There is nothing more sacred to wrestlers and their fans than kayfabe, the ability to suspend belief for the enjoyment of the storyline and match. Wrestlers aren’t really in a blood feud; The Undertaker isn’t dead, and despite hearing The Shield’s theme music during WrestleMania 40, Dean Ambrose wasn’t going to show up. And yet, people believed. It’s what makes professional wrestling magical and is one of the reasons why people tune in multiweekly. Each match is designed to lock in the viewers, filled with ups and downs, psychology, and physicality; it tells a story of triumph and defeat.
Sometimes it’s not even a match but a character’s arc that drives fans wild. For over twenty years, fans wanted good-guy John Cena to turn heel, something he refused to do. And who could blame him? He was children’s most beloved wrestler, granting Make-A-Wishes and bringing pure joy to their hearts. But Cena finally had enough, and that man built on hustle, loyalty, and respect turned his back on those who believed in him the most when he sold his soul to The Rock to win the Championship belt at the Elimination Chamber during his retirement tour. Despite the questionable and disastrous inclusion of Travis Scott, fans were in shock, gleeful even. Wrestling sleuths, invested in this story, even recalled seeing clues from The Rock’s three-finger hand gesture in 2024.
So why does WWE want to destroy the magic of their storytelling by revealing how matches and so many other moments are created? What made them think going behind the scenes and stepping into the writers’ room for WWE: Unreal was a good thing? Could it be TKO’s decision? WWE’s decision to try to capture new fans, similar to WWE’s Total Divas? Or maybe the WWE of yesterday is no longer the WWE of today. A business once shrouded in secrecy may have worked for a certain generation but not for today’s. Or maybe they’re not revealing anything at all.
Reality TV is a tricky invention, filled with its own set of writers and producers to push certain angles and narratives. There have been a multitude of incidents where the origin of a storyline has contradicted itself, most recently being The Rock’s involvement in John Cena’s heel turn. Was it a carefully thought-out plan, as Triple H stated, or was it made up on the fly, as The Rock stated? What makes this show so factual? Could this series actually protect kayfabe by giving us a false narrative while protecting the business? It’s been done before, multiple wrestlers from Total Divas spoke about fake storylines for views and angles. Even WWE’s former wrestler Paige (Sayara) stated in her memoir Heel in Boots, the producers would give them alcohol ‘all the time’ and that her and Alicia Fox ‘were intoxicated for many of the times they filmed.’
As seen in the trailer below, Paul Levesque, a 14-time WWE World Champion best known in the ring as Triple H and WWE’s chief content officer since 2022, serves as the narrator of the docuseries that features in its first season Triple H, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea Ripley, CM Punk, Jey Uso, Bianca Belair, Chelsea Green, Charlotte Flair, and Xavier Woods.
Premiering July 29, 2025, this Netflix WWE series promises a rare, no-fluff look at the inner workings of wrestling’s most powerful creative machine. Across 5 to 10 episodes, each running about 50 minutes, WWE: Unreal peels back the curtain on everything that happens before the bell rings.
The series follows not just the writers but also the wrestlers as they balance injuries, being in the spotlight, the fans, and their personal lives. What is it to be on the road almost every day of the week for a show that doesn’t take breaks? What happens to friendships and relationships with other WWE superstars and those not in the spotlight? What is it like to be booked daily to hardly getting screentime? WWE: Unreal feels like a successor to Beyond the Mat (another controversial wrestling documentary) but with more gloss and bigger production value. Whether it hurts or protects the business is to be seen, but at least it’ll introduce new and older comers to ordinary people living extraordinary lives in a quest to entertain the masses.
WWE: Unreal Season 1 includes five 50-minute episodes.
- Episode 1, “New Era”
- Episode 2, “Push”
- Episode 3, “Worth the Wait”
- Episode 4, “Heel Turn”
- Episode 5, “WrestleMania”
As seen in the video above, our Entertainment and Contributor break down everything featured in WWE: Unreal’s trailer, asking, ‘Is this what fans want?’ And what if this series is the death of kayfabe as we know it?
WWE: Unreal is directed by Chris Weaver and executive produced by Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ross Ketover, Keith Cossrow, Ken Rodgers, Jessica Boddy, Lee Fitting, Ben Houser, and Marc Pomarico, with showrunner Erik Powers. The series is produced by Omaha Productions, NFL Films, Skydance Sports, and WWE.
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