Lets read: Creating the MANIA (

[Dog Based Gremlin]

keep this up, really cool idea

rep

i'll remember to hold Xavier to quiting WWE once New Day is over :mjkofi:

 

[TheCool69]

Chapter 10 - Flair for the Dramatic
September 4, 2017: MAE YOUNG CLASSIC

This fukking book......

While the tournament final eventually crowns Kairi Sane the winner, the moment the WWE Universe is left talking about is the backstage confrontation between members of WWE's Four Horsewomen and the Ronda Rousey-led Four Horsewomen from MMA

- The book says that the moment was something that WWE Universe (fukk off!!) has been waiting since Ronda first proclaimed her love for WWE.

- Charlotte sucks Ronda off the whole chapter

The match definitely has Wrestlemania written all over it. With the four us in NXT, it was, I hate to use this word but it was so organic. The WWE Universe named us the Four Horsewomen. And I'm pretty sure that's what happened to them in MMA. Everyone knows what Ronda means to that sport as a whole, and she definitely opened the door for the women in WWE to show that women can main-event, women can make a difference, women can be the attraction. And then you add in the fact that I'm actually a Flair - I'm actually related to the original four - it just writes itself and is really cool.

If it happens, I want this to be a big storyline. I would want weeks leading up to this where they're challenging us, were challenging them. I don't know how it works, because Becky and I are on Smackdown and Sasha and Bayley are on Raw, but if we all came together on a pay-per-view or if they weren't even announced that they were going to be there but something broke down where they interrupted a match or they called us out.. I don't know (riveting stuff Charlotte..... )

- Charlotte says that if Ronda decides to start wrestling it will not be an easy thing and would require a heavy training in NXT.

When you think Ronda Rousey, you think badass, so she doesn't need to develop her character in front of the WWE Universe, she already has it, she's already a superstar, so she can come into Wrestlemania as is, no problem. But to be a WWE Superstar full-time, she definitely has to have more training, but she has the type of crossover star power where she can just show up and say "Het, I'm here" and the WWE Universe would love to see it. The equivalent would be Mayweather versus Conor McGregor. Whether or not anybody thought McGregor had a chance, it was everything he brings to the table and what he represents and his confidence and his character.. it didn't matter that it was boxing and not MMA, it was how they built the fight around the characters. The story alone sold the fight and thas what they can do in WWE with the Four versus Four (oh god.. that will be the official tag line for the match).

- Next, they plant the SEED for Ronda vs Charlotte singles match.

That's my goal. I just don't want to be a WWE Superstar, I want to be an attraction for the company as female. Brock Lesnar, an attraction. John Cena, an attraction. Roman Reigns, an attraction. I want to represent that as a female, and to be able to face her in a one-on-one match would prove that I have that kind of star power, that I can be an attraction. I'm known for my talent, not my looks - not that it's not like that across the board - so that would be a dream to have Charlotte Flair versus Ronda Rousey headlining. Even if its Four versus Four and it breaks down into that, it would be unbelievable

- The last part of the chapter is Charlotte talking about how women's wrestling is now the hottest thing and finally, WWE acknowledges that.

Its come a long way. For one thing, we went from Divas to Superstars. If you were a fan walking into Wrestlemania 32 at AT&T Stadium, you saw myself, Becky and Sasha (no Bayley :/ ) in the center of that poster alongside legends like Undertaker and Triple H. You had Shane McMahon and Roman Reigns, but with us in the center, it was like the men who looked like the eye candy. When you walked up, it was like, wow these three girls are the main attraction of the largest Wrestlemania we had to date, 101,000 people. Now, that's a statement.

When they retired the Divas Championship and gave the women a brand new title, it was refreshing saying "Hey; we're updating the product, we're giving the women a new platform, we went from Divas to Women, and now the title looks like the men's title" I think that's also a reflection of how they feel about us.

The change all started when Triple H hired Sara Del Rey as the first female coach. They turned FCW into NXT, and we revamped the entire developmental program into something that now isn't even developmental, its really a third brand. And I think when NXT started having those Takeovers and the women started stealing the show and had just as many fans come to see them and had just as much support as the male matches, Triple H didn't second-guess the women, he just said "Hey this is the story, this is the match, this is what we're going with" Hunter made the executive decision to hire Sara Del Rey, who is known and respected and has done every type of wrestling all over the world from Japan to Mexico. It was Hunter who realized that the women needed women to represent them in the ring and to represent them in the meetings

The chapter ends with Charlotte promising that one day soon women will main event Mania.

Next one is about Owens headbutting McMahon.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

Who is the cool?

Until this is said @JamiK was the one posting lol

 

[Cheercomp]

Nice drop OP. Appreciate the effort. Its such an odd book due to the mashup of candid and kayfabe. Rhoode is also highly delusional if he believes anyone cares about him on the main roster

 

[JamiK]

Next chapter is a quick one, so I'll do it right now.

Chapter 11 - Headbutt heard around the world
September 12, 2017: Smackdown Live

- Chapter recaps Owens and McMahon family's rivalry.

- It then gets to KO and Vince in the ring. I love this quote

Its always crazy to be in the ring with guys you've watched your whole life. Vince McMahon pretty much shaped my childhood, and he's shaping my adulthood and my entire life at this point, through his creation. So to be in the ring with him and to get to do anything with Vince McMahon is always a big deal.

When we were in the ring, he was talking a lot of shyt. He was getting me riled up, he was riled up and when we were ready to go, i didn't think about how hard i was going to hit him, i just hit him like i would anybody else, i just let it fly

- The book mentions that most people think it would lead to HHH vs Owens, but KO himself is hoping for a match with.. VINCE!!?!?!

After doing what we did in the ring, i couldn't help but start thinking about Vince having one last match at Wrestlemania - against myself, fingers crossed. When anybody asks me about dream matches at Mania, Triple H is at the top of the list, but there is something about being in the ring with Vince at Wrestlemania that's just unfathomable. If that became a possibility that the match I would want. If I against Triple H doesn't happen this year, it can happen next year, it can happen the year after that, Triple H still has a lot of good years left in him. But who knows how many matches Vince McMahon has left, or even if he's got one left in him at all. But if he does have one, it has got to be at Wrestlemania and I think, right now, I'm the guy who he should be in a match with

- Next, it briefly talks about HIAC with Shane. KO mentions that the fall could not be practiced beforehand, so the only queue Zayn had was to grab Owens once he saw Shanes' feet leave the cell.

Owens also puts over how crazy the experience of being in HIAC match is. He says that once he was on top of the cage, he was at eye level with people from the thirtieth row.

- After that he gets to put over Sami, mentioning that Sami is one of the guys who are so very good, but people don't realize it (yet). He is happy that Sami has the chance to open up and get the opportunity.

- Quickly also mentions how fun the friendship angle with Jericho was, though he says that "he wishes that the match at Mania would have gone differently, he enjoyed the build-up"

Then we get an interesting quote, about how Owens ends up in the spotlight so often.

It's because of drive and passion for business. That's not a knock on anybody else, and I'm not implying that other people aren't as passionate or driven as I am, but the difference is that ill take no for an answer because once in a while, you have to.

But ill pitch ideas, ill try to come up with ideas, ill talk to people and I'm constantly trying to be relevant. To me, there is nothing worse than not being relevant. I'm not saying I'm always going to be in the top angel or the top story, that just not realistic, but I want to feel like what I'm doing matters. Maybe it's just a matter of time. Maybe once you're here for ten years, you just start to enjoy the ride and you don't care so much about whether or not you're featured prominently, but I've never been that way. I've been doing this for seventeen years - I was doing this for fifteen years before WWE . and I've been all around the world, and I've never been happy with being complacent, even if I had been with a company for seven years. I always try to keep myself relevant and make sure that what I'm doing means something. Its just a byproduct of that kind of attitude I'd say

- The chapter ends with a passionate Owens quote about his mentality.

I'm not looking to be the best match, I'm not looking to be the best, I'm not looking for people to look at me and think that I am the best in the world, I don't care. I want people to look at me and remember what I did and have memorable moments from my match. I want them to walk away and talk about what i did, whether its a moment or part of the match or an actual match. I want to leave them with memories, I've always been about that, whether its Wrestlemania or not. At WrestleMania, that touch is multiplied. That's what its all about. Its about creating memories that will last a lifetime

 

[JamiK]

Chapter 11 - Welcome to the USO Penitentiary
October 8, 2017: Hell In The Cell

- The chapter starts with a quick overview of USOS vs New Day match in HIAC and some of the high spots.
It focuses on the spot where USOS beat the shyt out of Woods with Kendo sticks.

This chapter I'll quote big blocks from this start since this offers a cool look into what goes into the mindset of something like this, the end of the chapter I'll just paraphrase.

Jey:

The most fun part of our job is trying to put something like that together. Were playmakers, all you need is the right dance partner. You need someone who will know all the steps, and when you pop that thing out and you go out there and you execute it, you can hear the reaction, and you know instantly you have something special. You know, okay, when we hit this, the crowd should be at this level, and when we follow that up, they should be at the next level, and you're building the match so the crowd is always going up-up-up.

Jimmy:

We didn't even go back and watch any of that history of Hell In a Cell - that just wasn't in our mindset. When we got together with The New Day, ideas were just flowing. We laid it out, it sounded good, it looked good on paper.

When we were kids, we used to love playing baseball. Jey struck out all the time, I had way more home runs that he did. I and Roman hit the ball, Jey would swing hard, but he wasn't making too much contact. He was making contact that night though.

Jey:

I wasn't holding back. And in those kinds of matches you cannot hold back, and neither can they. When you hold back, the crowd can see it, and when they see you holding back, you just buried everyone in the ring

Woods:

It was really horrible, but I knew it was going to be bad when I threw the idea in the hat. For me, I wanted to tell a couple of different stories in that match. Its a full-on, drag-out fight in the beginning, then it turns into me just getting obliterated, and I'm seen as more of E's little brother. Then by the end of it, I come back from the grave, essentially, to try and help E. I realize in the match that yeah, I'm the little brother of this group, and I might not win this fight, but you're not going to win unless you put me down. I think that came across in the match and we were all able to elevate the match and continue to do more stuff - stuff you've never seen before - and I think people in the crowd really respect that. We put so much time and effort into delivering at the show; we're not just going out there and doing the same thing every time. We're actually taking the time to work together and think of new stuff, trying to deliver a match and moments within the match that people will remember.

The WWE Universe might not realize how much that kendo stick hurts. It feels terrible. It's not good at all. People know what we do, they understand its entertainment, but things get a little more intense than people realize. They know its entertainment when they buy the ticket, but we add a crux of realism in there so people will feel for us, feel for The New Day a little more because we're being strung up and beat with kendo sticks. After the first shot, everybody in the crowd is like "Oh man, that sucks", but then it turns into them teeing off on me. I told them not to let up, I told them that no matter how much I'm screaming or what I'm screaming, just keep going. I don't if it's too much. Well, talk about it a few days later. By the time they stopped swinging those kendo sticks, there was a different feeling in the crowd. Everyone was like "This is gross, they need to stop, I feel bad for Mr. Woods". Which translates into "I feel bad for The New Day" so they want to see us break out of those handcuffs, come back and beat the crap out of The Usos. The violence level is something that, every now and then, we take advantage of, and I have scars on my body and all over my stomach to keep that reminder fresh in my head.

Okay.

- Next, the book mentions that for Usos HIAC is more than just having a good match. It's about history. They talk about Rikishi "being chokeslammed" from the top of the cage. Jey says that they are proud of having the first tag team title match at HIAC.

- Jimmy says that they were proud that after the match HIAC became literally a USO Penitentiary.

- Next, they both talk about how during their childhood wrestling was just something that their pops did. It felt more like he clocked in, went away for a few days and then came back.

- At first, they both wanted to become football players, and when that didn't work out they decided to try wrestling.

- Apparently, Rikishi warned them that "wrestling was full of sharks" and that they should stick together and watch each other backs. They say that it has been blessing traveling together since they still have fun.

- Jimmy says that when they don't feel the tension and nervousness when waiting for the match at Gorilla, they will call it quits. Says that matches and putting them together is not work, work is driving for hours, catching a flight or waiting in line for rental cars.

- The chapter ends with Jey saying that they are proud to be a tag team and add the WWE caliber of tag teams like Legion of Doom, Samoan Swat Team and Hard Foundation. Says that when they got to WWE, they wanted to make tag team wrestling great again, and feels like they have been killing it with The Bar, Shield, and Breezango. Says that they have been making it "hard to follow".


And that is that.

Next one is the big one. The one I've been waiting. It's about Creative. And it's a good one. They talk about 50-50 booking, pushing Roman, VINCE RUMORS.

 

[JamiK]

Okay, this is the big one! The one I've been waiting for.

Hold on to your butts, this is CHAPTER 13 - CREATIVE CONTROL

October 9, 2017: WWE Headquarters, Stamford, Connecticut.

- The chapter opens up with the mention that its six months until Mania 34, and the only match penciled in is Reigns vs Lesnar.

- It also mentions that "its stark contrast" to how WWE Creative used to work. Writers would plot out what they thought would be the best possible card for Mania a year in advance, then book the storylines backward.

- Our main character is Ed Koskey, WWE's Vice President of Creative Writing and one of the most influential writers behind the scenes at the Stamford office.

This guy

[timg]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...MScL3o4PpnAsN7VoL96Y7X7PHkbukubYc3Dzuq[/timg]

- He says that as they get closer to Mania, the questions among the crew are "What's Undertakers availability?" , Where do we go with Braun?"

It's one of those deals where we'll see where everything lays out. Last year we knew we were going to get Jericho and Owens, we knew were doing Seth and Hunter. Some years you have more lined up, and other years you're just waiting to see how stuff pans out. That's just where we're at.

In the course of a year, so much stuff can happen, with injuries being the most serious situation. If someone gets hurt, we are forced to change plans, then just when you think you have something set, someone else might go down and everything changes again. We knew where we were going for this years Wrestlemania main event two years ago, but that could change at the drop of the hat. Because of the amount of content we do on a weekly and monthly basis, we just can't lay things out as far as we used to.

Now you got to John Cena versus Roman Reigns in September instead of Wrestlemania. You're trying to get these talents over, but there are different success stories and different stories of failure. You pitch something and you think, "Yes, this is going to happen, it's going to be great", but then it just doesn't work out.

You have someone like Braun Strowman last year. He was on a roll, but he didn't have a prominent place in Wrestlemania. So we said "Lets put him in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal" and he'd probably win that, but in the course of pitching that and the time of the show, Gronk became available, so guess what, he's not winning the battle royal anymore. The spot went to Mojo Rawley, and it turns out Braun didn't need that spotlight to maintain his roll, you just need to keep building him up the night after and you keep going. You still have a star in your hands with Braun; the story just didn't work out the way we anticipated. I'm sure he was pissed. We tried to shine the battle royal up a little bit by putting Andre The Giants name on it to make it feel special, but there's always a handful of guys who want to be doing something else than just being in the battle royal

WHEW.. that's... that's something....

- Next, they mention that it takes a team of "about 25 people" to come up with storylines. They are split up to different aspects and different shows.

- According to Koskey, there's a group that stays back in the offices so they can keep ahead of the weekly shows, one team goes out on the road to weekly TV and PPV's. Every Thursday the whole team is under one roof.

- He also mentions that the road team goes both to RAW and Smackdown, but the home team is more split up. One group for each show and their respective PPV's. Back in the old days, the whole team would go on the road and then tried to book after traveling days.

- It didn't work out and people were seriously burnt out, both professionally and personally. Mentions that the new ways are better because everything is more regimented and more structured. IT helps people to carry the workload, especially since the home team is also helping with NXT

- The last word is still with Vince!

In the end, though, its still Vince running the show creatively, and he will until he's no longer with us. There have been different attempts to put different people in charge. Stephanie McMahon was in charge for a while but transferred over to other opportunities with branding. Vince has final say over everything. Anything you see on TV happens because Vince approved it to happen.

Koskey says that the way WWE works, and the storylines can change in a heartbeat, its good to learn not to get too attached to ideas.

Vince doesn't care if it's his lead writer, a Superstar, or a guy in marketing who comes up with the idea, as long as its a good idea.

One of the things we try to teach is you have to be careful about pride of authorship or digging in on a certain guy who you think has to be in the storyline. The blessing and the curse of working for Vince is, in his mind, the best idea wins. When we're in a production meeting and we have some of the guys who have backgrounds in the ring like Jamie Noble, Arn Anderson, and Mike Rotunda, they'll come in with their own suggestions, like, "I like what you're doing here, but how about this?". Vince has been known to say "You're right, this is the way to go" and hell change the story on the spot. You cant get too wed to an idea where it has to be a certain way or it won't work at all. You can express how strongly you want something and do it in your most professional way possible, but, ultimately, once Vince makes his decision, then it's our job to get on the same side of the rope and start pulling in the same direction. You can't mope or drag your feet or feel like it should be this guy instead of that guy - you made your case, the judge heard it, but he ruled the other way

Koskey says that the rumors that Vince nevers sleeps or calls meetings at 3 a.m are all just urban legends. Says that Vince is always available for texts or calls, but he doesnt call in the middle of the night to ask about what to do with John Cena or anything like that.

... Okay here comes the bullshyt about Roman and why is he pushed. Get ready to roll your eyes.. Oh and watch out for the second part. This Koskey guy is full of shyt!!!

- Koskey mentions that deciding which Superstars to push, Vince is always listening. To the crowd, yes, but also taking into account live-event ticket and merchandise sales, what's working what isn't working, what people are buying, what people aren't buying and who they pay to see.

Roman Reigns sells tickets. Even though guys may boo him, others may cheer him, either way, when he comes out, its loud in the arena and that's cool with us. He's a star and people want to see him, whether they want to boo him or to cheer him, to see him win or to see him lose, they are there for him. He's a star and he moves the needle. Roman is a second-generation guy, and he just looks the part. He looks like he was created in Vince's lab. He's everything you want a Superstar to be: he has that charisma, that star power, and that star factor.

People react to him. People are drawn to him, whether they are saying "Roman sucks!" or "Let's go, Roman!". With the advent of social media, everybody wants to choose a side. It makes it fun. It's not like the old days where everybody in the stands loved Stone Cold Steve Austin. That's a unicorn. These days, you ride with the guy the audience is having fun with, that's all that matters. As long as they're having fun and making noise, it's all good

- Says that the most important factor in WWE's creative success is that the writing team is working together to help shape Vince's vision, not what particular Superstar is at the top of the card.

When Vince picks a direction and everybody gets behind it, we can do great things. When Great Balls of Fire happened, that was supposed to be Braun versus Brock, but then Braun injured his elbow, so we thought he wasn't going to make the PPV. At that point, we didn't know who was going to get that shot. But then Samoa Joe stepped up. Physically he looks the part, he could be a match for Brock Lesnar. So Vince said "Hey, the next five weeks after Extreme Rules are all about making the wider audience familiar with Samoa Joe's history as a badass in the business. It's all about making him as badass and as much of a threat to Brock as possible"

When Vince tells us "Get everyone on board, this is who were going with" you give that guy opportunities and do everything you can to make it work, and that's usually when we do our best work. You can usually only do that with one guy at the time, though, because of how the rosters are set up. With the amount of content we have to fill, it's tough to give the kind of push to more than one guy at the time. Sometimes you're just trying to find as many compelling things as you can for three-hour-show or a two-hour-show every week. That's where you run into "Well' let's not use this guy to get that guy over because this guy is pretty valuable. Let's use him instead.

You're trying to serve a lot of masters and that's where you get into the 50/50 booking, where a guy who loses this week, wins next week so his reputation isn't hurt too bad. Its just not as great as when we say "This is the guy!" and we put our full force behind that push

WOW.. this is just... I like the basic idea, but what the hell is this "only one guy at the time" bullshyt!!!??! Of course, you can write for more people at the same time THAT IS THE REASON YOU HAVE 25 PEOPLE WORKING ON IT!!! Goddammit, Kosey.

The chapter ends with Kosey lamenting that while Roman is the guy, the crew is still trying to piece together the rest of the card.

At Wrestlemania 33 Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin got shifted to the pre-show, where initially they weren't- Again it's one of those deals where we try to look at things with fresh eyes. So you might think this is what we're doing, but as you get closer to the show, you start thinking what if we did it this way. That's one of the fun parts of the job. You might wake up one morning and think you have everything set, but then someone comes in and says "What about this?". And its a better idea, so then you have to change things and shuffle everything around. Usually the day of Wrestlemania we're pretty much set. The production meeting of Wrestlemania takes place on the Friday before the show and that's really the last moment where everybody is in the room together, looking at how the show lays out and giving their thoughts on the order and any other outstanding issues that might pop up. That's where stuff can change. Usually, on game day, things are pretty much set, unless when guys are talking through their match they realize they need more time, that can change things. but for the most part, everything is decided by the time we get to Wrestlemania Sunday!

Then again, you never know what could happen or if Vince will change his mind. The famous story would be Taker versus Brock. Vince went back and forth in his mind a bunch of times about whether or not to end Undertakers Wrestlemania undefeated streak. Vince went back and forth, back and forth until eventually, he decided to have Brock go over, and he didn't decide that until the day of Mania. But that's a once-in-a-lifetime choice. Winners and losers for everything else - that's already decided before we even travel to the show. At that point, we're already looking past Wrestlemania and starting to think what comes next.

- Finishes the chapter by saying that Raw after Mania has almost as high expectations as Mania itself. Says that it has come to the point, that when he sends the final script to mania, he is already working on Raws script. They have an inside joke that "when Wrestlemania ends to the time of the production meeting for Raw next night is the off-season".


I have conflicted feeling about this. Very interesting stuff, but seems so dumb? So limited how they decide to do this..

What are your thoughts?

 

[JamiK]

Back after the short break, next chapter is about A....J... STYLEEESSS!!!

CHAPTER 14 - They Don't Want None
November 19, 2017: Survivor Series

- The chapter starts with a mention that the one thing in common with the best matches of 2017, is that they all feature AJ Styles. He is called "The Best in The World" by WWE Universe and fellow Superstars for a reason.

- But when he left New Japan Pro Wrestling and was negotiating with WWE, he had serious doubts that the deal was taking place. He had tried to jump years earlier but WWE didn't sign him.

It was timing. Timing is everything. It wasn't about me coming, it was about whether or not WWE wanted me. At the time, I knew Shinsuke Nakamura was leaving. He didn't know I knew, but I knew and I thought " Wow, this is going to be a big blow to New Japan. So I thought let me see what I can do to take steps in the right direction, maybe in America. Not necessarily WWE, because I tried to coordinate with them before, but they didnt have any interest.

What happened this time, though is there were a lot of guys hurt. A lot of big stars in WWE were injured at the time and they needed someone who could come in and fill the mid-card maybe the upper mid-card. I think that's what they had in mind when I came over. That's why they even wanted me in the first place because I was a guy who could step right into the mid-card. I don't think they knew what I was capable of, or maybe they did, but they knew Vince McMahon wasn't excited about the guy he saw in the ring, at least, for a moment. Things changed pretty quickly, though, and WWE put a lot of faith in me and things worked out the way they should. It was all about timing

- Next, the book talks about his debut at Royal Rumble. AJ says he was very nervous about the crowd and the reaction. He also mentions that WWE is its own bubble and once you're in, WWE is everything. Says that Vince is in this bubble and he has no time for anything else, his only concern is what he is doing, and how to do it better.

Says that Vince didn't actually even know who AJ was, says that he knew Road Dogg was one of the guys who recognized his talents and spread the word.

Also, AJ says that the pop he got was the greatest moment in his career.

- But still, it took few more months after the debut, before Vince warmed up to him.

There was a point where Vince said: " I've seen you as the babyface, but I need you to be a bulldog". He wanted to see a pit bull, those were his words. I was like I can be that guy. I know that guy. That's who I was when I wrestled in high school and college, I just went and hurt everybody. That's the way I wrestled, that's the way I played football. I didn't tackle guys to tackle them: I hit them so they didn't want to play anymore. And wrestling was the say way. I was trying to win the match before we even stepped on the mat.M y opponents were so terrified that I was going to hurt them. Of course, I would keep it within the legal boundaries of what we were doing, but it was going to be rough. So I knew who Vince wanted because that's who I was anyway. When I showed that aggression, that's when it changed everything for Vince. He was like whoa, and for a guy my size, I know I have to be able to show something else, and I showed him I that aggressive side to me

- Aj says that he and Shane both knew that they had a good story. He was happy with the match, he felt that it showed another side of Shane to WWE Universe.

- Says that most of his success has come because he does care about wins or losses. "You've already won because you are at Wrestlemania". For him its all about the "WOW" factor.

Here is a good quote from AJ about something that a lot of guys get wrong about WWE and other orgs.

When you are with a different company, you think you're competing with them, and I know from experience. You think we're getting closer, or momentum is heading our way, but then you look at the company from a worldwide perspective, and not just Wrestlemania, but WWE is so much bigger than anyone can imagine. There was a time when I was working with TNA, and they made all their money from another country, I think it may have been India. Now you think about how many countries WWE is in, and it just ridiculous. So its much bigger than I ever could've imagined on every level. Nothing even comes close to WWE, and you may not even know this until you come here and you see it for yourself. You realize how much you're recognized now being in WWE as opposed to being that TNA guy or even a guy from New Japan. When I used to come home through immigration, people would ask what were you doing overseas, and I'd say I was a wrestler and they'd always say "Oh, like WWE?". And I'd be like "Yeah, like WWE". Everything is referenced to WWE.

- Talks about how big Mania is and how crazy it was wrestling Jericho. He couldn't hear the crowd to the ring because the sound went straight up.

- Talks about the match with Finn. Says shyt happens and you have to be prepared to go if you are called. Says that they texted briefly with Finn, but they called it in the ring.

- The book mentions that his match with Brock was amazing, and led to Heyman saying that AJ "He's everything that Shawn Michales and Bret Hart and Ric Flair were to their generations and he's updated it"

- Post- Lesnar Styles says that he wants to face Shinsuke at Mania. He'd like to be champ and tell everybody that he wants the match to happen on United States not in Japan this time.

this is actually a sad quote in hindsight.

We had three or four days to build up Finn Balor and AJ Styles, which is nothing in terms of building up a match - and the crowd went nuts for the match. So what would they do if we had me defend the title at Wrestlemania against Shinsuke and we had weeks, even months to build it. It would be incredible

- The chapter ends with AJ saying that his dream match in WWE is Shawn Michaels.

I bought up Shawn Michaels as my dream opponent. I asked "Has anybody talked to Shawn lately? Can we ask him? Worst he could say is no". The call was made but he did say no.

When I talked to Shawn about the match, he made a lot of good points. First of all, he had retired. That's a great thing when a man keeps his words to stay retired, I appreciate that. Secondly, who would benefit if Shawn came back? If I beat him, or he beats me, who would that benefit? Why not go out on top as Shawn Michaels did? He had one of the greatest matches of all time against Taker, and what a way to retire. That's the way to go. I have nothing but respect for Shawn, and I appreciate him even talking to me to say no.

Decent chapter. Next one is about Matt Hardy and the effort it took to take Broken from TNA to WWE

 

[Vic Damone. Jr]

The Usos/New Day chapter

 

[Mike the Executioner]

This is a really good book. It gives you more insight into how the WWE operates and how the wrestlers react to it.

That chapter with the creative team confirms pretty much everything we've said here. The company's creative direction will never change as long as Vince is around.

 

[JamiK]

Chapter 15 - Imminent Deletion
December 4, 2017

- The chapter opens with the writer calling Matt Hardy the master of reinvention: From Hardy Boyz to V1 to Broken. He also says that "Delete or Decay" and "Total Nonstop Deletion" attracted millions of viewers and ignited one of the most viral movements the sport has ever seen.

- But when Matt and Jeff's TNA contracts expired in 2017, the Boyz shocked WWE Universe with a surprise return at Mania 33. Not as Broken and Nero but as Hardy Boyz.

When my brother Jeff and I were at TNA, I started doing something that was very different. A character that is much larger than life, almost supernatural. It is a throwback to the older days when wrestling had more character-driven personas. A new company bought the company we were working for, and they were going through a lot of changes, and they were downsizing, and we had been offered pretty good deals to stay, but there were other guys who were in the mix and we heard they were trying to undercut them in terms of money. We knew there was an opportunity to return home to WWE.

- Triple H made the first call to Matt and put them in touch with Vince and Michael Hayes to work out the details of their return. Together they decided to try to create a diversion so WWE Universe couldn't predict the timetable of their return.

During the whole month of March, I and my brother went another promotion, Ring of Honor, and became their tag team champions and we were involved in a really hot rivalry there with a tag team called The Young Bucks. We thought and Triple H agreed with us, that wrestling in Ring Of Honor would be a good way to create a diversion or create a smoke screen so people would be surprised when we showed up at Mania. We told people that we were committed to Ring of Honor and in all of our interviews, we were stringing people along that we were going to stay with Ring of Honor for a certain amount of time. The only thing that maybe gave it away to some of the diehard fans is that we dropped the titles in a Ladder Match the night before.

We showed up that next day at Wrestlemania, getting there the segment before our match started, and we snuck into the building and into Gorilla, wearing hoodies and everything so nobody would see us, and, literally the first time being in front of the masses, that sea of humanity was when we made our entrance to go out to the ring.

- Matt says that he was proud that while they were "Hardy Boyz" the crowd still chanted DELETE! and BROTHER NERO!.

- Says that the popularity is because of social media. It did not because popular because of TNA which according to Matt is "in a grand scheme of things a small company and very small platform"

Okay, so here we get into the good stuff.

That year that we did it in TNA, my brother and I paid for so many of the shoots that happened on our property and there were so many things that we created. It was our brainchild. Literally, they had one guy, Jeremy Borash who would come out and say we need twenty minutes for the show and then we'd determine whatever the content was going to be.

It eventually got to the point, where the person who was trying to block us from taking the Broken Universe to WWE was fired from the company and I spoke with the owner Ed Nordholm and we worked out all the terms and it's all good. Ironically it was right after we started doing Woken Matt Hardy in WWE that I got the rights back, but now it's going to be very cool because I can continue to incorporate elements from the Broken Universe into the new Woken Universe. The thing that is amazing about Broken Matt Hardy or Woken Matt Hardy is that there is no barometer, there are no boundaries. We can go anywhere and get away with anything. It's just fun.

At its core, sports-entertainment and wrestling is supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be an escape from reality, and nothing is more fun than Woken Matt Hardy

When you're with WWE, obviously Vince is going to have the final say on everything. It's been great, because even when I spoke to him and explained the backstory of Broken Matt Hardy character - what his motivations were, what made him what he is - Vince was very open to saying "Okay, well, let's work together on this thing". Even when I speak on RAW, they'll give me a framework, then I'll add words or phrases that I want in there. Vince still has the final say, but I get a ton of input, more than other people get.

I have my fingers crossed and hope everything works out because all of those characters - Queen Rebecca, King Maxwell, and Senor Benjamin - should have been monetized, but TNA didn't have resources to capitalize on any of it. In WWE, we could just do vignettes and different shots from my home, and those characters can exist in the Hardy Compound and there would be a ton of merchandising and toys you can sell. There are monetized characters with a loyal following, so I believe WWE is looking to take advantage of that and incorporate them into upcoming storylines

WTF MATT??? I went into this chapter excited but Matt.. what the hell? And this next quote...

The most interesting thing I tried to do was play to the narrative of the internet and I think that why it became so popular. Vince McMahon made sports-entertainment what it is today, and anyone who is involved in it has to appreciate that and owes him a debt for what he has accomplished, but the internet acts like he's a megalomaniac who gets talent from another territory and immediately tries to bury it. They think he's out of control, so I just played up that narrative. Same thing with Triple H, who has been absolutely incredible to work with since I've come back. Getting our piano music with a little trance-vibe to it., he hooked that up. He's been absolutely phenomenal. But online, the narrative is how he brings talent in only to beat them and embarrass them and how he always needs to stay strong. So I just played off those narratives. That made it very easy and it became a fun thing, especially for those diehard fans. It was cathartic getting to share their jokes on television. At some point, I spoke to Hunter about it and he giggled (WTF??) a little bit, so there are more things I have in mind along those lines that I want to bring out

- He ends the chapter by talking how Woken/Broken really is just a way to make more money... no its just a way to add longevity to his career. He says that it has made it so people are looking for more entertaining promos than him being pushed out of huge ladders and going through tables. He says that he can still do it, but it just takes more time to bounce back.

Well... that was something.

Next chapter is about Bayley and Womens Royal Rumble and the last chapter of the "2017" portion of the book. 2018 deals more with injuries piling up and the question of "Can Bryan be used"

 

[julesocean]

The part on Creative really shows that they operate exactly how all the internet marks (us) think they do, lmao.