WWE Unreal: Powell’s notes on Episode One – “New Era”

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

The following are the notes I’m taking while watching each episode of the five-part “WWE Unreal” docu-series, which is available to stream on Netflix.

-Paul Levesque opened the episode by talking about how nobody called him by his name until a few years ago.

-Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes said their daughter, Liberty, thinks Cody is dancing when he wrestles. Cody said it’s not the worst parallel, and he’s good with it.

-Levesque said Cody is the closest thing they have to a pure babyface. He said it’s the most complicated role. Levesque said it’s easy to be a bad guy. Footage aired of Levesque and Cody speaking backstage at Gorilla Position. Levesesque said Cody should be as white meat as possible. Cody said they would ride it while they could.

-Footage aired from a creative meeting regarding the Raw on Netflix premiere. Longtime creative team member Ed Koskey, SVP of Creative Writing, made a rare on-camera appearance. Koskey said Cody didn’t have a role in the Netflix premiere, and he really wanted to be involved. “He hits me f—ing every day on it,” Levesque said.

-Levesque spoke about providing “scarcity of their star power” for top wrestlers so that it’s special when wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes appear.

-Levesque said you have to know where everything is going in advance. He said they do things in seasons. In this case, the season started with the January 6 Raw premiere on Netflix through WrestleMania.

-John Cena spoke about his love for pro wrestling. He said he appreciates it as his hobby, and called it the best of imagination land. He said not only does he do it in his free time, but he gets paid to do it. Cena said he would do it for free, but he just can’t do it (physically) anymore.

-Footage aired from a creative meeting. Jonathan Baeckstrom, WWE VP Creative Writing, makes his first appearance. Levesque spoke about how Cody wanted to save John Cena’s character, but Levesque felt it was “off” to have Cena need to be saved during his first appearance in roughly a year.

-Rhea Ripley showed off her office, which has some dark art and oddities. She listed her real name, and then said Rhea is a goddess’s name. She said she is Rhea Ripley, and said the character is a ten-times version of herself.

-Ripley walked viewers through footage of when she suffered an AC joint sprain during a backstage brawl with Liv Morgan. She said she opted against surgery. She said surgery would have left a scar, but she pointed to the lump on her shoulder that was left because she did not get the surgery, which would have kept her out longer. They cut to footage of Levesque hugging Ripley and telling her they would make something wonderful out of the situation. Ripley apologized, and Levesque asked what she was apologizing for.

-CM Punk made his first appearance. He listed several nicknames and said his name is Phil, “a white accountant’s name.” Punk recalled clashing with Levesque when they were both “main talent” full-time wrestlers. Punk said a lot of Levesque’s generation looked down on kids like him trying to take their spots. Punk said Levesque started working in the office, and Punk didn’t want to listen to anything he said. Levesque recalled Punk coming at him in meetings. He said he left those meetings thinking, “This little motherf—er…” Levesque said Punk didn’t trust him, and he didn’t trust Punk.

-Punk said he’d been on the road for ten years straight. “After a while, the wheels came off,” Punk said. Footage aired of the Pipe Bomb promo. He said he might be mouthy, but that doesn’t mean that what he said wasn’t 100 percent factual. Michael Hayes made his first appearance and said it was Phil Brooks speaking through Punk.

-Punk said he felt like they were going to work him until he died. He said he was heartbroken when he left. He said there were conversations over the years, but nothing stuck. Levesque said he felt that how Punk communicated with others was an issue. He recalled a conversation about Punk coming back, and Levesque said Punk was the same dude, and it wouldn’t work. Levesque said the last time they spoke, Punk was different, and he decided to give it a shot.

-Footage aired from the Netflix kickoff event that was held at WWE Headquarters. Punk said Seth Rollins looked and talked like CM Punk in 2013, and then recapped their history and their feud.

-Levesque spoke about the origin of the Gorilla position. Bruce Prichard made his first appearance and said it’s the most important position in the arena. Koskey laid out how the tables work. He said Levesque and Bruce Pricahrd sit at one table. Billy Kidman, who times the shows, and the match producer sit at another table.

-WWE producer Chris “Abyss” Park explained that he’s speaking with the production truck and trying to keep them 10-15 seconds ahead so they can tell the story they want to tell. Park said he’s also speaking with the referees. Daphanie LaShaunn said she is listening to roughly five different things in her earpiece while she is refereeing a match. Park spoke about how he relays messages to the talent through the referee.

-Footage aired of Levesque and Cena talking about Cena’s farewell run. Levesque said he wanted to do right by Cena, and he hoped Cena would end the year and say it was everything he hoped it would be. Cena said it was like the last page in a 500-page book. “All of us would really have to f— it up for that last page to ruin the 499.” Levesque laughed and said, “There’s a way.” Cena said he would play the stats that it wasn’t going to happen.

-A stressed-out Ripley was shown walking through the plans for her match at the Netflix premiere with Damian Priest. Ripley said she went through a massive panic attack, but then she was fine when she walked out in front of the fans. Levesque said it was hard not to look at Ripley as “the most captivating woman on our roster.”

-CM Punk spoke with Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, calling them his “brutally honest European friends” who would tell him how he did. Punk told Gunther that he made a big thing out of headlining WrestleMania ten or 12 years earlier. “Boy, did I f—ing get what I asked for,” Punk said.

-Punk said he has anticipatory anxiety. He said he’s almost waiting for it to be over, and the only time he won’t feel that way is when the red light is on and the bell rings. “I have no boss,” Punk said of being in the ring. “I am 100 percent in control and I can do whatever the f— I want.”

-Bruce Prichard said people had it in their minds that because Raw is on Netflix, they could go as long or as brief as they want, but it’s not true. Unfortunately, he did not explain why.

-After Punk’s match with Seth Rollins on the Netflix premiere, Chris Park apologized to Prichard for the match going over its scheduled time. He said they cut things out, such as an Anaconda Vice spot. Prichard told him it was overwritten and overproduced, and it was fine; it was a good show. William Regal told Park not to beat himself up. Park said he wasn’t, but he wanted to make Prichard happy. Park asked if Prichard was mad at him. Regal said no, and said it would make him happy if Park were happy with himself. Park said he was.

Powell’s POV: Wow, some things never change. Anyway, there was some cool footage, and it was an enjoyable first episode. They gave an overview of how the sausage is made without showing everything. We’ll see if this is the approach they will take throughout the series or if they show even more in furture installments.