The World According To Wrestling podcast launched its final episode of the series this week and explores the wrestling writer’s room with guests former WWE writer Court Bauer, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Ryan Satin and Brad Maddox. You can read a few excerpts and listen to the show below:
Court Bauer on whether fans still blame “creative”:
“I think less now because people are more aware of the process and who ultimately is guiding it. It’s not even a Stephanie Levesque thing, it’s not a Paul Levesque thing, it’s a Vince McMahon thing. There’s so many great directors that have done great movies like Martin Scorsese but he also did Shutter Island which I thought was terrible so, you know, Vince is not bulletproof. He is the showrunner. He is guiding us. He is micromanaging us. He is approving most segments. He is sitting in every meeting. He’s not idly phoning it in. He is very much still hands-on, proactive with his sleeves rolled up producing and overseeing every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night. I think people are more aware of that. So, the scrutiny isn’t what it once was. You know I really don’t see anyone going “Oh those fucking writers”. If they’re going to be negative and condemn something I see it’s on Vince now more than the writers. I don’t see the writers getting it like they used to.”
Brad Maddox on what he would do if he had a second chance:
“If I had to do it again I would have gone to Vince from day one and said “Hi. I’m Brad Maddox. Do you know who I am? Do you know about my experience? Do you know I have been in your company for three years now and I’m a trained wrestler?” I would have communicated better and I would’ve taken my own career into my own hands instead of hoping or thinking that the writers were going to do my job for me.”
Ryan Satin on the most compelling storylines in wrestling:
“I think when you blur the lines between reality and fiction and you as a viewer watching are not sure if it’s real or fake…then that’s when WWE has done their job. Those are the ones where you remember them forever and I personally feel like they’re not doing it enough. If I was a writer and I was working for WWE. That would literally be all I was pitching.”
Chavo Guerrero on whether any GLOW actors could move into wrestling:
“Everyone of those actresses I could train to have an actual match, a “Wrestlemania moment” if you want to call it. 100 per cent. I love everyone of them. They were in the ring everyday and everyone of them was so good. Alison Brie is an athlete that didn’t know she was an athlete. She’s always done theatre and that kind of stuff and maybe a little sport as a kid. Coming into the ring, everyone had their reservations but once you showed them how strong they were and how athletic everyone actually really is, they felt empowered to do things they never thought they could do. There were times where they said “Thank you, we never knew we had that in us”. To me, I’d work with everyone of these girls, I loved every one of them.”
Episode 6 of The World According to Wrestling is out now. The second season is available now on iTunes and all other podcasting platforms.
