“You have a lot of different minds pitching ideas and different stories and things. There was a time when it was just the three of us. We did everything. We talked to the talent, talked to the producers, produced it, wrote it — we did everything.

Prichard continued with details on how things are in 2026…

“You’ve got small groups over here. Then you get into your bigger group team, and then you go in and pitch to the leads. There are lead writers who pick out what they think is best. They’ll also formulate and outline the show and do all that stuff.

For someone who did it from day one, it’s interesting to listen to people who may have done it in previous lives. But the way it is now — there’s nothing that can compare to how it used to be.”

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“There are cameras everywhere. There are cameras around you all day long. You forget there are cameras on you.

The post Bruce Prichard addresses accusations that he was a “bully” to Chris Park aka Abyss during WWE Unreal appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

First and foremost, YES, I’m 100% aware that “kayfabe is dead”. For the past 35 years, it’s been well established in the mainstream that wrestling is scripted entertainment versus being an actual sport (though most suspected it was scripted well before that). However, as I stated in my last column, I REALLY dislike seeing how micro-managed the production table controls everything inside the ring. Every move, every big spot, and every finishing sequence is controlled and the wrestlers appear to have ZERO creativity inside the ring in the WWE. That said, it does give WWE a polish that AEW and other promotions lack and fewer WWE moments on Botchamania… But if we didn’t see WWE Unreal, we wouldn’t be exposed at HOW scripted the WWE is. That’s my main point.

Look, WWE has my money, time, and attention. WWE doesn’t have to try to win me over as a fan and I’m in that upper half of that 18-49 demographic.

However, for that lower half of that demographic, the WWE needs to hook them in… If you’re a newer fan and willing to try WWE on Netflix, you’re getting MIXED signals between watching Monday Night RAW and then catching WWE Unreal. RAW is presented as a credible sporting event, but then WWE Unreal shows you all of the magic tricks behind the matches or the Creative Team meetings behind it all. To newer fans, showing how the sausage is made could kill those fans from immediately getting hooked to WWE.

That said, if I was a newer fan, I’d honestly find WWE Unreal more appealing than RAW on Netflix. I’m seeing more REALITY and HONESTY on WWE Unreal than I’m finding on the PLE infomercial known as 2-3 hours worth of Monday Night RAW. Give me the choice of binging like 6 hours of content versus watching RAW for 52 weeks… I’ll go with binging just 6 hours of content.

Just seems to me that WWE Unreal undercuts growing the WWE. It’s good for older fans to watch, but exposes too much of the business for newer fans coming in. It sends mixed signals on what they are watching.

For the record, I’m consistent on my opinions about the WWE-sponsored behind-the-scenes shows. Whether it was Tough Enough, Total Divas or Bellas, or the NXT Behind the Curtain. These shows are about as stupid as a magician doing a magic show and then putting out a behind-the-scenes video of his tricks later. Just kills the effectiveness of the mirage or the suspense of disbelief.

You can partially tell wrestling fans that something is scripted, while also avoiding to show them everything. There’s a big difference between wrestlers or promoters talking during press conferences and interviews with media versus showing the production table calling the match to the referee, move for move, from the backstage area. And then the wrestlers and the producers meet at the production table to openly talk about what went right and what went wrong.

I took some notes on the show and let’s cover several discussion points from the show.

I hate Bruce Prichard
Let me just get that out of the way, first… My ears bleed when I hear him talk, as he’s such a Vince McMahon mark and he’s clearly there, by proxy, to represent the Vince McMahon point of view. Sometimes that point of view is good, but many times it’s outdated and caters towards what only Vince McMahon would enjoy or laugh at. Plus, I’d rather have that Vince McMahon point of view come from the actual Vince and not a kiss-ass stooge whom I wouldn’t trust to be in my creative team. Just hearing this goof try, for years, to present his point of view on these WWE shows or on his stupid podcasts just makes me want to vomit. He, along with John Laurinaitis, would be the 2 links if Vince McMahon would volunteer to be in a “Human Centipede” program, and Bruce would volunteer to be linked directly to Vince so that he could kiss his arse 24/7.

I completely cringe whenever I hear Bruce talk about wrestling, as he’s full of lies and speaks only to what might impress Vince. Bruce’s only value is being a decent idea man, but I wouldn’t let him speak on behalf of WWE to give him any kind of spotlight.

Bruce’s hierarchy that limits Chelsea Green
Case in point about buh-buh-buh-Bruce, he talks about Chelsea Green’s position on the card. He suggested that Chelsea is the person you wrestle to get to the top echelon of stars such as Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Tiffany Stratton. But then the show discusses how Chelsea has already wrestled all of the midcarders below that top group.

Sooooooo, if there are no other potential females to rise up the ladder through Chelsea, then why not push Chelsea?

See, this is the Vince McMahon mentality of buh-buh-buh-Bruce. Top wrestlers are cemented in stone and nobody can touch them, EVEN IF said top wrestlers are giving you diminishing marginal returns. Sorry, but when was the last time Charlotte Flair was really good? She’s always solid, but top tier good, she lost that when Becky Lynch outgrew her during that Ronda Rousey set-up for Wrestlemania’s main event. Charlotte’s sourpuss attitude for the past few years, too, doesn’t make her a draw anymore. When was the last time Alexa Bliss was good? Sorry, but the Wyatt stuff took her down because that angle ended poorly. Her return, after a few years absence, was big last year at Royal Rumble 2025 (I was there, it was loud), but the bloom is off the rose and we’ve seen everything from her. Tiffany Stratton was rushed to the title too fast and it has overexposed her inexperience.

You know who hasn’t been pushed at the top yet? Chelsea Green. You know who is capable as a worker? Chelsea Green. Why not try her if Alexa, Charlotte, and Tiffany are just stable at best?

And why is there no plan by this WWE and TKO Corporation to create steps to improve Chelsea to help her potentially land in that tier? Instead, Bruce said she was stuck as the “maker” of other talent in that top tier.

Don’t forget, Becky Lynch was in that SAME ROLE years ago. Vince McMahon didn’t like her and Kevin Dunn hated how she spoke and looked. Seriously, Captain NDA and Bucky Beaver’s own bizarre tastes & preferences almost held Becky down. Yet, it took fans literally revolting against shoving Charlotte and Ronda down our throats to get Becky to the top.

So F YOU Bruce, you Vince McMahon loving hack. You are rotten for this business as a stooge and recycling Vince’s old playbook.

2025 was a better year than online fans think.
Just watching WWE Unreal, I’m reminded of how good the John Cena heel turn was, the many great match-ups John Cena had during 2025, the great heel turn of Becky Lynch on the RAW after Wrestlemania, Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman double swerve at Wrestlemania on Punk and Roman, Seth Rollins selling the leg injury and then cashing in the MITB effectively at SummerSlam on Punk, and just how good, overall, that Money in the Bank and SummerSlam were for 2025. That Seth Rollins knee injury angle was executed perfectly, and him interrupting CM Punk’s emotional and tearful World Title win was incredible.

I’m going to call it right now… 2025 was BETTER than 2024 for the WWE. Yeah, I said it. I’ll give you that the first 4 months of 2024 were amazing, but the latter 8 were awful for WWE. First 4 months were solid for 2025, but the latter 8 months of 2025 were WAY BETTER than 2024. Don’t you guys remember the rest of 2024 where we had this makeshift Bloodline team forming, no Roman Reigns at all taking an extensive vacation, and nobody big fought Cody Rhodes after he won the title?

History is going to show that Rock and Roman helped make Wrestlemania 40 into a spectacular show, but both men left the WWE hanging throughout 2024 and then with early 2025 as well. How this Creative Team pivoted from that uncertainty to book a great 2025 is impressive and should be commended.

2025 WWE > 2024 WWE, there, I said it.

Snitch culture with WWE Producers
During Money in the Bank’s ending, you saw the WWE producers panicking in the back because LA Knight and Seth Rollins not performing the finish exactly as advised. Mind you, both men had their bells run multiple times by this high risk match and then receiving no respect for that…

But to hear Chris Park whining to Bruce Prichard and then Triple H that they didn’t correctly do the finish that he personally advised them to do was ridiculous. Complete covering your arse, there Abyss. And Park did this tattling effect during Season 1 of WWE Unreal, too, when one of his matches went too long and he blamed it specifically on the wrestlers.

If I were the wrestlers involved and saw how Park was blaming them for his poor micro-managing of the match, I’d go right to Triple H and say “WHAT THE HELL” regarding this complete stooge. Because otherwise, management cliques stick together and something Park says to Bruce or Triple H could ruin a career of a wrestler unintentionally.

Park being a stooge made it seem like LA Knight was the issue, and not possibly Park’s ineffectiveness as a match producer. I can see how LA Knight gets heat backstage due to these stooges or possibly being unable to script everything perfectly as the producers or agents want.

Too much revealed from Lyra Valkyria
Yes, things went wrong in that SummerSlam match with the zip ties coming undone and then being unable to get them off. But why are you getting on camera and crying about it? It happened, move on. The more attention to you place on that error, the more it emphasizes that error and reminds the viewers of what went wrong.

But there Lyra is, crying to the camera about it going wrong… It just shows weakness in a form of entertainment where you’re supposed to present yourself as a tough fighter. Instead, you over-exposed an error that happened instead of simply moving on.

Becky Lynch is the real one.
I loved how raw Becky Lynch was as a human being. I’ve heard reports that she’s not the best person to have for appearances or autograph signings, but I think she’s just a tough individual who is focused on business and seems quite introverted off-camera. Through WWE Unreal, you clearly saw that and that’s probably why fans haven’t had the best times with her at WWE autograph events. However, she appears to be a great mom, loving wife, and a damn hard worker and a generous worker to others as a wrestler.

She’s one of my all-time favorites and seeing her operate, behind the scenes, made me respect her more. The fact that she was upset that she had to lie to others about Seth’s injury really proved what a good person she really is along with her loyalty to the WWE and her family. A great moment with Becky was when she obtained new music and a lyric made her remember her Dad being there at events.

That’s why I’ve always been “Team Becky” over the entitled “Team Charlotte”.

Lots of CYA on the R-Truth “contract expiration”
The one part where I thought Triple H looked weak was trying to cover up TKO’s contract decision on R-Truth. TKO’s analytics looked at Truth’s age and compared them with the higher salary he had for over 15 straight years of service, and thus the delta in the equation told them that R-Truth wasn’t profitable as a wrestler. R-Truth was straight up told he wasn’t getting a new contract, yet HHH tried to suggest it was due to a lack of communication.

BUT – Again, as I keep telling y’all, as WWE fans, you have the power to make a difference. Your raising of absolute hell about Truth getting released made a difference and WWE made good for R-Truth and his family. Funny as it turns out, TKO’s analytics might have been right as R-Truth hasn’t done that much since he returned, but there’s nobody like R-Truth out there. 2 funny moments per year justifies his contract. When he tried to enter the Women’s Rumble or when he thought the Rumble was a Money in the Bank match… THAT is natural comedy that you cannot teach.

Kind of awkward to see everything play out with Truth and WWE, as I could clearly sense that Triple H had difficulties speaking during this part of the documentary. But hey, being a team player, sadly, is part of being a corporation.

My opinion of Michael P.S. Hayes is improving
I think that PS Hayes has moved into the Pat Patterson role of being a match producer for main events and coming up with great finishes. Both in Season 1 and Season 2, Hayes is acting like a responsible elder statesmen and giving great advice to the wrestlers. Some of the more successful matches that WWE has had recently has been under his watchful eye. I also liked how he challenged WWE management on the Iyo Sky high spot, questioning the safety of doing that and if it was worth it. With Hayes being the one who agented the TLC matches between Hardys, Dudleys, and Edge/Christian and allowing all 6 to risk their lives, it shows that Hayes has come a long way.

Throughout the years, I’ve heard inside stories on what a suck-up he was to both Vince and Triple H/Stephanie that I’m quite pleased to see ol’ PS Hayes just doing a great job and looking fashionable while doing it.

My Final Thoughts on WWE Unreal Season 2
To me, Unreal Season 2 proved that WWE is in good hands with Triple H as a leader. If you watch his Creative Team meetings, he actively listens to his staff instead of disregarding their opinions like Vince once did. However, I think he needs to remove the snake on the team that will forever hamstring his efforts and that is Bruce Prichard. That’s the Vince McMahon presence and I think Bruce has too much of a presence. I also think that Road Dogg is an ineffective member of the team, as he has now sunk the battleship of two separate runs of Smackdown while heading up its creative.

If WWE Unreal, however, would just edit out more of the producer desk calling in moves for every match covered, the show would be much better and add better value to RAW, Smackdown, or PLEs. The wrestlers just look like puppets out there. Personally, I just don’t think seeing how scripted the WWE matches are is a benefit for onboarding fans. That and Unreal is just a more appealing show than watching the PLE Infomercial known as RAW.

For Season 3, which is coming out during Summer 2026, I’d recommend toning down the in-ring communications. Make the matches seem more real… I’m OK with the wrestlers talking about their personal lives or interactions with other wrestlers. To me, the ring is the workplace and the different character comes out when inside the ring. Is that any different from a person who acts differently at work versus at home? I know guys who are absolute aggressive savages at their workplace but loving family men when they come home.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Unreal shows but am irked with how much they expose the business and worry that it harms WWE’s growth by exposing too much. That’s a reasonable opinion, right?

Follow me on Blue Sky!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: Thoughts on WWE Unreal Season 2 on Netflix: Triple H & Creative Team, Stooges Backstage, Chelsea Green, and Much More appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Here was the exchange…

Triple H: “The question becomes, do you make that match here?”

Bruce Prichard wanted Pat McAfee to beat Gunther at Backlash last year because the other outcome was “predictable.”

Until another writer stepped in and shut it down

pic.twitter.com/85n0E6cDBi

— EliteRockerz 𝕏 (@EliteClubS0B) January 20, 2026

The post Bruce Prichard wanted Pat McAfee to defeat Gunther at WWE Backlash 2025 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Well, I think it’s a bit of a more modern thing, but also when you look at it, I go back and watch sometimes—ten matches on a card is hard to watch. And when you look at presentation and you put so many things in a ten-match card, at the end of the night, what do you remember?

The post Bruce Prichard on the length of wrestling shows: “Ten matches on a card is hard to watch – I think less is more” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I have nothing to hate him for. And in all the times we worked together prior to coming back — and look, I can’t speak for him, I don’t know — but I do know how he treated me. He always treated me well. So he was a top talent, and obviously married in, but if he had married Betty down the street, he’d still be in the same position he is in today because he still has those qualifications. He still has that love and that desire for the business. That’s what I appreciate as well. We do share the same love and appreciation for the business. We always did. That’s the thing. That is 100% just rumor, gossip — people going, ‘Oh, well, you know.’ It’s simply not true in any way, shape, or form.”

“Any perceived hard feelings — I don’t know where they would have ever come from, because there weren’t any. So there wasn’t that opportunity to do that. Working with him as a talent, for me, I loved it. It was fun to work with. People want to create animosity, want to create all these things that simply aren’t there, because they’ve never been in that kind of role. They’ve never done it, so they don’t understand what comes with it. And yes, we are human beings. And yes, there are times when things don’t go your way — that you get angry, you get pissed, and you’re upset about things.”

The post Bruce Prichard addresses rumors of him “hating” Paul “Triple H” Levesque appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Jim had a huge contribution to the business in general. Jim wrote the soundtrack for a lot of people’s youths. The issue becomes with only having one person to do that, after a while, it all starts to sound the same. It’s not a knock on that person.”

“I thought his work was great, but when you have so much of it, it can sound the same. Instead of getting more help, you want to keep more control. Let go man, take the help.”

Does Jim Johnston belong in the WWE Hall of Fame? pic.twitter.com/Wy7ryw9hFH

— Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard (@PrichardShow) December 20, 2025

The post Bruce Prichard on Jim Johnston’s music in WWE: “After a while, everything sounds like Bam Bam Bigelow’s entrance” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Paul listened to the audience… You’re listening to the people that are buying the tickets, and that’s key. Listen to the folks that are buying tickets and watching the television show, not the ones that just want to critique it. They will tell you what’s working and what isn’t working. And you can either take the opinion of, ‘Well, I know better than them,’ or you can have that open mind and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t look at it like that.’ If you listen, the audience will always help you and tell you what’s working and what isn’t working. You just have to be honest enough and open enough to listen. I think that was an important thing that Paul did.

Paul loved to come out and talk to the people buying tickets, find out what they were into. ‘What do you like? Who’s your favorite? Really? Why? Who do you not like? Is there anybody out there you’d like to see?’ He would listen, and then he would say, ‘Okay, hey, Bruce, find this guy,’ or whatever. Then we would go in search of that. So you would bring the audience what they were clamoring for. And our job is to piss them off at times, too. If you piss them off, that’s good—you just don’t want to piss off the audience in the wrong way. Listening is the best advice I’ve ever gotten from the most successful people before me.”

The post Bruce Prichard says “listening” to wrestling fans that buy tickets is the best advice he has received appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I just want to address the elephant in the room. There’s been a lot of rumor and innuendo about Bruce Prichard. Just to clear it up, Bruce Prichard is still with WWE. Bruce Prichard is not quitting his podcast. But if you’re a longtime listener of this show, you know that there have been health events in the Prichard family and household, and right now, Brice is gonna take a little bit of a leave of absence from WWE, and he’s gonna be away, taking care of what’s really important.” (quote courtesy of Colin Tessier)

The post Conrad Thompson addresses internet report about Bruce Prichard’s status with WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Meltzer noted that Prichard’s absence is officially said to be due to a family emergency while Hayes’ absence is due to personal issues. Speculation about Hayes started when James Gibson was listed as the producer of the Bloodline match at Crown Jewel. Hayes, who has a long history with the Anoa’i family, has typically been the producer for Reigns’ matches.

Meltzer also stated the following about the situation…

“While both absences have taken place at the same time, there is no actual connection between the two and those in WWE emphasize that this is not the old guard being moved out, as people would speculate and that both will be back.”

The post Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes reportedly on temporary leave from WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.