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 that is available to stream on Netflix.
-The season finale picked up where the penultimate episode left off by focusing on John Cena’s heel turn.
-Paul Levesque spoke roughly a month before WrestleMania. He said you can’t have people lose their mojo heading into WrestleMania because something went wrong, because something will always go wrong.
-A clip aired of Bruce Prichard speaking during a March 23, 2025, WWE creative team meeting via Zoom call. Prichard said they need to protect Jey Uso and be careful with what they do. Michael Hayes said the pressure had been getting to Jey, and the build was off track for a couple of weeks, which worried everyone.
-Levesque was shown saying in the Zoom meeting that Jey might be struggling because he was told they were going to make him the guy. He said maybe they should light a fire under his ass by saying that they might go a different direction. WWE SVP of Creative writing Ed Koskey said that if it didn’t light a fire under Jey, then they had their answer. Bruce Prichard agreed. Prichard said they all knew Jey could do it or he wouldn’t be in this position, but it was up to him.
-The focus moved to Charlotte Flair challenging Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. Levesque said that while what they do is a work, “a lot of times it can become very real, very quickly.”
-Charlotte spoke about being the bad guy. She said she was booed so loudly in Chicago that it rattled her. She said it was so intense that she wasn’t two steps ahead. A clip aired of Flair cutting off Stratton during a promo exchange and talking about how squeaky her voice was. A shot aired from the Gorilla position of Bruce Prichard throwing his hands up.
-Stratton responded by telling Flair that she would be alone, just as she is outside the ring. Stratton mocked Flair for being 0-3 in marriages, and then Flair claimed that Stratton’s boyfriend Ludwig Kaiser was in her DM’s.
-Levesque asked Stratton and WWE creative team member Devyn Prieto whether all of what was said was on script. They said it was not. Koskey explained to Levesque at the Gorilla Position that the divorce line was not a written line, and it sent Charlotte over the edge. Levesque said he needed Stratton to know that isn’t how they do things. He said she needed to apologize to Charlotte and get on the same page.
-The focus moved to Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat and the mystery of which wrestler Paul Heyman was aligned with. Hayes said Heyman is a real-life manager, whose on-air relationships carry over to being personal relationships. Hayes said Heyman typically elevates the person he manages. Levsque spoke of how Roman Reigns benefited from working with Heyman.
-The documentary producers asked Hayes for his opinion on the best possible finish for the match. “Punk over,” Hayes said.
-Footage aired from a creative team meeting. Levesque said he felt Punk should go over, which Prichard agreed with. Levesque questioned whether Heyman should f— over Punk. He laid out a scenario where Heyman tried to screw over Punk by helping Reigns, yet Punk still would still win the match.
-Levesque told the documentary producers about how the logical road can become predictable, and how, at that point, you need to pivot.
-Back in the creative meeting, Ed Koskey said he hated the finish. He said Punk going over was great, but he felt it was more shocking to have Heyman leave with Rollins. Levesque said he saw Koskey’s point, but he wasn’t sure he agreed with it. He said Reigns would be dead in the water in that scenario. He said Reigns wouldn’t be a babyface or a heel, and he didn’t have anything around him that made him successful, and he would be beaten by Punk. Koskey said that part of what Levsque said is what made it interesting to him.
-CM Punk spoke about how fans and everyone backstage congratulated him on main eventing WrestleMania. He said it was cool. Footage aired of Hayes telling Punk that he was happy for him, and Punk telling Hayes that they needed to get through it, and then Hayes could be happy for him.
-Punk spoke of how you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training and preparation, which made him know that he would be okay.
-There was a conversation around the ring at WrestleMania between Punk, Kofi Kingston, Ivar, and Adam Pearce about wrestlers shitting themselves during matches. Punk assumed it happened to everyone, and the others agreed. Ivar said he was able to maintain it. Punk asked Charlotte if she had shit herself in the ring. Flair said no, but she laughed and added that she wouldn’t tell him if she had. She conceded she peed a little. She told a story her father told her regarding Levesque putting a Snickers in his tights, and he flicked it on Chris Jericho, who thought it was poop during a sunset flip spot. Punk said he thought he would know the difference. Flair told TJ Wilson (f/k/a Tyson Kidd) that her shit doesn’t stink, which got a laugh from the group.
-Jey Uso spoke about how Levesque lit a fire under him, and that’s what he needed.
-Footage aired of Jey Uso beating Gunther to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Levesque told the documentary producers that they gave Jey the ball, and he delivered. Footage aired from the Gorilla position of Levesque telling Jey how hard Jey worked and grinded for this moment. “You deserve the shit out of this,” Levesque said. Jey said it meant a lot to him, and they shared a handshake and hug.
-Charlotte spoke about how things got personal and real going into her match with Stratton. She said that it had to translate into the match.
-Footage aired of Stratton beating Flair to retain her championship. If you wondered if Stratton had some of her front teeth knocked out, you weren’t alone. Bruce Prichard wondered aloud. Levesque initially told him it was just blood.
-Flair spoke about how the goal, win or lose, is to give your opponent the best match. Levesque congratulated her and told her that’s how you put somebody over. Stratton returned backstage and hugged Flair, who asked if she was good. TJ Wilson told Stratton she was f—ing awesome. Levesque asked about Stratton’s teeth, which were indeed damaged, but she said they were fake.
-Charlotte told the documentary producers that she hopes that the match would launch Stratton, and said someone did that for her.
-At the Gorilla position, Hayes told Levesque that Punk was emotional because it was his first WrestleMania main event. Levesque told Punk to look at him, which Punk did. Levesque said he knew what this meant to him. “You’re f—ing CM Punk,” Levesque said. “You’ve always been a main event guy, always.” Punk said he knew. Punk told Levesque that he wouldn’t have gotten there had it not been for him. Moments later, Punk asked Paul Heyman if he was ready. Heyman said he was and added, “Let’s go enjoy this.”
-Highlights aired of Seth Rollins beating CM Punk and Roman Reigns when Paul Heyman joined Rollins. When Heyman low-blowed Reigns, they cut to Michael Hayes at the Gorilla position. “And that’s called, you f—ing got ’em,” Hayes said. Becky Lynch was excited and told Hayes that it was a masterpiece. Levesque and Hayes shared a hug. “Every f—ing bit of it worked,” Levesque said.
-Hayes told the documentary producers that he was blessed because this is clearly what God wanted him to do with his life. He said God gives him ideas. He explained that he’s not smart enough to come up with all of it, and someone puts it in his head.
-Heyman returned backstage and shared a hug with Hayes. Heyman told Hayes that it was Hayes at his best.
-Punk spoke about how main eventing WrestleMania is like landing on the moon with every single eyeball watching you. He said he did what he promised himself he was going to do. He said the outside voices saying you can’t or won’t or don’t deserve, he said, that when you walk out of a match like that, nobody can tell you shit at that point.
-Hayes told Punk that he “f—ing nailed it.” Punk asked Levesque if he was happy. Levesque said he was ecstatic. Levesque congratulated Punk, who thanked him for the opportunity. They hugged.
-Punk told the documentary producers not to let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. He got emotional while he recalled wearing Doc Martin boots in the ring because he couldn’t afford wrestling boots. He said it was everything he wanted to do since he was a kid. “I f—ing did it,” Punk said.
-Levesque said the decision was made on the road to WrestleMania to have Rhea Ripley lose the Women’s World Championship. Footage aired of Ripley shopping at an oddity store and being giddy about what she purchased.
-Cody Rhodes and Bobby Roode spoke at ringside about how Cena would likely be cheered during the WrestleMania match. Cody said he thought the fans were going to cheer Cena’s heel turn at Elimination Chamber.
-Bianca Belair was shown telling Rhea Ripley that her braid might leave a mark. She said Ripley could get a tattoo of it, and let her sign it. Belair said it might hurt a little extra. She said it stresses her out to think that her braid might not make noise when she uses it during a match.
-Ripley spoke in the makeup chair about how she typically had panic attacks at WrestleMania. She said she had one at WrestleMania 40 that lasted two hours. She said the makeup lady knew all about it because she was in her chair. The woman smiled. Ripley said she couldn’t remember the last time she was as calm as she was. She said there were three of them in this match, and she came up with Belair and Iyo Sky in NXT.
-Paul Levesque approached Ripley, called her “Rock Star,” and told her to breathe.
-Highlights aired of Sky beating Ripley and Belair to retain the Women’s World Championship. Jason Jordan was in the producer’s chair in the Gorilla position.
-Sky returned to the Gorilla position. Levesque told her that she was born to do this, and he simply put her in the spot.
-Belair shared a hug with her husband Montez Ford, who had tears in his eyes. Belair told him that she thought she had broken her finger.
-Ripley and Levesque had another moment. He told her that he hoped she realized how good the match was, and he hopes she knows how good she is. She said it was fun. He told her to stop doubting herself and overthinking things.
-Ripley also showed off the nasty welts left by Belair’s braid.
-Levesque met up with John Cena moments before Cena made his entrance. Levesque told Cena to enjoy it. Cena said he would do what he could. Levesque told him that it was all for him, which Cena said he appreciated.
-Cody said it was the greatest to be going against Cena and hear the crowd’s dueling chants for Cena. Cena said his most valuable asset is his ears because he has to think about how he will work with them and what he should do next. He said you just have to move with the crowd.
-Cena said the crowd may have been against Cody, but he could tell from the noise that they didn’t want Cody to lose. Cena pointed to the live crowd counting to ten during Cody’s visual pinfall spot. He said if they were against Cody, they would have booed him out of the building. Cena also pointed to the crowd’s reaction when Travis Scott pulled the referee out of the ring while Cody was going for a pin. Cena said if the fans really hated Cody, they would have cheered.
-San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was shown in the crowd looking stunned after Cena pinned Cody to win the WWE Championship.
-Levesque said the Cena vs. Cody match accomplished everything he wanted. He conceded that it wasn’t like the two Triple Threat matches, but it was everything it needed to be to get to the other side of the story.
-Levesque spoke with Cody in the Gorilla position about how the match was old school and everything it needed to be. Levesque asked Travis Scott how it felt. Scott said it was the best feeling in the world. Scott turned away and said he needed to quit the rap business. “I heard that,” Levesque joked.
-Cena was applauded when he returned to the Gorilla position. Levesque told him the match was everything it needed to be.
-Levesque spoke about how the show just keeps going on in WWE. He said the offseason is a couple of minutes at best after WrestleMania ends. He spoke about being handed the script for Raw, and how they would do it all over again at Raw the next night.
-Cena told the documentary producers that just because it’s WrestleMania doesn’t mean it has to be the end of the story. He said it could be the middle of the storyline.
-Levesque said one of the hardest things about the business is the relentless nature of it. He said it just doesn’t stop. Levesque said on one hand it can be a daunting task, but on the other, “Thank God it never ends.”
-A graphic stated there would be additional episodes coming next year.
Powell’s POV: As much as this episode was about WrestleMania and it spotlighted a number of wrestlers, Levesque was cast as the star of the episode and the overall series. Some will take issue with that, but the concept of the show was WWE pulling back the curtain and showing footage from creative meetings, so it didn’t feel forced that the head of creative was featured so prominently.
Levesque came off as genuine during the father figure style coaching moments he had with several wrestlers. Ed Koskey also came off well, and it’s easy to see why he has lasted so long in WWE. It would have been nice to hear from additional creative team members, or even to get a look at what their weekly routine is like. It would also be fun to see some of the strange or just plain bad storyline pitches that are made.
The producers played it safe. For instance, surely there was additional footage of the issues between Stratton and Flair, but it’s also not surprising that they didn’t show more. There are no mentions of rival companies. And while they also focused on the Raw on Netflix premiere, the fans booing Hulk Hogan was never addressed. None of this is particularly surprising, as I don’t think WWE officials would ever agree to take part in a warts-and-all documentary.
On the bright side, the creative discussions that were shown did not come off as scripted. It’s reality television, so there’s always a chance that there were some scripted moments, but the key is that I was never taken out of the moment by something that looked contrived.
The spotlighted wrestlers all came off well. There are plenty of figures who were not spotlighted this season who would be interesting subjects for future installments, such as Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, Gunther, Iyo Sky, Drew McIntyre, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Dominik Mysterio, Asuka, and Bron Breakker. Heyman was shown during a creative or production meeting at one point, but they never zeroed in on his backstage role, nor on his relationships with Levesque and the wrestlers.
It would also be interesting to see the work of one of the broadcast teams showcased. A trip to the WWE Performance Center could also make for good television or even a spinoff series. I’d also like to see more genuine moments of talent (or even creative team member) frustration like there was with Chelsea Green. HBO’s Hard Knocks doesn’t shy away from showing the reactions of NFL players if they play poorly or don’t make the team. I’m not suggesting they focus on a disgruntled wrestler who has one foot out the door, but more moments like the ones with Green venting will go a long way toward making the show feel genuine as opposed to coming off like a propaganda series where everyone is happy and feels blessed to work for the most amazing company with the world’s greatest boss.
Overall, it was an enjoyable first season with a lot of cool footage. The first five episodes were easy to watch and I look forward to future installments.
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