\n<\/p>\n
\n\tFor non-fans, professional wrestling is a strange beast. Now imagine tasking one as the first to capture the chaos, confusion and total lack of kayfabe backstage. That\u2019s the situation Chris Weaver \u2014 an NFL Films director used to filming, well, the NFL \u2014 stepped into for Netflix\u2019s WWE: Unreal<\/em>. His first chore? Learning the meaning of the word \u201ckayfabe.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tkay\u00b7fabe \n\tLesson two was understanding how Paul Leveque, Triple H, Trips, HHH, H (and yes, \u201cHunter Hearst Helmsley\u201d) is all one dude. Just wait \u2018til Weaver finds out about blading\u2026<\/p>\n \n\tAll five episodes of the very<\/em> all-access WWE: Unreal<\/em>, which charts January\u2019s 2025 Royal Rumble through April\u2019s WrestleMania 41, are now available to obsessively binge stream on Netflix.<\/p>\n \n\tRead our Q&A with Weaver below.<\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tAs a wrestling fan who already knows too much about the inner-workings, I didn\u2019t want this show to happen \u2014 but it turned out really good and I got more out of it than I thought I would.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThank you very, very much. I\u2019ve heard a lot of people \u2014 both in the industry and in the wrestling world \u2014 say \u2014 not that they\u2019ve seen the show \u2014 that they don\u2019t like the premise and the idea, but they\u2019re really interested. Yeah, and I\u2019m gonna bounce a little praise back to you, Tony, which is, since the trailer came out \u2014 I don\u2019t do a ton of reading and reacting to, or see what the reactions are \u2014 but you win for the best trailer headline, the CM Punk thing.<\/p>\n \n\tI learned some things \u2014 I didn\u2019t know that (recent WWE Superstars) Bobby Roode and Jason Jordan were now producing matches, for example.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThat was something that we were highly interested in explaining to the world, for that reason. We don\u2019t know how much people know the business is run by, you know, wrestlers, so to speak. I think every single producer is a former wrestler.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t(Center rear) Paul \u201cTriple H\u201d Levesque in WWE: Unreal. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWWE\/Courtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n \n\tAnother surprise for me was just how professionally everybody \u2014 down to the writers \u2014 dressed. Was that striking for you as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYes, is the short answer. I noticed it right away. It\u2019s something that we\u2014 if this show were to continue, I want to [get into] that at some point, because it is striking. I noticed it right away. I have my opinions on why that might be, I don\u2019t really know. And I\u2019ve asked about that, like, \u201cDo you guys dress like this all the time?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThese are long days when you go to \u2014 they call them \u201cTV\u201d \u2014 when you go to TV, when you go to these events, for us, it\u2019s about a 14 hour day. It is for a lot of them as well. And I was like, \u201cYou guys wear this everyday, even on a 14 hour day?\u201d We\u2019re pretty dressed down \u2014 NFL Films [is] very informal. I wear collared shirts, but that\u2019s about the extent of how dressed up I would really get. <\/p>\n \n\tBut I do find it interesting. I\u2019ve never asked\u2014 I\u2019ve only asked a couple people that, I shouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ve never asked. But the people I\u2019ve asked have their own speculations. It\u2019s never been like\u2014 it\u2019s not like a dress code, that\u2019s my understanding. At least it\u2019s not like you\u2019re required to wear that. I think some of that might just be Vince [McMahon] did that. Vince might have had more of an edict on that \u2014 I\u2019m not sure. Like you, I agree, it struck me when I first saw it.<\/p>\n \n\tWas the genesis of WWE: Unreal<\/em> sort of a Netflix demand as a companion program to Raw<\/em>? Was this sort of unprecedented access a caveat to that $5 billion deal?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYou know, we did Quarterback<\/em> and Receiver<\/em>, another season of Quarterback<\/em> with Netflix. So we already have an understanding of\u2026their sort of expectations and their\u2014 what they expect in a follow series like this, because of history. Now, and I don\u2019t want to go into Quarterback<\/em>, except to say that I was heavily involved in that first season as well, and that was more of a journey of exploration. And I remember we\u2014 I watched [shows like Full Swing<\/em> and Formula 1: Drive to Survive<\/em>] when we were starting Quarterback<\/em>, to just see how it was approached, and what the commonalities were\u2026we learned more on those shows how to get to where we are in WWE: Unreal<\/em>, but this is a different beast. So there were similarities and there were differences, but generally we had an understanding of what Netflix wanted.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tJohn Cena in WWE: Unreal. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWWE\/Courtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n \n\tYou had very good access here, but we don\u2019t see some places, like the locker room, which is considered sacred in wrestling. Where couldn\u2019t you film?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s always my one of my fears is, I hope people don\u2019t watch this and go, \u201cWell, there\u2019s not that much access\u201d \u2014 so I love hearing you say that. When we started the process and we had our very first meetings (with WWE), we\u2019re like, \u201cListen, we\u2019ve seen a lot of stuff in our history here, and you gotta trust us. Let us just film it. You won\u2019t regret\u2026\u201d\u2014 you\u2019re basically asking them for trust. And they said, \u201cYep, we\u2019re gonna let you.\u201d And they did. I think the only thing I can think of\u2014 I don\u2019t remember ever being told \u201cno\u201d to something. There may have been suggestions, like, \u201c Man, you don\u2019t really want to do that,\u201d or something. But we never got a hard \u201cno\u201d from WWE. <\/p>\n \n\tI will say, the first event we scouted\u2014 we scouted an event here in Philly, early on before we started actually filming. It was a Raw<\/em> or SmackDown<\/em>, I can\u2019t remember honestly in November. We went to kind of get the lay of the land, and somebody had kind of said, \u201cListen, that\u2019s the locker room. Don\u2019t go in the locker room unless a wrestler tells you to come in the locker room. So that was sort of the only place I can remember. And again, it wasn\u2019t, \u201cDon\u2019t go in there, but it was like, you\u2019d be wise to be careful, because you don\u2019t want to turn off somebody in there.\u201d That\u2019s the only thing I can think of.<\/p>\n \n\tDid you feel like an WWE talent or executives ramped it up for your benefit, or did you get the sense that their behavior was exactly what it would have been had your cameras not been there?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI mean, generally the latter. You can never really know how genuine anybody is \u2014 not just in wrestling \u2014 but how genuine anyone is when you put a camera in front of them, right? And what I would say is, the entire thing could have been \u201cfake,\u201d so to speak, or have been staged, or kayfabed, however you want to frame it. But if it is, they did such an exceptional job, I can live with it, so to speak. You know, CM Punk\u2026crying after the WrestleMania (41), main event\u2014 I think that\u2019s Phil Brooks having an emotional moment when he\u2019s talking to me. Can somebody argue that he\u2019s, you know, performing and turning it up a notch for the cameras? Yeah, you could say that, but I didn\u2019t feel that, and I don\u2019t know that. <\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s a good question, and I\u2019ve actually thought about this quite a bit going into the project, throughout the project, now that we\u2019ve sort of wrapped it up. But the answer is, I don\u2019t know how genuine anyone is at any given moment. Certainly when you add cameras, and [WWE Superstars are] excellent performers, and I\u2019ll add this: it\u2019s not really your question, but the interviews I got to do on this project\u2014 everybody kind of said, \u201cYou\u2019re going to get good interviews, because these people are performers\u2026\u201d But it far-exceeded what I ever anticipated. I\u2019ve done hundreds of interviews for NFL Films over the years, and I can tell you, the Michael Hayes interview is \u2014 it blows away \u2014 it\u2019s my favorite interview I\u2019ve ever done. <\/p>\n \n\tSo that\u2019s a longwinded way of saying, I don\u2019t know, but my impression was we\u2019re getting the authentic side of these people. Listen, there\u2019s a lot of cameras around. They\u2019re shooting \u2014 you know, WWE has different groups shooting \u2014 we\u2019re shooting. There\u2019s the network cameras for the broadcast. And [the wrestlers] would often say, \u201cAm I supposed to be in character?\u201d [And we were like], \u201cNo, this is NFL Films for the Netflix show.\u201d And they go, \u201cGot it.\u201d And so a lot of them would ask and want to be sure, and that was another indicator to me that we\u2019re seeing Phil Brooks or, you know, whatever their real names are in each case, but I think we got the most authentic side of a lot of these people.<\/p>\n \n\tWere all of your sit down interviews after WrestleMania (41)?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI don\u2019t think I want to detail too much about that. Short answer is no. Frankly, I\u2019d have to think about it. I don\u2019t know the exact schedule, and I\u2019m not sure that any of them were after [WrestleMania].<\/p>\n \n\tWe see in your show that Triple H said Tiffany Stratton has to apologize to Charlotte Flair after cutting a harsh promo about her divorce from Andrade. We don\u2019t see her apologizing, but they seem to have reconciled by WrestleMania. Did Tiffany apologize to Charlotte?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI don\u2019t. I don\u2019t know if that happened. It\u2019s not something we captured if it did. And again, you know, that could have been a locker room [conversation], frankly, but the short answer is, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t(L to R) Jey Uso and Paul \u201cTriple H\u201d Levesque in WWE: Unreal. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWWE\/Courtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n \n\tA few wrestlers get really bloody over the course of the five episodes. Some definitely look like the hard way (a legitimate cut that happens when fighting), but did you ever get into conversation about blading (purposefully slicing one\u2019s own skin mid-match with a razor blade)?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNo, never did. It\u2019s the kind of thing that I didn\u2019t even know about. But, you know, again, Eric Powers, my [showrunner], sort of explained a lot of that to me. And like some of the verbiage they\u2019ve used, I guess, historically. But no, it never came up. I\u2019m trying to think of, what was it? K.O. and Cody\u2019s (Royal Rumble) match?<\/p>\n \n\tAnd I\u2019d hate to be an authority on that, but my memory is \u2014 or what I understand of that, that was authentic and real. I think there was enough evidence that we thought it was real, and so we didn\u2019t feel the need to ask about it.<\/p>\n \n\tWhy did Cena decline to answer your pretty basic question about the heel turn after<\/em> it happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYeah, the heel turn \u2014 it occurred \u2014 and he didn\u2019t want to do any detailing, because the story isn\u2019t over yet when the show comes out, right? That was sort of the way I took it, and he might have messaged it to us even off camera, was the story\u2019s not over. So he didn\u2019t want to dive too far into it?<\/p>\n \n\tWas he more protective of the business than others you interviewed? Like, CM Punk, for example?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYes.<\/p>\n \n\tDid any wrestlers that you wanted decline to participate?<\/strong> How did you pick your roster?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI would say no. Once we started understanding where their (story) arcs were headed, we sent them what we thought would work well, and I don\u2019t think anybody turned us down. It was up to WWE Talent Relations to help us get the time with the talent, but nobody said no. When we had this meeting back in October to sort of decide if we were gonna produce [the show], Hunter said, \u201cThere\u2019s going to be some old heads that might not want to deal with you guys, and might even be turned off, and might even kind of push you away.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tAnd so I went in very unsure about how we would be received. And I was pleasantly, I think, surprised is the word, that everybody we worked with \u2014 from the top to the performers to the executives, to the crew on the ground, the day-to-day people \u2014 everybody was extremely warm and welcoming. Everybody we asked for ended up in the show.<\/p>\n \n\tThis interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For non-fans, professional wrestling is a strange beast. Now imagine tasking one as the first to capture the chaos, confusion and total lack of kayfabe backstage. That\u2019s the situation Chris Weaver \u2014 an NFL Films director used to filming, well, the NFL \u2014 stepped into for Netflix\u2019s WWE: Unreal. His first chore? Learning the meaning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[2107,779,1816,4382,6583,5744],"class_list":{"0":"post-12894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-director","9":"tag-job","10":"tag-learned","11":"tag-pro","12":"tag-unreal","13":"tag-wrestling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\/\u02c8k\u0101\u02ccf\u0101b\/
noun<\/em>
(in professional wrestling) the fact or convention of presenting\u00a0staged\u00a0performances as genuine or authentic.
\u201ca masterful job of blending kayfabe and reality\u201d<\/p>\n