What Goes on Behind-the-Scenes at the WWE? 11 Biggest Bombshells from “WWE: Unreal”

NEED TO KNOW

• Netflix’s WWE: Unreal premiered on July 29 and took viewers behind the scenes of the wrestling empire

• In the series, fans can see what happened in the writers’ room before some of the WWE’s most iconic moments

• Famous wrestlers, including John Cena and Cody Rhodes, also appear to share their sides of the story

What really goes on behind the scenes at the WWE?

For those who think the drama unfolding in the ring is enticing, Netflix’s new show WWE: Unreal takes fans into the writers’ room, revealing that what happens away from the bright lights may be even more dramatic. The series also gives a behind-the-scenes look at the biggest superstars on the roster, including John Cena, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Cody Rhodes.

The show’s primary narrator is former 14-time World Champion Hall-of-Fame wrestler Triple H, who is now WWE’s Chief Content Officer after having wrestled with the company since 1995.

Triple H told Entertainment Weekly what WWE fans will learn from the series.

“Our business evolves and so do the expectations of our audience,” he said. “From our superstars to our creative and production teams, the audience will see how much goes into bringing WWE to life — far more than people might imagine.”

Here are the biggest behind-the-scenes bombshells from WWE: Unreal.

Cody Rhodes wanted to be a bigger part of WWE Raw’s Netflix debut

Raw’s debut on Netflix will be remembered as one of the biggest nights in the WWE’s history, ushering in a new era. It featured some of the roster’s biggest legends like Cena, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan and some newer stars, including Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and CM Punk.

However, then-undisputed WWE Champion Rhodes was only thanked by The Rock and shown ringside instead of having a more central role. WWE Senior Vice President of Creative Writing Ed Koskey shared that they didn’t think Rhodes fit in the night’s story before Triple H shared that Rhodes had been contacting him for a larger role daily.

“With Cody Rhodes, the bigger the star, the more you want to provide some scarcity of their star power to keep them as big as they are so it’s special when Cody Rhodes is there and fans see that and feel that and they’re anticipating your return even more,” Triple H said in WWE: Unreal. “So you have to know where everything is going long-term and way in advance.”

Rhea Ripley broke character during her feud with Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio

Former WWE Women’s Champion Ripley had an epic multi-year feud with Liv Morgan. It saw them go from Tag Team Champions to Morgan beating Ripley for the championship and stealing her fictional boyfriend, Dominik Mysterio.

In one promo during the aftermath, Morgan was supposed to attack Ripley, but a behind-the-scenes conversation between Triple H and Ripley showed them discussing her being more docile than usual. Unfortunately, this approach resulted in a real-life injury for Ripley during the backstage promo, which led to her breaking character from the pain.

“She threw me into the wall, but, like I have a third-grade AC sprain. I full-on broke character as well in that scene,” Ripley said in WWE: Unreal. “My collarbone and my shoulder blade got ripped apart. She had to kick me into the second wall, but my shoulder was already stuffed up so I’m like holding my arm. Then Liv gets on me and starts punching me … in the bad shoulder and I’m like, ‘Somebody please get her off me.’ ”

CM Punk and Triple H initially clashed, which delayed Punk’s return by years

Punk is known as one of the more rebellious wrestlers in WWE history, willing to say what others won’t, even calling out the very company he works for on air in his infamous 2011 “Pipe bomb” promo. Punk left WWE a few years later in 2014 before making one of WWE’s most exciting returns in 2023.

Due to their ensuing real-life and fictional rivalry to reach the top of the WWE pinnacle, there was still some bad blood between Punk and Triple H as the latter moved into an executive position. It turned out Punk’s return had been discussed earlier, but Triple H needed to see real change from Punk to welcome him back.

“I felt like how he communicated with others needed to change. One time when he and I met after he had left … I said ‘Still the same dude, won’t work,’ ” Triple H said in WWE: Unreal. “The last time that we met and talked with him I felt like he, honestly, was different. It seemed almost like in the phone call we both realized, ‘Oh, he’s different. Oh, I’m different. Let’s give it a shot.’ ”

Producers communicate to wrestlers during the match through referees

Triple H, writing producers and match producers sit in a room called the Gorilla Position, coordinating every aspect of the show and how it is portrayed to viewers. The match producer talks to the camera trucks about what to display on TV based on what they are seeing in the match, and they even talk to the referees about what to say to talent during the match.

“If the talent needs to pick up their energy, needs to have more urgency, needs to slow down, let something breathe … whatever that instruction is it goes right through the ref,” Hall of Fame wrestler and current WWE Senior Producer Michael Hayes said in WWE: Unreal.

CM Punk and John Cena were original top choices to win the Royal Rumble before Jey Uso was chosen

The Royal Rumble represents the WWE kickoff for the Road to WrestleMania, with the winner of the 30-person Battle Royale earning a World Championship match. Therefore, it seemed like Cena in his final year or Punk on the heels of his well-received return would be natural choices to win, which is what the writers’ room thought, too.

Punk was initially going to face Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, but based on how well Jey Uso had been received, he was chosen to win the Royal Rumble and take that spot.

“I think in the case of Jey Uso, when somebody catches fire, they just catch fire and sometimes you just have to alternate all your plans,” Hayes said in WWE: Unreal. “Who do we have on our roster that is hot that hopefully is maybe new and fresh? And all of a sudden, Jey Uso is checking all those boxes.”

IShowSpeed suffered a real injury during the Royal Rumble

IShowSpeed is one of the world’s most famous streamers and a huge WWE fan, which led him to enter the Royal Rumble.

“One aspect that makes the Royal Rumble so entertaining is it has an opportunity to not just feature WWE superstars, but you also have the occasional celebrity involvement, special attraction involvement if you will,” Koskey said in WWE: Unreal. “This year, we had the opportunity to do something with IShowSpeed. He’s not a competitor, not a superstar. He is a social media streamer … influencer [with a] massive following and is a huge fan as well.”

However, Speed’s appearance didn’t go quite as planned when WWE breakout superstar Bron Breakker speared him — a shoulder block takedown to one’s midsection — too hard, which led to a gash in his leg. In WWE: Unreal, Logan Paul is even shown asking Speed if he is okay backstage before a visibly shaken Speed shows him the gash in his leg.

The loud noise and mark left from Bianca Belair’s braid slap are real

While WWE: Unreal delves into how much of WWE is carefully scripted, timed and coordinated, one move that is totally real comes from one of the company’s biggest superstars: Belair. The wrestler is known for wearing her signature long braid and using it as a weapon in matches, which makes a loud, slapping sound upon hitting opponents and often leaves a mark.

While some moves are toned down a bit or carefully executed to prevent pain against competitors, Belair’s hair whip attack is entirely real.

“I wore this braid one time and my husband was like, ‘You gotta keep the braid because nobody else is doing it…’ It’s one thing that’s very innovative and I get to use it as a weapon,” Belair said in WWE: Unreal. “They think that we put some special, like, sound effects to it. No. It makes a huge, loud noise and it leaves a mark, so it’s real.”

Nearly 40% of WWE’s audience is female, according to Triple H

In the Attitude Era of the 1990s, led by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, wrestling was thought to have a male-dominated audience. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and Triple H alleged that nearly half of WWE’s audience is comprised of women.

“The Women in WWE have become an integral part of what we do. 40% of our audience is female,” Triple H claimed in WWE: Unreal. “So as you begin to navigate the road to WrestleMania, you’re trying to approach it with them in the same manner you approach it with the guys. You’re trying to approach the storytelling in the same manner.”

This uptick in female viewership led to increased promotion of the women’s division and the implementation of the Women’s United States and Intercontinental Championships. This gives women more opportunities to win titles, just like the male superstars.

Chelsea Green fought for one of her matches to end with a different finish

A lot of decision-making goes into who will win each WWE match and how the fight will end. When Chelsea Green was set to win the first-ever Women’s United States Championship, they wanted her to do a leg drop — Hulk Hogan’s finishing move — off the top rope, which felt potentially dangerous to her.

“I’m not one to argue about finishes or what creative wants from me. I just do it. But every now and then, there’s a moment that I need to fight for and the leg drop … that was never going to happen,” Green said in WWE: Unreal. “A finishing move is so personal. It’s us. It’s a part of the history of me as a wrestler.”

Green instead got to do her Unprettier finishing move to win the coveted title.

Tiffany Stratton made a joke about Charlotte Flair’s divorce that wasn’t scripted

On the road to WrestleMania, one of the most newsworthy soundbites came when WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton made a joke about former Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair being divorced three times. Flair then commented that Stratton’s boyfriend, Ludwig Kaiser, was in her DMs, but it turned out none of this was scripted as things got personal between the two before their match.

“Apparently it was the divorce line that sent [Charlotte] over the edge. She’s upset,” Koskey told Triple H in WWE: Unreal. “She’s upset. Uh, it obviously wasn’t written in the promo.”

Following the reveal, Triple H said that he needed Stratton to apologize to Flair as she had initiated the off-script insults.

“So, I need Tiffany to understand that’s obviously not how we do this,” Triple H replied to Koskey. “So, she needs to go to Charlotte and apologize and they need to get on the same page.”

John Cena’s heel turn was so secretive that not even the control room knew about it

John Cena turning heel, meaning changing from a good to bad character, shocked the WWE Universe like nothing that had come before it and even reverberated throughout the sports and pop culture world at large.

Everyone wondered how it happened, and it turns out that The Rock had a large influence as he told WWE creatives that something huge needed to happen for his return at Elimination Chamber.

After speaking with The Rock, the WWE creative team of Koskey, Triple H and Bruce Prichard got together to talk about a potential seismic moment, and Prichard suggested that Cena turn heel. In WWE Unreal, Cena commented on his character’s hard pivot.

“I don’t think people need to know and I think the magic is out there under the lights. I love the surprise and that’s the end goal whether your audience is none, one or a hundred thousand,” Cena said.

With how big of a moment Cena’s heel turn was, it only made sense to keep it a secret. However, it was so secretive that only those involved in the ring, like Rhodes, The Rock, Travis Scott and Cena, and those involved creatively, like Triple H, Koskey and Prichard, knew about it.

Not even the control room managing the cameras was in on it, and they are generally included in every aspect of production.

“At the end of that match, nobody knew that John was gonna turn heel,” Triple H said in WWE: Unreal. “We have a truck with a director in it and, you know, all the technical people that need to run stuff. The truck didn’t know what was going to happen.”

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