Lets read: Creating the MANIA (

[JamiK]

Okay bois, i've done this on some other forums and wanted to bring this here. Maybe you are interested, maybe not. Hopefully this sparks some conversation:

I recently purchased the very exciting WWE-branded book "Creating the Mania" and since it seems to be half kayfabe half shoot, I thought it would be a hoot to read it and post my thoughts/any "funny" tidbits chapter by chapter.

And when I say half kayfabe/half shoot this is how the author describes it (copied from an interview with The Wrestling Estate)

I remember really early on in the process talking to Jinder Mahal. He started answering a question and then he stopped. ‘Do you want me to talk in character or answer for real?’ I was like, I want the real answer. He was like, ‘alright. Forget what I just told you. Let me tell you the story behind what happened.’ Road Dogg was like, ‘am I going to get fired for saying this?’ (laughs)

The book centers on the 365 days between Wrestlemania 33 and 34.

Here is the official description:

Creating the Mania takes fans backstage with an all-access pass to the behind-the-scenes stories of WrestleMania 34, which became the Mercedes-Benz Superdome’s highest grossing entertainment event at $14.1 million and a sold-out crowd of 78,133 fans. Follow the yearlong life cycle of WWE’s biggest event, from how the storylines were developed to how the host city was selected, from the logistics and planning behind hosting over 70,000 members of the WWE Universe to the rivalries and matches playing out inside the ring, in a book that chronicles the events leading up to the “Showcase of the Immortals.

This journey includes exclusive interviews with top Superstars, including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Kevin Owens, The Miz, and “Phenomenal” A.J. Styles, breaking down their year leading up to ’Mania and the highs and lows that go along with being a WWE Superstar ― pushing their hardest, all with the same goal in mind… to main event WrestleMania.

”

It is written by Jon Robinson, who is described on Amazon as follows:

Jon Robinson is an award-winning author of seven books, including The Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever, NXT: The Future Is Now, and WWE: The Attitude Era. His work has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, IGN, and Sports Illustrated. He still takes pride in beating The Rock in Madden and giving the real Stone Cold a Stunner to take the 1-2-3 in a WWE video game. Jon lives in Millbrae, CA..

BUT HOLD ON!!!

Robinson has also penned/ghostwritten this fine book, which makes him a good brother!

So what I will do is, go through the 320-page book, chapter by chapter.

Each chapter (there are 35 chapters) will get one post where I summarise the topic (Each chapter focuses on different superstar and their journey) and post quotes of anything funny/controversial (Braun describes Roman as the best sports entertainer in the world) or interesting thing I come across.

Please note that I am a dumb a$$hole from Finland and my spelling might suck sometimes. I'll try my best.

Thank you.

There is a short introduction called The Origins of Mania, it will be coupled with the real first chapter of the book titled "Whose yard is it anyway?".

 

[JamiK]

Okay, friends and lovers... HERE WE GO!

Before our first chapter, we get a small introduction detailing the creation of Wrestlemania.

The basic timeline of Vince buying the company, taking over and creating the Mania. Vince is quoted few times, but nothing too crazy. Except for some strange reason he is using the word collusion few times.

Here's a quote... FOR YOUR ASS

Back in the '80s, there was this "Don't tread on me´" philosophy. Quite frankly, all the promoters were operating under a consent decree from the Justice Department because they had been colluding and continued to. Then I came along and bought my dad's business and decided I wanted to go national and, indeed international with it.

My dad didn't know that. Had he known that, he never would have sold me the northeast territory, which was his domain. All of these promoters were pretty tough guys. So when I began to compete with them, it was the first time they ever had competition. The idea was, you couldn't put your television show in someone else's territory. That was a no-no. Again, it was a collusion on the part of all those promoters.

Other tidbits.

- Vince says that he got the idea to Wrestlemania in the Bahamas during the "last vacation he has ever taken".

Sidenote!. I hate how this book uses the word WWE Universe EVERYTIME instead of fans. It sickens me.

Example. Vince is talking about the first Wrestlemania, and the problems figuring out how to show it to everyone.

Because who knew that the WWE Universe would pay their money to watch television in an arena

Okay back to the story.

It recounts the WWE and MTV connection, Cindy Lauper, The War to Settle the Score and all that jazz.

- Vince says that the word "sports entertainment" has roots with his father

So how are we going to present this to Madison Avenue? It cant be "pro wrestling". My dad was always more entertainment-oriented that most of the other promoters anyway. So hence, the "sports" in terms of athleticism and "entertainment" because that's what we do.

- Wrestlemania had at the moment of writing the brand value of 195 million, which according to Forbes is the sixth most valuable sporting event in the world.

Bobby Roode (a 20-year veteran of the ring) is also quoted here, talking about watching the very first Wrestlemania through an illegal feed. He also says that his dream and goal through his years in the business was always performing at Wrestlemania. :smugdog:

So far pretty basic stuff. Let's move to the first chapter called "WHOSE YARD IS IT ANYWAY?"

The opening to the chapter is pretty good. It asks "how does it feel to have 75,000 people boo your every move?

Doesn't matter to me; I have a thick skin"

- The writer actually has a funny line here, I'll quote it for your entertainment.

Reigns, a six-foot-three, 265-pound former football player and second-generation Superstar, is billed as the next Rock, even if the deafening - sometimes mixed but often negative - crowd reactions are increasingly in line with him being the next John Cena, the athlete who served as WWE's main attraction for over a decade, despite not necessarily gaining the adoration of the entire WWE Universe.

- Roman talks how once he gets in the ring, the size of the crowd shrinks to just three persons.

- A quick recap of him beating Undertaker in a "no-holds-barred slugfest". Roman says that he was sad that he was the one who had to retire Taker, but he was also happy that he was trusted with the responsibility.

This should be the most exciting thing I've ever done, this should be amazing but at the same time, my heart felt so heavy because I've never cared for an opponent more than I did at that moment. I could see almost his whole career in his eyes, the weight that was on him every day of being the Undertaker, Having the streak, being around and setting that bar - that's stressful.

- Roman talks about Taker is a true legend, one of a kind "Superstar" and calls his time in the ring with Taker a learning experience. He talks about how he likes to pick up small details and learn a thing from every opponent.

- The book mentions that while he was battling Taker, Reigns already knew that he was on his way to retire another legend of the WWE. Brock Lesnar... Yeah, they referred to him as a legend.

- Roman talks about the responsibility and stress of main eventing and retiring legends at Wrestlemania.

- Okay, I don't really care about Roman but this next part was good. I'll quote the whole thing. It talks about what WrestleMania means to him.

There is no offseason, We go fifty-two weeks a year, and when it comes down to it, this is the biggest live event of the year, the biggest gathering of the people in sports-entertainment. What I am so passionate about is we get to bring our families. For one full week, they get to be involved, they get to see it, they get to experience the event by our side. That's the tough part about our business: we're away from home every single week of the year. I've been on tour now for eleven, twelve days straight. I'm coming off of hurricane Irma; my house was under water, and my wife is having to redo all kinds of stuff without me there.

- He mentions that he likes to go "program to program" and he is currently working to get back to the main event. First with John Cena, and a long program with Braun Strowman, who he is helping to get to the next level.

- He says that Brett Hart told him that his first match with Brock at Wrestlemania was an "instant classic". He also claims that while there were other huge moments, everybody went home talking about Roman vs Brock.

- Mentions that he likes the physical type of fights/brawls that you get with Brock, Strowman, Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe.

Lastly talks about the crowd reaction he is expecting at New Orleans

Hopefully really loud. I've said it plenty of times, that's the only thing that matters to me. Make that noise. You paid that money. I'm a grown man, I have a thick skin, so you are not going to hurt my feelings. If you are there, do whatever you want, make as much noise as you want. You can boo me, but I feel good enough about my abilities and I know I can change things up on you at any moment, so I don't sweat it. I will take you on a ride, you just have to be willing to get a little nuts.

Hell its New Orleans, hopefully by the time i get out there, they all be drunk

Yep yep. fukking Roman.

Next chapter is about Miz.

 

[JamiK]

Chapter 2 - You Can Hate Me Now

April 10, 2017 WWE RAW

- chapter starts with a quick mention on the importance of "RAW after Mania". It has became almost as anticipated as Mania itself.

Then it delves into the Superstar shakeup and how it was a complete suprise to all the "WWE Superstars.

Miz explains it here pretty good

What you saw on live TV, the reactions you saw from the Superstars who were changing shows, those were authentic reactions, because we had no idea.

Nobody tells me anything. When we switched, thats when we switched. It was frustrating because i thought that i did a really good job building myself up on Smackdown to the point where i thought i was in line for the WWE Championship.

Once you move to another show, you have to reinvent yourself because now there are new characters, new writers,
new everything. I feel like I'm the guy who always needs to prove himself over and over and over again, because no
matter how good i am, i will always have doubters and haters

And what people dont realize is switching from Smackdown to Raw is actually life changing.

Raw works from Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
Smackdown works Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. So that switches up your entire week by switching which days you are on the road .

It doesnt sound like a lot, like its just one days difference, but people have habits, they get used to do certain things on certain days, and when you have to change your whole schedule, you have to get used to everything all over again.

- it recaps the build to Cena & Nikki vs Maryse & Miz. He comments that at first he was not into it, the creative didnt really give them anything.

-Claims that they just started riffing with Maryse on the car and came up with the Total Bellas Bullshyt.

- They had complete control on the segments and basically improvised everything.

- Miz talks how much Mania means to him, and how important for him it to create moments that audience will remember for the rest of their life( gives example of stealing Bryans Yes kicks)

- Next it moves to Bryan/Miz feud and calls it a match that the "WWE Universe" cant wait to see. Miz says that he hopes it happens in Wrestlemania ( at this point Bryan is not cleared yet).

This next bit is super interesting. Miz talks about the Talking Smack moment. Its a pretty long quote but for me it has been the most interesting thing in the book so far.

I was the Intercontinental Champion and that day i was told that i wasnt going to be on the show. They were introducing the Smackdown Tag Team Champions, they were introducing the new Womens Champion and there wasnt any time on the show. Now this is coming from the guy who was just put on Smackdown and they dont have time for me?

I'm the Intercontinental Champion, this is the title i always wanted. You look at the WWE Championship, the Universal Championship, and those were great, but when i was a kid, my heroes had this title and they were known as the workhorses. Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, I'll even put Ultimate Warrior in there because he got a reaction from the crowd.

And now i have this prestigious, most honorable title that had been thrown down the toilet for the last ten years because its the secondary title. I want it to be the main title. I want it to be so you can have WWE Champion and the Intercontinental Champion square off and you have no idea who is going to win.

I went up to one of the producers and said "Put me on Talking Smack". He goes "Why?". And i tell him " Because I'm going to vent out all of my frustrations with everything that i have this moment, and I'm going to vent it out on the General Manager of Smackdown Daniel Bryan."

So i went up to Daniel and said "Hey, man, I dont know how this is going to go, but I'm really upset," and he actually gave me a couple of lines and told me maybe i could go here, here, here and here. I told him "if you want do anything, just go for It, I dont care"

I just wanted to make something captivating, something amazing. And when i went out there, I dont even remember anything, I just went blank. I dont remember anything i said. I was so angry and so mad and so frustrated and i just let it all go. Sometimes when you are angry you try to harness it and you say to yourself "Calm down, calm down". But in my head, I said "fukk it, I dont care" and i just started to ripping into everything.

I lost it. I literally lost it on Talking Smack. I even told Daniel, " If i say things that go too far, go ahead and hit me" i didnt know if he going to slap me but instead he got up and walked away. And, honestly him walking away was the biggest gift he couldve ever given to me.

He gave me the power, and thats something a lot of people will not do. Theyll stand up and get in your face so they dont look weak, but Daniels just so smart and just so good and were are such good foils to each other.

The chapter ends on Miz talking about not at this point wanting to know the plans for Mania 34. Says he has been burned before by injuries and creative changing things up on the last minute. Gives example on how he and Morrison spent months on developing a match and building it up. And then on the day of Mania they were told "Sorry, you are moved to the preshow"

Very good and interesting chapter. Miz is good with his words.

At this point i realised that the book is split in half. First part is 2017 and the plans for Mania and the second part is 2018 and what happens when the show gets closer. So at this point Daniel is not cleared, Ronda is not signed etc.

 

[JamiK]

Okay here we go (again).

Chapter 3!!!!!!

The Modern Day Maharaja ...... -.-

May 21, 2017 : WWE Backlash

- Chapter starts with Jinder telling us that he writes his goals down everyday. Heading into 2017 he wrote "Became a WWE champion". Meaning he hoped for Intercontinental or US Championship.

Heh heh, next he talks how he took the opportunity to get into the best possible shape. Eventually "Mahal's impressive new physique" caught the eye of Vince and when the opportunity to elevate heel in the Andre Giant BR arose, Mahal got the call

- Apparently the plan originally was for Braun to run roughshod through the competition, but when Gronkowski showed up, creative quickly changed plans.

fukkING GRONK!!!!

- Mahal sucks up to Gronk and says that he was very happy to work with him, eventhough Gronk shot on him and nearly knocked him out. Mentions that after the clip went viral, his IG following went up 50g followers.

- Talks about getting the news of winning the belt.

It was announced that there was a Six-Pack Challenge match to see who would be the number one contender. Its funny because i received a bunch of Tweets from people who were in shock that i was even in the match. On the Monday, we had a live event before the Six-Pack challenge and i was TAPING MY WRISTS, and i was talking to some of the other performers in the athletic room, and i was like "Who is Orton going to work it?, Its Baron?" And they were like "Corbin's not even in the match, he's going to be working with you!". I was like "What?" Then i see Randy walk into the training room twenty minutes later, and he tells me "Hey, I hear were going to be working together".

So i thought it was just on-shot PPV deal. I didnt get any indication that i was going to be winning the WWE Championship until the actual day of Backlash. I had no idea. Once i got to the arena, and they told me the plan, but like everything in WWE, I knew plans could change. So when i was walking backstage, i kept expecting someone to tell me things have changed.

- Mentions that after winning, it was nice seeing Drew waiting in the Gorilla.

- Says that he felt that he was too immature at the time of 3MB, and takes full responsibility of getting released. He believes that Vince saw all the work and the hunger he has and rewarded him with the Belt. Admits that they needed someone to work with Orton and he was in the right right place at the right time.

- Tells that fukking JBL came to him and said "the same thing happened to me. They needed someone to work with Eddie and they put a jetpack on me".

- This motherfukker says that after winning the belt he started studying tapes of past heel champions and drawed inspiration from Ric Flair and JBL!!! Likens to himself to Flair, keeping the belt by hook or crook.

- Like playing the chicken shyt heel with Singh.

- Says that the crowning moment was visiting India. Was blown away by the response he got.

- Tells us that when he openly stated during Q&A that he hoped to face Cena at Mania, he was shooting. He didnt clear the challenge with Creative.

- The chapter ends with Mahal telling us that now his goal is "Main eventing Mania".


I dislike Mahal almost as much a Roman so this chapter was not so interesting to me. And next chapter looks like a doozy as well. It's about how WWE chooses the host city, so its a lot of stroking their own dikks.

 

[JamiK]

Okay here we have potentially the least interesting chapter in the book.

Chapter 4 - Best For Business

- June 4, 2017 -

- The chapter opens up with a mention that while the WWE Universe is glued into Extreme Rules, behind-the-scenes the business negotiations with New Orleans officials is already underway.

- The main character of this chapter is John Saboor, WWE's Executive Vice President of Special Events.

- He mentions that after multiple years of hard work nowadays the average planning cycle is sixteen to eighteen months to bring together all the pieces that make Mania week reality.

- Recently collectively 29 events serve up to make the Wrestlemania week. That includes ticketed, community based and PR-based events.

- Jacks off about how important to them the community based events are. Events range from Make-a-wish to Be-a-Star events. Even Special Olympics is mentioned.

WWE as a company has put as much weight in our pro-social based events as we do with our ticketed and revenue-based events and thats something that we take enormous amount of pride in

Mentions that any city bidding to host Mania needs to deemed as "a destination city", where WWE Universe can spend their vacation juggling WWE and non-WWE events.

Talks about how they have created a RFP - a request for proposal, a bid document, which is designed to showcase the history of Wrestlemania and opportunities for the city that wins the right to host the event.

Saboor says that while all hosting bid are heard by WWE's senior leadership team the final decision is always Vinces.

Our Chairman created this celebration in 1985, and this is our most important annual rite of passage. He is still intimately involved in leading the discussion internally and making that final decision.

We review all of the formal proposals that we receive, then we pare that list down to group of finalists and the finalist are then invited to WWE's headquarters to deliver their proposal in person

- Says that the cities that dont win the Mania, will likely eventually win the bid. Mentions also that they consider Rumble, Survivor Series and Summerslam as showcase events that may go to cities that dont win the Mania bid.


- Talks about how he came to WWE from the other side of the table. He was part of the Orlando delegation that won the right to host Mania in 08.

- They tout some numbers that Mania 33 brought to New Orleans. 181,5 million in "direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending visitors to the Orlando region".

- Lastly they discuss the possibility of Mania going international. Saboor says that with the incremental growth of WWE Network they have opened their minds to the possibility.

He ends the chapter with this quote

I think that we'll see during our lifetime some real serious consideration to some world cities to host this worldclass event

Nuff said. Next is chapter about SAMOA JOEYE

 

[JamiK]

Because TheCool loves you, I will give you the gift... of the next chapter.


Chapter 5 - Joe's Gonna Kill You

June 5, 2017

- We open with the brief recap of Joes promo about Brock. The author says that this might have been Joes best promo (of the year). He also mentions that Paul Heyman might be the best hype man to ever step in the ring.

- Joe says that he saw the moment when he choked Paul out as "the make it or break it moment of my career".

- Says that WWE told him earlier in his career that "he didn't have the look" or "he just didn't have what the WWE was looking for"

- Mentions that Triple H signed Joe in 2015 and called him up to the main roster.

Joe speaks real about the Balls of Fire match meant and what Heyman did for him

In a sense, the moment with Heyman, the match with Brock, it was a do-or-die moment for me with the company. It was thrust upon me, and something that I didn't expect. I heard that I might get the chance to work with Brock and then they actually pulled the trigger. I think the first promo with Heyman, we knew we were on to something. Working with Brock let me show what I could do in the ring, and when they put you with Brock, you know they are starting to see you as one of the top guys. At the same time, you know you have to deliver and I think if I didn't deliver in this match, in this build, that could've been it for me in WWE. That was my chance. The whole thing was a really cool moment because being in the ring with Brock was one of my goals

But it was that first moment with Heyman that kicked off the whole thing. Paul is one of the last great orators of professional wrestling. He has the unique ability to show up, grab a microphone and make any situation interesting. Even situations that might not seem big, Paul can start speaking and he immediately captures the crowd. He's definitely part of the package with Brock. He understands the human mind better than most and he's able to tap into things with keywords that make people emotionally invested in what he's talking about

Says that he enjoyed the build-up and the brawl with Lesnar.

Brock is an incredibly emotional performer. He comes out there with a lot of intensity, he feeds off emotion, and if you're not going all-out he's going to swallow you whole. He's going to go out there and toss you around and if you are not a hundred and twenty percent go-go-go when you are in there with Brock Lesnar, don't even bother going in the ring with him. At the same time, if you go out there and match intensity if you go out there looking for a fight, Brock is going to go out there and give you his best. He definitely makes you little worse for wear, but Brock is coming for a fight

- Says that his first choice of opponent for Mania 34, would be fukkING ROMAN REIGNS!!! "We bring out the best in each other, Romans a very emotional performer too, and if you bring the heat, he can bring it back tenfold. If you manage to push the right buttons, you get something special when you are in the ring with him.

- Says that if not Roman, then he would like to face Brock or Braun.


Good (but short) chapter even though I feel that most of it was in kayfabe.

 

[JamiK]

Next we have everybodys former favorite "Monster Among Men"

Chapter 6 - GET THESE HANDS

July 9, 2017

- The chapter starts off with a bang. Braun is PISSED! He was left without a singles match in Mania 33. And the plans for him to win and dominate Andre The Giant BR was changed last minute because bytchass Gronk wanted to show off.

I was very disappointed. I had been putting in a lot of hard work and to be left out in the big dance, that struck a chord in me and its lit a fire under me to work harder. It pissed me off that i wasnt a marquee match on the show, and then the battle royal didnt go as planned.

Awww shyt. here we go. Braun starts to talk how nice and good that no good son of a bytch Reigns is. This is BS! I'll quote the whole thing. Disqusting

Working with Roman has helped me tremendously. He has really helped Braun Strowman come into character and show everyone what the "Monster Among Men" is capable of doing. There's no one else like Roman. He is the single best talent in the world when it comes to sports-entertainment. We've been all over the world, night after night and i've basically been in a rivalry with Roman since i debuted, and we've just been selling out arenas and putting butts in seat and getting smiles and tears and whatever other emotions we can evoke out of people. Thats our job, and i really enjoy getting in the ring with him night after night.

I know he has the same work ethic that i do and thats to go out there and give one hundred percent of what he is capable of doing night in and night out, and it shows. He's the guy. Everybody wants to work with Roman. Thats where the money is at. He's safe, so you dont have to worry about getting injured. Hes going to go out there and put his body on the line with everything he does because he trusts you, and it takes a guy like that to be able to make the type of matches that weve been able to do.

- The book mentions that moments between Roman and Braun, moments like flipping the ambulance and throwing the chair square at Romand have made Braun the most watched Superstar on Youtube.

Then we get a little shytnugget from Roman himself

Throwing the chair, the ambulance, the Fatal 4-Way, the turnbuckle that we broke. Sometimes you do so much that its almost like "Damn, what are we going to next". That's how i think psychology wise - dont throw me into that turnbuckle tonight because we already broke one, so if we do it again and it doesnt break tonight, it just looks weaker and we dont want to punch a hole in our story. The stuff Braun comes up with is incredible. To have a guy six-foot-eight, almost 400 pounds - where do we even find these people? Its not like we can just go to Walmart. So wheneer you have a situation like that, you want to make it special. He can do special things, like throw and attached chair at me. Thats the cool part of it. The Disney World effect that this business has with some guys, and we need to continue to attract talent like that. Obviously we need Braun Strowman to be Braun Strowman, we dont need another Braun Strowman, but we need another force to be reckoned with. We need another young stud thoroughbred like a Jason Jordan to step up. We have a lot of good talen, now its just about utilizing them

Here comes the good part.

I've been blessed over the last three years with gaining all of this experience by being put in the frying pan and, now its on me to pass that knowledge along. Thats what I did with Strowman. I tried to teach him all the knowledge that ive gained and hopefully make him a better performer. Thats what this generation is all about, thats what this generation cares about. We came to this places at a certain leve and now its up to us to leave it in a better place than where we found it.

....


They both mention how the chair throw was not gimmicked or anything, it was a one in the million shot. They preplanned but did not rehearse it.

- Braun talks how he likes to walk around the arena before show and plan out what kind of special moment he can do that the WWE Universe has never seen before. He strives to do things that make you go "Holy crap, im going to remember this match forever because Braun did this or Braun did that"

- Says that seems like everything he touches goes viral - "I guess im sick" ...

HAH HAH the chapter ends with Braun SHOOTING ON SHEETS AND THE MARKS!!!

A couple of years ago, every rumor had me facing Undertaker at Wrestlemania, but that was solely an internet rumor. I never actually heard anything about that at work.

Thats just all of the gossip on the internet. The WWE Universe likes to think they know whats going on behind the scenes, and there are reporters who like to report like they know whats really happening but here is the thing: were driving this car. We can tell you anything we want to tell you, and we can do a bait-and-switch on you in a heartbeat. We can make you think one thing, just to get you all mad about something, then well change things up WWE Universe are like "Oh man, this is what we really wanted". Heres the thing you guys dont know what you want. You hate one thing one minute, then you love it the next minute. My job is to go out there and either make you love me or make you hate me, and i dont care one way or the other. As long as I go out there and youre making noise, Im happy

Wow.. i used to like Braun, but he comes off as a huge a$$hole.

 

[JamiK]

Here is a little something to soothe you before stressful Monday

Chapter 7 - Up, Up, Down, Down
August 20th, 2017, WWE Summerslam PRE-SHOW

- The chapter opens with New Day and The Usos backstage going over their upcoming match when a word is passed down that Vince Mcmahon wants to change the ending sequence.

Xavier Woods:

The finish to that match actually changed four times that day. We finished figuring the match out, then they came to us and to change the end. We were going to win, then they switched to The Usos, so we figured out how to make it work. Then they came to us an hour or two later and switched it back. Then, no joke, twenty minutes before we're supposed to go out, they change the finish again.

So we never actually know whats going on. It's not like Hollywood where you get a script, then you get three months to memorize it. You get bits of information, then you go out like two hours later, sometimes ten minutes later. Then there are situations where the finish of the match changes when you already in the ring. They'll switch it during the match, and you'll find out you're no longer winning or you go out there thinking you are about to lose, then they switch out and you'll be told during the match that you are going to win. It's a testament to everyone on the roster that we are able to ab lib, that we are able to do what we do and change things on the fly. It can be stressful, but it feels really good to be able to pull off a really cool, innovative match that's given to you five minutes before WWE TV plays.

- Woods continues that being relegated to PreShow put a chip on their shoulder.

We don't care where we are on the show, because our goal is to always have the best match possible. We don't care if we are on the preshow if we are first or last. Our goal is that when the bell rings, everyone knows that this match is the thing going that night. For us with The Usos, we were on the pre-show of Summerslam and we weren't upset, but we did have a chip on our shoulder if you're going to put on this early, good luck following us. I think the cool thing about this generation of WWE is that everybody has that mentality, and it makes the entire roster better because if we're going out and completely obliterating things on the preshow, once the show starts, those guys know that they have to step their game too. And it works vice versa, when we see people go before us and they tear it up out there, we know we need to make sure we're going even more on point that night.

It's like an unspoken rule, when you go out, you better make me work harder because I'm going after you

- Jimmy Uso says that their mentality that night was to "hurt the show in a good way"

- Woods says that "leading the way for tag team resurgence was always their goal". Says that when they were on RAW, the tag teams were the best thing going on, and now that they are on Smackdown its the best thing on WWE Television.

- Mentions that New Day has a "little bit of a longer leash than other people" and they like to spread that wealth throughout the division. They have been able to give opportunities to other guys and it has helped the entire division. Says that at Clash Of The Champions they wanted to put a spotlight on Chad Gable and make him look like the man.

- Jey Uso is quoted again, and he says that New Day coming to Smackdown was a real blessing. He feels that every match they have is better than the last because they have the mentality of "topping the last one".

The last time there was a hot angle on between two tag teams like this, it was back in the Attitude Era with the Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz.

- Next, the book briefly chronicles New Days beginning as a gospel group. Says that the group tried to distance themselves quickly of that gimmick. And that the more that the group focused on creating their own identity the more popular they became

I went to E and told him this idea I had for the group. But we had some stuff to figure out because we weren't clicking together as a tag team the way we wanted to. I figured we needed a third member, so I thought about it for a week or two and at the time, Kofi wasn't really doing anything and I thought he might be a good fit with us. So we presented him with the idea and he liked it, so we just started spending a lot of time together, trying to figure out how to make stuff work. Before people saw us together on TV, we had been together backstage for about eight months, so it's not something that just came out nowhere. It developed slowly over time.

What helps us get this far is we never work for an individual. We didn't go into this to be selfish. We realized right away that if the group succeeds, we all succeed. That actually the downfall of a lot of teams and groups. and that's not just in wrestling but in general. Our unselfishness and our willingness to do everything for the team is the main reason we've been so successful so far

- Woods says that if he is ever separated from New Day, he will call it quits. Says that he has never had this much fun in his job, and if he can't have that then he doesn't need to do this job anymore.

- They tease that they want to have TLC match with Usos at Mania. Both teams agree to that and also to the notion that they deserve to be on the main card for all the hard work they have put to lift the whole division up

 

[JamiK]

On to the next one. This one ought to arouse some conversation (unlike the last ones)
(also there are a lot of long quotes because they say interesting shyt.. deal with it)

Chapter 8

Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta
August 20, 2017: WWE Summerslam

- Book tells us that the most hyped moment of the show was "eagerly awaited" reunion of Rollins and Ambrose (leading to later reunion with Roman.. .LOL)

AMBROSE:

It's definitely a thing people made clear that they wanted to see. They've been asking about it everywhere we went. "When is The Shield getting back together?" It's electric to see us together. People didn't think they'd ever see it again. In Boston, it was the loudest reaction you'll ever hear for two guys bumping fists together

ROLLINS:

Everyone wanted to see Shield reunion, and when Ambrose came over from Smackdown, we all realized that this could be a possibility, that there could be a reconciliation, but we didn't know when it was going to happen or where everybody's stories were going to fall. But we found a good time toward the end of the year to make peace with each other and the WWE Universe (goddammit) is super excited. We've seen a ton of the new Shield shirts at live events and the response has been really positive. It has been a cool experience for me and for the fans who have been asking for this reunion to happen for the last three years

- Next, the book goes to mention that the match between Shield and The Bar was an "instant classic" that left the crowd breathless...

- Okay, this is nice, Dean and Seth talk about what makes them click with Bar and put over Sheamus and Cesaro.

ROLLINS

It's all about one-upmanship. The Bar fancies themselves as two of the best in the world, and Ambrose and I feel the same way. Sheamus and Cesaro have been together now for almost a year and they really perfected what they do as two big strong world beaters. And Ambrose and I, were all around technicians and brawlers and highflyers, and we think we're the best team in the world, so when push comes to shove, we go out there an try to outdo each other. It's like one of those situations where we're going to make them better and they are going to make us better, and by putting us together, it really brings out the best in all four of us. On top of that, were on a show where we're not the main event and its kind of annoying to us. All four of us have that mindset that we should be the main event so when was the first on the card or sandwiched between to supposedly bigger match, we want to make everyone after we work harder.

AMBROSE

Cesaro and Sheamus are two the most experienced, two of the top guys here, but I feel like once Seth and I became a team, we instantly became the best tag team in the world. That's just how I feel, whether it's true or not. Our ability to work together is better than anybody else in the world. Its just part of our cocky mentality, call it confidence or whatever, but that's what makes The Shield. Well walk into a ring full of twenty guys, and it's just us three. but we know we're going to win. That's not smart, but that's how we do it. But what I will say is The Bar is a close number two tag team in the world. They work together so exceptional and they match up with us very well because they are a couple of hard-hitting guys and they bring a lot of intensity to the ring. That's the big trademark of a Shield match, that intensity and what those guys bring in spades. We live for those moments where there are bruises and blood and teeth flying everywhere. The blood, sweat, and tears of the moment, where you're digging down twenty minutes into a match to bring out the best in each other - that's what all four of us are all about.

There's an art to tag team wrestling. I love tag team wrestling, I'm really realizing how much I missed it. There's a big difference between six guys having a Six-Man Tag Team match and four great tag team Superstars

Okay here we go, they delve into the origins of Shield. I'm just gonna quote this whole thing because I feel it really puts across their attitude and drives. Really really good stuff!

AMBROSE

We were thrown to wolves. We were nobodies and nobody in the business wanted to give us any help. It was different time back then. They threw us right out into the deep end and we started swimming. We were like "Okay, you know what we're going to do? We're going to go out there and tear it up. We're going to work harder than everybody else every night" We really upped the pace of the whole company. Matches started getting faster, more stuff started happening and there was an attitude shift when we came in. There was no night offs for us. There is a certain standard to Shield match. Whether its all three of us or just two of us. We have to steal the show. We have to.

ROLLINS

We didn't have a theme song or an entrance. We had turtlenecks and S.W.A.T pants and that's about it. I think all three of us were all too concerned about just going out there and making an impression to worry about all that other stuff. For myself and Ambrose, we had been working on the independents for a long, long time before we had the opportunity to come to WWE and find success here. And for Roman, he is someone who comes from a wrestling family, so he has heavy shoes to walk in. For him, he wanted to make an impression as well, so he didn't get left in the dust of his own family. So for all three of us, we were all just concerned about making an impact and making sure everything was done the right way and, obviously we figure out how to get out of turtlenecks and jeans and find something cooler the next day. We had no idea what our entrance music would be, but we figured we'd find out eventually. So it wasn't like, "Heres your manufactured boy-band gimmick, this is exactly what it's going to look like, this is exactly what it's going to sound like, this is exactly what you're going to do". We were given the freedom to make the most of our situation

- He also mentions that Shield grew up to much bigger thing that anyone ever thought.

- The book throws it back to Ambrose who says that he really can't mention one moment or match that made the Shield. He picks out the debut just because they got to make it in Barclay against three Superstars. Apparently, the original plan was for a "gimme" but someone got injured and the card got shifted. They got given the TLC and according to Ambrose their mentality was "fukk it"

When we were coming down to the ring that night, it was very intense. Our careers, our lives could've ended at this moment. Looking back, if we would've pooped the bed that night, our careers could've been over. It was hit a home run or strikeout, and that's how your life is going to go. At the time we were so deadset focused that nobody could mess with us.

It was such an intense time because every single night we felt like our career was on the line. That just the attitude we brought in. We just thought that The Shield was means to an end. It was a way for us to get our foot in the door. We all had separate things we wanted to do. We all saw our futures in separate places. We didn't realize The Shield itself is what people were gravitating toward and was becoming so special to WWE Universe. We didn't realize that until years later when everybody was calling us to reunite

- The chapter ends on speculation that Shield would break up shortly to set up Rollins vs Ambrose at Mania.
Ambrose says that he doesn't stress too much what is coming because anything could happen at a moments notice.

I don't look any further than a week ahead. I'm worried about today. You can prepare for the future but you have to be able to change in the wind. Who knows what's coming. Seth and I have always had great chemistry in the ring. I never met Seth until I went to FCW. He always ran in different circles than I did. He was in Ring of Honor and places like that, and you'd find me in the more extreme scenarios. He was thrilling people with his athleticism while I was getting stabbed in the head with objects. We were on two different paths, but our parallel paths finally merged together in FCW. The first time we wrestled as opponents, the chemistry and the mindset and the work ethic immediately clicked. The competitiveness was great and the fact that we were always trying to one-up each other really brought our matches to another level

Very good chapter. What did you guys think?

 

[JamiK]

Okay after a short hiatus, here is Chapter 9

Roode Awakening
August 22, 2018, Smackdown LIVE

- The chapter opens with mention that Bobby Roode is about to make is Smackdown debut just two days after Wrestlemania. The book also mentions that Roodes match against Nakamura at NXT could be considered the best of the whole weekend.

Roode speaks about the status of NXT, I found his words very interesting.

Shows how far NXT has come, that the match is even talked about like that. The interest it has not only with sports-entertainment fans (ugh!) across the world but also with the guys and girls inside the company is incredible. With NXT, the finger is always on the pulse, and there are always eyes on NXT and on the NXT Superstars because obviously, these are the guys and girls who will be headed up to the main roster soon. A lot of the talent on the main roster want to work with these people, so they come to the shows to see what they're all about. Honestly, the NXT Universe is very, very passionate, and they're a little different than what you'd see during Monday Night Raw or a Smackdown LIVE show. It's a very different feel. It's a very passionate crowd. When it comes to Takeover, there are only five matches on these shows, and every guy and girl on the card goes out there and tries to steal the show, and they're given a great amount of time to go out there and do their thing. Its always encouraging as a performer to look out in the crowd and see people from the main roster who have come to see what you do

- Roode says that the attitude with NXT locker room is to use Takeovers to push the main roster. They want to see which roster has the best show of the weekend.

- Then it recaps his debut, and once again I'll just quote the whole thing since I found this very interesting. If you don't remember he was sitting in the crowd at Takeover Dallas.

I wasn't signed. I had a conversation with Triple H a few weeks earlier, getting a feel for what both of us were looking for. I told him what I wanted to do and what I wanted to part of, and at the end of the day, I really just wanted an opportunity. I had some experience, and I really felt like I had a good career up to that point, but I wanted the opportunity to come to WWE and show them what I had.

So at that point at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas, I wasn't even signed. It was shortly thereafter where I signed the contract and got the working papers in order. One thing led to another and off we went. I was there as a guest. I was in the front row before Samoa Joe and Finn Balor was in the main event, and the reaction I got from the NTX Universe (UGH!!) gave me goosebumps. You really don't know how the fans will react. Being in the business for twenty years, it doesn't mean a lot until you come to WWE and prove yourself.

The only opportunity to be a part of Wrestlemania is to be a part of this company and honestly, some feelers were sent out through some friends to see if we could make this happen. Matt Bloom had a lot to do with that, as he put me on the phone with Triple H and we had a really good conversation

- Roode says that Triple H pulled him aside a week before Takeover Brooklyn 3 and told him that the plan was to move Roode up to Smackdown. The timing was not set, in a sense that Triple H was not sure if Roode was to be moved up immediately or would they hold him off for a bit.

- Interestingly Roode also says that he was not into the "Glorious" at first.

Honestly its been a blessing. The whole song and "Glorious" gimmick is something I wasn't too sure of in the beginning but obviously, the song took off and had close to a million download on iTunes before I even made my debut. As a performer, when you have the opportunity to have a song like that and to have an entrance like I have, it definitely helps you. It helps you immensely, so I'm really grateful for that opportunity

- Roode puts over Ziggler as someone who was perfect for his first opponent. Dolph apparently made Smackdown Universe care about Roode. (He explains it, that his character in NXT was someone who was well liked, but his character in Smackdown is someone who people care for)

- The book also says that WWE Universe can expect some matchups from Roodes pre-WWE career. Mainly Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.

We knew we had what it took to be a star in this business; it was just about getting the right eyes on us. We bring a lot of experience, but, obviously, WWE is a different animal, and you have to perform at a certain level and jump over certain barriers, but id like to say that the three of us have adapted quite well and our success up to this point has proved that. It's a great feeling to be a part of WWE and to be a part of it with guys you've come up with

- The chapter ends with Roode saying that he hopes to have a high-profile match at Mania 34, but is just happy to be part of the show.

Good chapter if you care about Roode. If not then it was shyt.

Next chapter is about Charlotte Flair and the possible Rousey match.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

 

[Vic Damone. Jr]

Woods talking about New Day

 

[JerseyBoy23]

One theme I'm noticing throughout these chapters so far is how much secrecy Creative and Vince have. Everyone at one point mentioned how they didn't know whether they were winning or losing a PPV match until the day of.

 

[WMG the 2nd]

Who is the cool?

 

[julesocean]

Thanks for these OP, interesting reads, and they reinforce alot of the stuff we hear from dirtsheets and stuff we assume ourselves.