The Final Circle

Intro

This past Wednesday Night, saw the release of WWE's long awaited debut of. Behind The Curtain. WWE's documentary examaning this years build to Wrestlemania. I sat down to watch it this lunchtime, and if i'm being honest. I'm not sure what to make of it. Let me explain.

The Production

first things first, this documentary is well put together piece, that delved into the solid hardwork that goes into planning a wrestling show, and how fan interest can turn a booking decision, into outright hatred and rage. Actor Tom Rinaldi does a great job as the narrator of this documentary, as he helped guide the viewers through the roughness of the industry, that was being laid bare, for the world to see.

Relevency of the situation

Cast your mind back to January of this year. WWE had a nasty dark cloud hanging over its head, just days before one of their biggest shows on their calendar. The Royal Rumble, after serious allegations came to light about he who won't be named. As the hours went by, fan speculation was a rife, but months before all of this came to fruition, new rumblings were going on. HHH opened as a talking head, he said that by the time october had rolled around, most of the Mania card had penciled in, but on episodes of Smackdown, in the latter part of the year, the road maps were set out, as the main advertisements for what fans could expect from the show of shows. Dwayne The Rock Johnson, showed up on a random episode of Smackdown, after appearing on the Pat Mcafe show, which was coming live from down the street from the Arena in Cleveland, and at a later date. Roman Reigns had a stairdown with Cody, that would set the internet a blaze. HHH brought to light ,the importance that after Mania 39, and in the months leading up to Mania 40, that Cody has a red hot run, he kept his word, because within that time, Cody had beaten Brock Lesnar twice, and became a tag team Champion with the newly departed Bloodline member Jey Uso. This set up Jimmy vs Jey, which ended being a dud, and Cody vs Roman, which very nearly didn't happen.

Raw Day One

As the new year was setting in, the WWE's business plan was ever evolving. On the 23rd of January, the Conneticut Company announced that their Flagship show Monday Night Raw, and most of their tv partnerships when there deals expire, would be heading to the streaming giant Netflix, the news came as a shock to many worldwide as questions were asked, but five months before this happened in early September. Endeavour completed its takeover of WWE, merging them with the UFC to form TKO Ltd, this acted like a perfect concoction, as the business merged with the in ring product. In the same week that the Netflix was announced, the WWE would a study in contrast, as the allegations to do with their former chairman came to light, but before the murkyness came, an electric bolt was sent through fans, when Dwayne The Rock Johnson was named as a board member of TKO, at the start of the month Dwayne showed up on the New Years Day edition of Monday Night Raw, he cut a promo that would give fans a glimpse into what they might be receiving later down the line, whilst a nightmare was soon to become a reality.

Politics and fan rage

On the day of the Royal Rumble, Cody was told by HHH, that the Mania plans had changed. Yes he would go on to win the Rumble, but he won't be in the Mania main event, and the following Smackdown echoed his upset, when he was told to step a side for Dwayne, this caused fan outrage on a global scale, fans rejected The Rock vs Roman Reigns as the Mania 40 main event, The we want Cody# took off after the broadcast had come to an end, and as this was starting to ramp up, other plans were being made, the original partner for Seth Rollins was due to be Cm Punk, but he got injured in the rumble, so Cody was penciled in as the replacement, however, a Las Vegas press conference ended all of this.

Pivert not Pivert

On Thursday the 8th of Febuary, WWE hosted a Wrestlemania press conference, of mighty proportions, as the relevency of family became the vocal point for what was to come. The main event was flip reversed, and the fans were left feeling a bit more appeased, except for me that is. Dwayne unveiled his arm in politicking when HHH was the last to hear about the original plan. Personally I don't buy any of this, because it makes no sense to me, to throwaway two years of storytelling, just because of Dwayne. I felt that this when the propaganda side of the doc started to come into full effect. Yes The Rock vs Roman reigns would have been a big money mover, but it should not have come at the expense of what fans have bought into.

Not Shy

The documentary showed the ups and downs of being a wrestler on the largest  stage. Seth Rollins was battling a knee injury, whilst the prep work was going on in the shadows, this put his involvement in the first night at risk, with him being Cody's tag partner in the tag match, that would end up being a decider for night two, this wasn't just a concern, this was a major worry. Seth would pull through and the match would go ahead as planned, he and cody would go on to lose said match, as Bloodline Rules proved to echoe in a new dawn, Cody won the belt from Roman on night two, as the world watched on, sports entertainment came to a close, as the era of Paul Leveque began. Yes, there are questions going into next years show, but at the minute there only paper dreams.

Overview of the doc

Was this a good one hour spent, yes, but did I buy into all of it, well, no. I think you need to watch this, whilst eating a plate of salt, yes this was a good one hour, but I don't buy the hype, and with the world watching. I just feel that the media hyped something, that wasn't going to happen, just my thoughts.