An interesting video on the WWE creative team surfaced this week on WWE’s official YouTube channel.
The video was unlisted on the channel and only available to those who have the link or the embed code. WWE also has comments disabled. You can see the video below.
It looks like the video is some sort of recruitment promo for potential new hires for the writing team, which is officially called the Creative Writing Team internally. The YouTube description reads, “Peel back the curtain and take an exclusive, never-before-seen look at WWE’s Creative Writing Team as they give you a sneak peek into their journey from script to screen.”
“The mission of the Creative Writing Team is to put smiles on people’s faces, which is of course the mission statement of the entire company,” one writer says to open the video.
Another writer added, “Even the most technically advanced movies all started with somebody sitting down and just putting words to paper.”
The video shows various clips of the writing team in action, including a meeting in the writer’s room with WWE Hall of Famer “Road Dogg” BG James, who recently left the team. Dewey Foley, son to WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, was also shown.
“The goal is to create compelling content for our TV shows and then come up with innovative ways to tell stories,” a writer said.
“The writer’s room can be a really fun, exciting place, because you have a bunch of creative people with different backgrounds,” one writer said of the writer’s room.
Several members of the team were shown talking about their diverse backgrounds. One writer worked on reality TV shows before coming to work for WWE and another spent time working on their own screenplays. One writer studied Film & TV at Notre Dame, while others worked in scripted TV, sports & music, soap operas, and at a talent agency. Another writer added, “My experience is in everything but WWE.”
The writers also talked about taking the WWE fans on an emotional ride. One writer said, “What we’re trying to do is get everybody to pitch in to create all of this content. What can we do to get the audience to feel something for these characters? You’re always just trying to take them on this emotional ride.”
The video also broke down how WWE has a “home team” and a “road team” of writers.
“On the home team you’re planning week to week, month to month, longer-term storylines,” one writer said.
“The road team is executing and fine-tuning everything we do at television,” another writer added.
The role of the writer’s assistant was also profiled. “I’m a writer’s assistant, we do pretty much anything and everything, from handing out scripts, taking notes, to helping with specific segments of the TV show,” one assistant commented.
It was also noted that the writer’s assistants are allowed to regularly contribute to the creative process. One assistant said, “I’ve had an opportunity to work with talent, pitch ideas to write. I never thought I’d be getting those opportunities this quickly in my professional life.”
You often hear about WWE re-writing RAW and SmackDown scripts on the day of TV, or about how “plans changed” from one day to the next. The video touched on how different WWE is because it’s a live show.
“What sets this apart is we’re a live show,” one member of the team commented.
“It’s high pressure I think, because whether the show is put together or not, it’s going to go on the air at eight o’clock,” another writer said.
“There’s no place in entertainment that you can replicate that crazy adrenaline rush,” a writer said.
“You need to have thick skin and to not be married to your ideas because there’s always a good chance something’s going to change,” said one writer. Another continued, “You’re making script changes sometimes right up until showtime.”
The grueling WWE schedule was also mentioned. “The constant travel is something that you have to get used to. People joke here like, the road never ends, because it doesn’t,” said another member of the team.
The video ended with members of the team commenting on more perks of the job from the standpoint of a creative writer.
“Some people work for years on scripts and screenplays that never get shot,” said a writer. Another continued, “The most fulfilling thing is to writer something on a Friday and see it on TV on a Monday.”
“Just telling a story and being able to get that right in front of an audience, it’s like instant gratification, and there’s nothing greater than that,” the writer said.
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