By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following are the notes I’m taking while watching the five-part “WWE Unreal” season two on Netflix.
-R-Truth was featured prominently, as the show’s title suggests. Truth said he’s been wrestling for 25 years. Pau Levesque said Truth had been with the company so long that he wrestled Abe Lincoln in WWE.
-Cody Rhodes was one of several people say nice things about Truth. “I love R-Truth,” Rhodes said. “He’s one of the most multi-faceted, talented wrestlers of all time.”
-“Road Dogg” Brian James checked in for the first time this season. He said he had the gift of gab. James said he has some moments from his career that he’s proud of. James said the in-ring part of his career is difficult for him. He said he’s a recovering drug addict, and a lot of his performance was under the influence. He got emotional while talking about some of the relationships he forged while going through it all, and said Truth is one of them.
-James recalled seeing Truth work in Memphis Championship Wrestling somewhere around the year 2000.
-Truth said wrestling wasn’t his first choice, but it saved his life. He said he wanted to be a rap star. Photos were shown of Truth with the late Tupac Shakur and the late Eazy-E. Truth said the wrestling bug bit him. He recalled meeting James, who asked him to be his tag team partner. James was shown saying that they started teaming a couple of months later.
-Footage aired of Truth performing his music in a ballroom with James among those in the crowd.
-John Cena Sr. showed up and shared a hug and some conversation with Truth.
-The fun dynamic between the Truth and John Cena characters was explained, with Truth saying Cena was his childhood hero. Bruce Prichard pointed out that Truth is five years older than Cena. Levesque explained that Truth would be one of the most disappointed people when Cena turned. Footage aired of Cena putting Truth through a table at the WWE Backlash press conference.
-A creative team meeting was shown with Levesque working remotely. James explained that Truth wanted to shave his head before his match with Cena. Levesque questioned why.
Powell’s POV: So Truth wanted to shave his head, and they didn’t know what to do? How about a stipulation where Truth puts his hair on the line in exchange for a title shot? Or heel Cena simply laid out Truth before shaving his head? I would hope that those obvious ideas had to be pitched and they didn’t have the footage or it was left on the proverbial cutting room floor.
-James told the show’s producers that it had been difficult creatively to find their way with Truth during the story with Cena. He said that’s been difficult for him. They cut back to the creative meeting with James saying he was afraid to pitch anything, and he couldn’t wait for Cena to beat him.
-Levesque explained to producers that Truth and James have a personal friendship, and there are times when James’s personal feelings can skew his creative feelings when it comes to what is right for business.
-Back in the creative meeting, James got upset. He said he didn’t understand what they were supposed to do. Levesque asked what Truth showing up with his head shaved would accomplish. James said it hurt his heart, and he wanted to move on.
-After footage from the match was shown, they aired a clip of Cena assuring Truth that he was excellent during their match. They shook hands and hugged. Levesque shook Truth’s hand and told him it was incredible.
-And then R-Truth was released. Or was he? Truth said he was taking his daughter to dance when he got the call that he was released. He recalled tweeting that he’d been released. He said it was gut-wrenching.
-James said it broke his heart when Truth texted him. Rhea Ripley said everyone felt like it couldn’t be real, and that a wave of sadness washed over the company. Truth said his phone blew up with texts. Cody said you can’t touch Truth. They need him.
-Levesque said they got to a point in Truth’s run where his contract was coming up. He said that when you’re dealing with contracts and money, and you’re far apart on the numbers and communication breaks down, it’s easy for both sides to read into the communication differently. Levesque explained that you could tell a talent in that situation that the company isn’t going to renew a contract with the hope that it will make that person reconsider their stance. He eventually said that there was never a time when Truth wasn’t under contract.
-James said it broke his heart, but it made perfect business sense not to renew his contract because, at his age, you might not get the reward back.
-Levesque said no one wanted Truth to leave. He said they just wanted to get to an amicable place from a contractual standpoint.
-The focus shifted to Jimmy Uso and Naomi. We learned that cooking isn’t Naomi’s thing.
-Naomi addressed walking out with Sasha Banks in 2022. She said she doesn’t like talking about it. She said there was a lot that happened that day that led to them leaving.
-Jimmy recalled looking for Naomi after his match and not being able to find her. He said he called her and found out that she walked out.
-WWE SVP Creative Writing Ed Koskey said it was a different time with a different head of creative and talent relations. He recalled that there was going to be a Six-Pack Challenge for a title shot at the next premium live event. He said Naomi “and her partner” weren’t comfortable being in a match where they would be pitted against one another. Koskey recalled being at the Gorilla Position after the show started, when the then-head of talent relations informed them that Naomi and her partner had left the building.
-WWE VP Creative Writing Michael Hayes said he was surprised and shocked that Naomi walked out. He said it was the wrong thing to do. He said you work the show, and down the line, when you cool off, you’re happy you didn’t burn the bridge.
-Levesque said he wasn’t involved with the main roster when she left. “She and Sasha Banks had just had enough, and they left,” Levesque said.
-Naomi said she had to stand up for herself. She said it was the first time in her life that she was not employed and didn’t know where to go next.
-Naomi recalled meeting Jimmy in WWE developmental in 2009. He said they’ve been stuck at the hip ever since. She said it was a challenge when she left the company because they’d never been apart. She said it was a difficult and scary time for her.
-Levesque said that much like the Truth situation, they never wanted Naomi to leave. He said it was a driving force to reach out and ask if she’d like to return. Footage aired of Naomi’s return at the Royal Rumble.
-Naomi’s heel turn was recapped, along with the build to the Money in the Bank match.
-They cut back to the R-Truth situation. Levesque said they were trying to get him under a new contract to have him at Money in the Bank. Truth said he spoke with Nick Khan for about an hour that day. Truth said he was hurt. Bruce Prichard recalled Truth’s deal not being finalized until the day of the MITB event.
-John Cena was shown discussing Truth’s return scenarios with Levesque at ringside. Cena walked through the plan. He told Levesque that his only concern was that he wanted to make sure it came off like Cody was the one who beat him, not Truth. Levesque laid out a new scenario that Cena liked.
Powell’s POV: Just to clarify, this wasn’t a case of Cena not wanting to make Truth look good. Cena’s money feud was with Cody, the company’s top babyface, who put him over at WrestleMania, so it was the right call on Cena’s part to make sure it came off like Cody got the better of him.
-Levesque spoke with Cody and told him that the only people who knew Truth was returning were him, Cody, Khan, and Cena. He said they would tell Michael Cole and Pat McAfee right before the show, and he would also tell Prichard and Koskey right before the show.
-Levesque told Khan that he told McAfee and planned to tell Cole. He said he was going to tell Logan Paul and Jey Uso right before they went to the ring because it wouldn’t be fair not to tell them what was going to happen during their match. Khan recalled Cole doing a great job when CM Punk returned. Levesque said he might not tell Cole after all. He said Cole would think it was cool that they let him “call it real.”
-Highlights aired of Naomi winning Money in the Bank. Levesque asked if she and the other entrants were okay. Leveque posed for a photo with Naomi, who then asked if she could put (caution) tape on the briefcase to customize it. Levesque said yes and told her to talk to the props guy.
-Rhea Ripley said MITB was her first ladder match. She said she can cross that off her bucket list. She said she’s just happy she didn’t get hurt.
-An emotional Lilian Garcia congratulated Naomi, who also got emotional. They cut to Jimmy congratulating his wife. He asked to see the briefcase. She told him to get his own and then laughed before handing it over.
-Footage aired of Bobby Roode approaching Paul Levesque at the Gorilla Position. Levesque confirmed that Roode was producing John Cena’s match, and then spoke quietly while telling him that Truth would return afterward. Undertaker was nearby with headsets on.
-Levesque and Cena were shown chatting. Levesque told Cena ahead of his tag match with Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso. Levesque told Cena that he hadn’t seen Truth yet, and he didn’t get to the show until after the doors were open. Cena joked that Truth was stealing his gimmick, which got a laugh out of Levesque.
-Truth said he wore a hoodie and never took it off. “Sherlock Holmes couldn’t have found me, man,” Truth said.
-The match footage and Truth’s return were shown. We were subjected to the over-the-top reactions of YouTube personalities.
-Brian James said he knew it was Truth because he saw his ankle. He laughed, and he said he knows it sounds funny, but he knows Truth’s ankles. James said he started crying immediately.
Powell’s POV: I wouldn’t recognize my own ankles, let alone the ankles of any of my friends. This kinda makes me want to do a police lineup of ankles.
-Footage aired of Undertaker welcoming back Truth at the Gorilla position. Levesque and Truth hugged. Levesque told Truth that he was happy “all this shit worked out.” Levesque continued to hug Truth while saying, “I hope you know none of that shit was meant in any way other than just where we were, right? It’s just a f—ing business thing, but man, I’m so f—ing happy you’re still here.” Truth thanked Levesque and said he appreciated him.
-Truth recalled his son telling him that it wasn’t a waste. Truth said he’s missed birthday parties, anniversaries, and graduations, but his son said it wasn’t a waste because those people love him.
-Back at Gorilla, Logan Paul hugged Truth and said he was surprised to see him. Levesque said he meant to tell Paul and Jay Uso, but he was running around. Levesque told Truth that Cody Rhodes knew. He said he had to tell him because he didn’t want Cody to hit Truth with a Bionic Elbow.
-Brian James said he was happy he didn’t know in advance. Footage aired of James and Truth sharing an emotional hug and saying they love one another.
-“Sunshine in my day is Ron Killings,” James told the producers. An emotional Truth was shown in a separate shot talking about James. He said James took him under his wing and took care of him. He said James would “jeopardize his shit” to stick up for him.
-Levesque and James had another conversation at Gorilla. Levesque told Truth they might have lucked into this being the best thing for Truth.
-The show cut to two days later at Raw. Truth spoke about how this reinvented him worldwide. He was shown asking Levesque if they could be brothers. Levesque was confused. Truth asked if he could cut his hair. Levesque approved. They showed footage of Truth cutting his hair in the ring and some of the backstage reactions. He read a text from his daughter asking him what he did. “I was going bald,” Truth told the producers and then cracked up laughing.
Powell’s POV: This was a much more interesting episode than the season two premiere. We didn’t get any new details on Naomi and Sasha Banks walking out, perhaps in part because they clearly didn’t want to mention Vince McMahon or John Laurinaitis. Along those same lines, it was comical to watch Ed Koskey avoid mentioning the name Sasha Banks, only to have Levesque show no hesitation while saying it in a separate clip. The saga of Truth being told that the company wouldn’t renew his deal was interesting. If that’s the true story, I’m surprised that Levesque gave away a page from the company’s contract negotiations playbook by talking about how they use the threat of not renewing a contract to make a performer think twice about their contractual demands.
The highlight of the episode was the focus on the friendship between Truth and Brian James. While you can never be certain of what’s real on a reality television show, I feel safe assuming that neither man is a strong enough actor to fake that level of emotion. If I’m wrong, they should have opted for Hollywood rather than professional wrestling. I haven’t watched episode three yet, so I’m not sure when my notes on that episode will be available.
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