Former WWE Writer Brian Gewirtz On Pitching The Angle, Working on The Jericho/Shawn Michaels Feud And More

Former WW Writer Brian Gewirtz recently appeared in E & C’s Pod Of Awesomeness and talks about various topics. Below are the highlights.

On Vince McMahon Hating The Footafe:

“Then we get the call from Vince [McMahon], Bruce and I, and he goes, ‘guys, that might have been the worst thing we ever recorded in the history of this business. I’m extremely disappointed.’ And then, Vince said the greatest thing in the world, which I should apologize to Bruce, but I can’t. But he goes, ‘it’s unusable, it was unprofessional, it was terrible – Bruce, I’m really disappointed in you.’ And I’m just like, ‘yes, I agree with that! Bruce, I am, too, disappointed. I was trying to learn from you!”

On Working on The Jericho/Shawn Michaels Feud:

“To be able to have that Rock/Hogan promo segment in Chicago [Illinois], which, that is, again, I don’t know if anyone really remembers the actual words that were used in the promo segment, but just to be associated with that. It’s the same thing with, again, it’s like, ‘well, it would take a really talented writer to screw this up,’ the Shawn [Michaels]/Bret [Hart] reunion in, I think it was Dayton, Ohio, when Shawn and Bret were back in the ring. I mean, I was the ‘writer’ tied to that. And, for me, personally, and I’ve said this before, I always took pride in the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho angle that we did for many, many months, because I was not… I mean, I always respected Shawn Michaels, but as growing up and everything, I always rooted for Bret Hart against him. I wasn’t like The Kliq fanboy or anything like that even though my friends and I followed him to a hospital once in Syracuse [New York], War Memorial, house show when we were in college and they asked my friends directions to the hospital and then, we followed them there and we got kicked out in the waiting room.”

On Vince McMahon Wanting to Make Back Stories For The Wrestlers & The Ballad Of Little Dave Batista:

“Everything is done for the right reasons. It’s just not executed the right way sometimes. So one day, we were in the writers room and Vince told us, ‘dammit, characters need backstories. We don’t know anything about these guys when they come in. We need nuanced, layered backstories.’ I’m like, ‘okay.’ [Imitating McMahon] ‘So, with that in mind…’ We’re like, ‘oh boy, here it comes.’ [Imitating McMahon] ‘What if Dave Bautista was a foster child?’ I’m like, ‘what?’ He’s like, ‘no, it’s why he has a chip on his shoulder and that’s why Ric [Flair], because he’s in Evolution at the time, Ric is kind of his father figure,’ so all that kind of makes sense. Okay, he’s a foster child. That’s why when someone attacks Ric, he gets all worked up because he has this real life respect for Ric and his father figure. Great! So Vince kind of lays out this promo for Flair where it’s this very nuanced, interesting story about how Dave was abandoned as a kid and bounced around from foster home to foster home and grew a chip on his shoulder. And so, okay, it’s my job to take that and kind of, not rewrite it completely, but get it formed in form where it makes sense for television and everything and a little less roug”

On Pitching The Angle:

“As I’m writing this promo, I am thinking, ‘this is it, this is what changes people’s perspective on professional wrestling because it’s that good.’ So in the production meeting, I’m reading this promo. Ric has pulled Dave aside. He’s like, ‘alright now, big man, listen. I know why the pain inside of you feels like it’s growing every day and because of your history of being a foster child’ and all this type of stuff. As I’m reading it in the production meeting, I see Vince take his, peripheral vision, he doesn’t like it when I do this, but I see this giant X being formed over this precious promo that I’ve spent all weekend working on because he’s like, ‘God, it’s so boring! You’re putting me to sleep!’ I’m like, ‘but you wrote most of it!’ This is what actually aired. This is the whole vignette, his whole backstory, ‘we need backstories’: it’s Ric warming up Dave and going, ‘alright, big man, tonight, you’re going to walk down that aisle, woo, because you’re an animal! You’re the man! You’re also a foster child. Now, later tonight…’ That’s the whole thing, one little throw away [line]! Yeah, and never mentioned again ever.”

On John Cena, Sr. Going into Business for Himself During The Cena vs. Edge Feud:

“I think John gave us a little warning before we went over there too. He had a [comment like], ‘oh, Johnny Fab, huh? Good luck with that.’ And then, so me and Bruce Prichard, we were the co-producers of this. We liked teaming up together because, if there was heat, at least it would be split. Yeah, [split between the two] we could at least handle it together. So [Edge] and [Lita], we went to the Cena house, yeah, and the idea was [Edge] would go in, make fun of his upbringing, make fun of his house, and eventually get into it with his dad and everything. but what we didn’t know was Mr. Cena is a bit of a performance artist in his own right. Yes, so and the line was just ‘Edge berates John Cena’s dad and storms off,’ so then, [Edge] would berate him, and he goes, ‘well, let me tell you something, I’m going to put you over the edge!’ And then, he looks into the camera. We’re like, ‘what the f–k? What? Hey, Mr. Cena, in this particular set of circumstances, you are just going to stand there and kind of get berated. We’re going to get sympathy for you and your character and everything.’ [Imitating Cena, Sr.] ‘Oh, got it. Okay.’ So then, [Lita] cuts her promo and it’s like, ‘let me tell you something chicky-poo, you’re nothing! And I’m going to make sure you’re both put over the edge!’ He kept going back to that for some reason. He was doubling down on the ‘over the edge’ and [Edge] had to do [his] best to stop from laughing at everything. [Imitating Cena, Sr.] ‘I don’t care if you do it till the cows come home! Hahaha! See, because that’s how it works around here in West Newbury, Massachusetts!’ I’m like, ‘what is happening?’ He couldn’t help himself and Cena warned us about it.”

(Transcription via WrestlingInc.com)