Backstage Reaction To WWE Unreal Showing Original WrestleMania 41 Plans (WWE News)
Plans do in fact change.
WWE Unreal - an upcoming Netflix documentary that aims to allow fans a glimpse into the creative process - is already generating buzz.
In the brief teaser trailer, fans zoomed in and captured a scene in which a tentative, draft WrestleMania 41 line-up written on a whiteboard was visible in the shot. This seemed to corroborate various reports of rumoured matches that never came to pass - including (but not limited to) a Wyatt Sicks Vs. the Judgment Day match ultimately thwarted by injury.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select has now lifted the lid on the backstage reaction to the teaser, writing the following:
"There were some talent that approached Fightful and said that they had heard rumors of their matches that came to fruition, but weren’t ever approached with them. There were multiple wrestlers listed on the whiteboard who tell Fightful that they found out they were once planned for a WrestleMania match from the trailer."
Opinion - Risky Business?
There is zero percent risk that the WWE Unreal documentary will affect the fans' ability to suspend their disbelief. It is 2025. The toothpaste is out of the tube, and if it takes 500 years to biodegrade, we're over a fifth of the way there.
There is a chance, however, that WWE's bid to put itself over as a well-oiled storytelling machine might have a detrimental effect on talent morale. It might be difficult to placate talent, as all promoters do, if the established hierarchy of talent is literally written down on a TV screen for the entire world to see. It could prove to be demoralising, watching their name get literally erased because it isn't important enough.
Conversely, in an industry in which you must get yourself over, it might prove useful as a motivational tool. If a talent sees how close they are to getting to 'Mania, a certain defiance might drive them towards making an impact on next year's show.