10 Surprising Things We Learned From 'WWE 365: Kevin Owens'
It's A Knockout
The recent shift towards reality-laden WWE Network original programming has afforded subscribers a feast of stolen moments between Superstars and Officials far more engaging than the micromanaged monologues they deliver with increasingly dull familiarity week on week.
It's reached a point where viewers know the inside decor of the Gorilla Position almost as well as the talent that march through it on the way to the ring. Triple H's meme-worthy photos with new Champions are as popular as they are with his followers as much because it's gotten easier to visualise their close quarters. Such insight into a backstage prep area pre-2014ish was virtually impossible.
Ironically, its these moments that are always the highlights of the productions. Vince McMahon forcibly removing cameras from his office as he embraced Kurt Angle for the first time in a decade was the most honest the Chairman had looked on camera in years, only topped by his brutal appearance mid-way through this feature.
The profiled superstars themselves reveal so much more in their talking heads and corridor gabfests than they ever do trying to play characters that are supposedly just 'themselves turned up to 11'. It would be genuinely problematic if WWE weren't so secure in their position regardless of the talent on show.
'365' will hopefully feature performers just as engaging as Kevin Owens in future editions, but it's hard to fathom an other episode being so revelatory in such unexpected ways.
10. Unreliable Narrator
A note first on Michael Rapaport, and celebrity narrators working with the company in general following the equally odd decision to cast William Shatner in the role for the excellent 2015 Network project Breaking Ground.
The podcast host, director and actor may have had an arresting impact on Phoebe Buffay during his four-episode run as her love interest on Friends, but he needs locking up for a distracting and over-egged performance linking together the key times and dates on this documentary.
In truth, the production needed no such fluff.
Unusually for WWE, the concept was crystal clear and the execution was largely flawless - '365' would track every day in the full year of Kevin Owens separated by SummerSlams 2016 and 2017. Phenomenal production anchored the piece as always, with all key times, places and dates accounted for along with absorbing footage of his antics on and off screen.
The one thing it didn't need was 1980s delivery of 1990s dialogue adding faux-pathos to a story loaded with heft on its own merit.
Rapaport's attachment to the vehicle perhaps added curiosity views and/or Network subscribers this one time, but his role hopefully won't be as required for future editions.