featured surprise winners in the Money in the Bank qualifying matches and the blockbuster debut of Jacob Fatu. The latest reports suggest that long-time WWE creative writer John Swikata played a role in WWE delivering one of the best episodes of the blue brand this year. As per Fightful Select, Swikata recently replaced Ryan Callahan as the lead writer for Friday Night SmackDown.

Dave Meltzer praised the latest installment of the blue brand in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio and hailed it as the "best episode of SmackDown" in 2024. The veteran journalist also revealed that the recent episode of the Friday Night Show was John Swikata's first night as the show's lead writer. Though Meltzer revealed that most of the segments on the recent SmackDown were planned in advance, Swikata did add a few twists to the existing storylines.

There were some surprise results from last Friday's episode, like Andrade and Chelsea Green qualifying for the Men's and Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, respectively. Similarly, former WWE NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes pinned Randy Orton to earn a spot in the marquee Ladder Match. Drew McIntyre returned to lay out CM Punk in front of the latter's hometown crowd in Chicago.

In the main event, Jacob Fatu viciously and swiftly took out Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes before aligning with The Bloodline.

"Ryan Callahan was let go, and John Swikata, who was on the writing team, started up on Friday's show. And Friday's show was awesome. I think it was maybe the best episode of SmackDown all year. But most of that episode was written before him; it's not like, because I said, 'Man, what a great job for a first episode', and it was like, pretty much most of that stuff was already there and already set up," Meltzer said. [H/T WrestleTalk TV]

He added:

"All the Bloodline stuff was set up. He did have one or two things that were new, new twists that were in there. But like the Jacob Fatu thing, that'd been planned for a long, long time. And everything in that angle—Solo saying, 'He's never coming back!' about Roman Reigns—that was all planned. The winners of those matches were all planned. Drew coming back; that's been planned for a while."

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WWE trademarked more names for The Bloodline?

According to multiple reports, WWE has filed trademarks for two more names related to The Bloodline. Many assumed that Hikuleo and Jacob Fatu would debut under the ring names Talla Tonga and Caesar Sikoa, respectively, in the Stamford-based promotion.

However, Hikuleo has not been signed by the company, although "all signs" point to it happening. The 33-year-old is the real-life brother of Tama Tonga. Many assumed that Caesar Sikoa would be Jacob's new ring name, but given the recent events on WWE SmackDown, it's clear that the former MLW World Heavyweight Champion will work under his original name. The company has also reportedly filed a trademark for ''Jacob Fatu.''

After Jacob's debut, Zilla Fatu, the son of the late Umaga, teased the possibility of joining The Bloodline. Zilla started wrestling last year, training at Booker T.'s wrestling academy in Houston, Texas. He has mainly wrestled for Game Changer Wrestling.

It will be interesting to see if he joins The Bloodline in the coming weeks.