Complete Backstage Reaction To 'WWE Unreal' Revealed (WWE News)
Not everyone behind the scenes at WWE knew Netflix were filming for a documentary.
Fightful Select is reporting on the backstage reaction in WWE to new Netflix series Unreal. Rather incredibly, not everybody within the company knew exactly what cameras were filming for - one source "that appeared on the documentary but wasn’t a featured performer" even said that they didn't even realise the company was shooting for Netflix at all.
Further, WWE didn't give talent a list of things they weren't allowed to say before cams started popping up behind the curtain, but there were guidelines on general language here or there without going into real specifics. Some who did know about Unreal beforehand expressed concerns that it'd be "a worked shoot" kind of deal due to footage of YouTuber IShowSpeed appearing as a last-minute entrant in 2025's Royal Rumble.
Some major moments were revealed as true surprises for WWE's production staff too. For example, not many knew going into the event that CM Punk would be returning at Survivor Series 2023, and the promotion kept things close to the vest when it came to John Cena's massive heel turn at Elimination Chamber this past March too.
A few WWE workers also expressed interest in what reaction to Unreal would be from the overall fanbase; some WWE wrestlers don't tend to watch programming back "because they’ve already lived it", but even those folks decided to give the documentary series a watch to see how it turned out in the end.
Select Moments Were "Manufactured"
It's worth saying that a few specific moments from Unreal were "manufactured", or at least lightly guided. Fightful revealed that a locker room celebration for Charlotte Flair post Rumble win was one such occasion. The women's roster "weren’t told it was specifically for the Netflix show, but were just asked to. They were not forced to do it".
According to reports, Flair herself knew that this was going to be happening ahead of time.
There was a lot of talk amongst sources that the controversial segment involving Charlotte and Tiffany Stratton from the 4 April episode of SmackDown was manufactured for the Netflix show, but Fightful was clear when saying those were only rumours.
However, WWE workers are still heavily scripted when cutting promos on television, so it wouldn't be too shocking if Triple H was steaming mad about anybody going off-script - especially when making remarks about a peer's personal life.
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