Takeaways & thoughts from a first time ‘WWE: Unreal’ watcher | Opinion
I can’t say I’m much of a reality TV guy these days despite it being such a big part of my formative years. Given there are channels upon channels dedicated to whatever form of reality these shows claim to live in, it’s hard to replicate what early seasons of The Real World or Survivor meant back then when we had such fewer options.
Having written all that, I did spend a portion of last Tuesday and Wednesday watching the second season of WWE: Unreal on Netflix for this very website after never having watched more than social media clips of the first go-round. I heard all the criticisms and comments about that first season, but did my best to go into these five episodes with an open mind.
So having written all that, here were my thoughts. I welcome yours.
Triple H really knows everything, huh?
It’s incredible Paul Levesque just happens to make the right suggestion at the right time when the camera just happens to be rolling and focused on him, and everyone agrees with him (see the multi-cut conversation he had with John Cena regarding R-Truth’s surprise Money in the Bank return and his on the fly idea that Cena immediately went with).
I’m being sarcastic, but c’mon. When does he admit he doesn’t have the answers or screws up? He’s a human being in a creative position. No one bats 1.000. Let’s see that process.
There’s not enough actual conflict.
I understand WWE has a heavy hand in production and doesn’t want to show the warts, but there is nowhere close to enough conflict on Unreal. The closest we got was the LA Knight/Seth Rollins deal from MITB where they didn’t go with the planned ending sequence. While they showed Levesque explaining to Knight why the original plan would have been better, that was it. Did Rollins get talked to as well? If not, why not? What happened? They never bothered showing the why for the what.
A close second was Lyra Valkyria admitting all her blunders in her WrestleMania match with Becky Lynch, complete with her in tears afterward. I thought this was pretty good and came off as honest and not an angle for the show. But, it took until the fifth episode to get to this point.
A few other nominees: the admission that the Cena/Cody Rhodes WrestleMania match didn’t work, and Brian James pushing for Truth (via a Truth request) to shave his head before returning and throwing a minor tantrum when being questioned about it. As I wrote earlier, I’d love to see a segment when Levesque second guesses himself. No one is perfect. Show that.
Everyone seems so damn happy all the time.
Conflict creates interest beyond anything else in reality shows, but Unreal didn’t really have a lot. One reason: everyone comes off as incredibly happy all the time. Everyone loves each other, everything is fine, everything is awesome, no one can do anything wrong, etc. I thought wrestling was supposed to be about backstabbing, jealousy and backstage politics? If Unreal season three featured a daily locker room daily kumbaya session, I wouldn’t be shocked.
And for the whatabouters, I didn’t like the short-lived AEW reality show either and I don’t think I was the only one.
Triple H swears a lot, huh?
I never know if people overcompensate in situations like this, but Levesque drops the f-bomb quite a bit. It reminded me of Cena’s Joe Rogan appearance as compared to his other media interviews leading into his last match. Is it legit or UNREAL?
Is Unreal helping WWE gain any new fans?
In terms of non-wrestling viewers, I’m sure there’s some but I feel like this is WWE fan catnip and for some general wrestling fans as shoulder programming. It also felt like this season was quieter on social media from those who love WWE those who love to hate it.
The idea was to replicate the F1 Need for Speed phenomenon, but this doesn’t feel like it’s succeeding in the same way. It’s a different world, but with some conflict (Khanflict?), could this get some attention like Total Divas used to on E?
Did you know WWE is about moments and telling stories?
If you watched Unreal and didn’t feel like that was drilled in your head, you were looking at your phone too long.
The Penta focus was great.
In a year, WWE did more to make Penta feel like a huge deal than AEW did during his entire run. I know, I know: he’s not having MOTY quality stuff in his new home, but does he need to at this point? This is what a show like Unreal can do and they nailed it here.
We don’t appreciate how big of a production WWE is.
We are completely desensitized to just how much time and effort and manpower it takes to put on WWE events from all angles. It’s more like a theatrical touring group or major rock event vs. a rasslin’ show, and Unreal reminded me of that.
Also, I think I would feel claustrophobic if I was working in the gorilla position and there were that many people hanging out there all the time. Maybe make a ‘chimpanzee’ overflow area or something (dad joke quota met).
Is anything organic?
I’m not sure if this was the case in season one, but I didn’t realize there was that much communication from the back to the referee to the wrestlers. Sure, I assume there’s some as needed but the way Unreal portrayed it, it comes off as every…single…thing is called. Is anything organic allowed in WWE? That mindset would be interesting for them to delve into. These are trained pros so why not let them work like it?
I have John Cena thoughts…
…but I’ll save them for the next drop of episodes this summer where I’m sure all truths will be told, especially about The Rock, Levesque, Travis Scott and WrestleMania.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.