10 Shocking Backstage Incidents Involving WWE's Creative Team

2. Marks

You can't win sometimes in life. WWE's writers want to appear appreciative of pro wrestling, but at the same time they don't want to come across as fanboy types. WWE hates the perceived 'nerdy' types who obsess over wrestling history and get caught up in the pantomime of their production. Stephanie McMahon in particular has been known to reprimand "mark" behaviour. One former creative writer, Dr Ranjan Chhibber, has revealed in interviews that he was one of those punished for acting like a mark. His crime? He'd complimented John Laurinaitis on his work as Johnny Ace in All Japan during the late 80's and 90's. That was enough for Stephanie to get mad at Chhibber for being a mark, she admonished the writer for not being a professional. The irony was, Chhibber only made the comment because he'd previously received criticism for being too much of an outsider. He was initially considered too much of a writing industry guy and not enough of a wrestling industry guy. The one occasion he did express his appreciation for wrestling and Stephanie yelled at him. Court Bauer received similair treatment from Steph in 2005. Speaking to f4wonline's Bryan Alvarez, Bauer recounted that Stephanie chastised him for "acting like a mark" after using the term "blading" in a production meeting. She made the writer apologise to the locker room, describing it as a violation of wrestler code for a writer to use wrestler terms.