Behind-The-Scenes WWE Creative Team News, & More News
Power Slam magazine out of the UK has an in-depth article on the life of a WWE writer. A number of former WWE writers (and even current writers, but weren't named) were interviewed for the piece and they all talked about how things are really like behind-the-scenes in WWE for a person coming from the outside world as the environment is incredibly political and cutthroat.
Dr. Ranjan Chhibber, a former Assistant Professor of Honors and Film Studies at The George Washington University, and award-winning horror film historian, published author and TV scriptwriter according to his website, was interviewed for the piece and talked about his introduction to WWE after being hired in 2004. Chhibber, a lifelong wrestling fan, told Johnny Ace that he was a big fan of his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1990s. Stephanie McMahon heard his comment and got upset at him for "acting like a mark." Stephanie then gave Chhibber her narrow-minded point of view on how things work in World Wrestling Entertainment.
For more on the story, here is the passage from Power Slam:
Dr. Ranjan Chhibber, a lifelong fan hired to the writing team in 2004 on the basis of his award-winning academic career, risked being tarnished with both stigmas. The mere mention of his PhD immediately troubled intellectually-inferior workers, while his unmistakable passion for the business elicited the contempt of jaded veterans.
Dr. Chhibber remembers Pat Patterson, the former wrestler and booker and long-time match lay-out ace, cutting off his introduction with a scowling, "You ain't one of those Hollywood guys (who want to ruin wrestling)?" When Dr. Chhibber took a different tack and tried to offset his outside status by informing flattered Senior Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis that he was a fan of all his All Japan matches, Stephanie reprimanded Chhibber for "acting like a mark."
"Stephanie told me that a WWE writer didn't need to know about other types of wrestling to be successful," said Dr. Chhibber. She said if I let wrestlers know I had that sort of knowledge, I would across as some type of 'super-mark' and never be able to earn their respect. I felt like it was impossible to be respected: they hated you if you didn't know wrestling, and they looked down on you if you were a fan."
"Like Groucho Marx in reverse," theorised one ex-writer, "wrestlers feel like anyone who wishes to belong to their club is automatically too lame to be accepted."
Chad Damiani agreed: "The one thing you have to remember about wrestling people is that, ultimately, underneath all that resentment and suspicion of outsiders, there is the most intense professional insecurity I've ever seen.
"Anything that's outside wrestling is legitimate. I remember watching all of the top stars from WCW's peak crowding around someone in first-class on a flight, buzzing around this mysterious stranger that I couldn't see like they were groupies. They were actually acting star-struck, treating this celebrity, whoever he was, like Elvis. Finally, someone stepped out of the way and I could see that the biggest stars at its hottest period in wrestling were kissing the ass of Mr. Belding, the principal from "Saved By The Bell."