In a trend that’s been happening more and more lately, we’re seeing wrestlers open up about their experiences in the WWE under the ever micro-managing eye of Vince McMahon. One of the more vocal has been AEW’s Brodie Lee (formerly Luke Harper in the WWE) as he’s shared some of his not-so-fond-WWE memories.
It’s a regular occurrence for a former employee not to like an employer and speak out about their feelings. It’s also just as regular as many just chalk it up to be disgruntled or not understanding why they want more creative freedom instead of just taking the money. It’s something artists of all walks of like have been dealing with for centuries, so wrestlers aren’t any different.
Creative input
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejRixFV41Zc
Whether it’s creating a character for a table top or other role playing game, or for one’s livelihood, we put something of ourselves into it. Our experiences and emotions help bring those characters to life as we’re invested in them. However, selling said ideas isn’t always the easiest thing to do, as Brodie Lee pointed out.
(Special thanks to @high_risk_maneuver for the quotes found throughout this article.)
“I pitched a whole bunch of different things or angles and ideas to change the character and (Vince) just wasn’t buying them. I wanted to be a collector of some sort. I’m very much into serial killers, so I wanted to collect Something from each person I would beat. The problem became I wasn’t beating anybody. I also wanted to be a smart monster, and intelligent monster, where I could speak like I do in an intelligent way and break my opponents down in a way that I wasn’t doing in the Wyatt family. Having the same matches I was having and look the same, but also intelligent. Almost like Bruiser Brody. I don’t think he could see that way of talking.”
Ouch. Being told our ideas won’t work because one person doesn’t like them is rough, but it’s how it sometimes goes. But then when ideas come our way that aren’t good or won’t work for various reasons but we’re expected to make them work doesn’t always work out well.
Case in point, asking someone to use an accent they can’t do convincingly, but expecting them to do it anyway.
“I remember going into his office and him telling me, ‘Iwant you to do a southern drawl.’ I was like, ‘I’m from Rochester, New York. I think it’s going to sound really fake.’
“He goes, ‘We don’t want it to sound fake. Just do me a favor and try it.’ I did it for him and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I don’t like that.’ I remember walking out and thinking, ‘That’s gone, it’s never going to come up again.’ Next week in the script, it was specific: Luke Harper do a southern accent.”
Buried alive
There are many that try their best and, for one reason or another, aren’t given a fair chance to establish themselves in their current role. There are even those we never get to see on television despite the fact they’re champions.
Sometimes it’s their gimmick we’re not buying into (Seth Rollins as a face is a perfect example). It’s understandable that the talent would want to try a different tactic. It’s standard for any entertainer, but when those ideas are nixed and Lee and others are left to flounder, what can they do?
“I won the Intercontinental Championship. I had it for I think 27 days and had a hell of a — like the next several months I worked with Dolph (Ziggler)at all of the house shows and had a blast, had a great ladder match with Dolph and that was probably the peak. It was his hometown. I got my wife to worry about me because she was live and thought I got hurt so I knew I did a good job.
“That was kinda like the peak, but even then I don’t think I won a match on TV with the belt. I did a bunch of DQs, lost a bunch of matches, and it was almost like I lost favor instantly as soon as I won the belt. It was like, ‘Oh, here you go,’ and they didn’t give me a chance to do anything with it.
“I pitched a bunch of ideas to change the angle and the character, but (Vince McMahon) just wasn’t buying them.”
Unfortunately, this is something we’ve heard again and again from former wrestlers and those that have left the company for the freedom they were denied.
It’s important to note that there have been a few that were given their creative freedom to some extent as long as McMahon agreed with them or his other ideas didn’t work out and he just let them be them (Steve Austin, for example).
It can be hard for a micro manager to let go, but it’s also important to give everyone a fair chance. One of the things in the WWE, according to various reports and what we’ve seen on television, is McMahon can change his mind in a heartbeat and that wrestler is buried. Rumor has it that it can happen for any reason (Sneezing or coughing around certain people maybe? If the rumors are true).
Holding on
According to Brodie Lee, he was offered a contract until the day he left
“I was offered contract all the way up to the day they called to release me. Their (WWE’s) M.O. was to keep everyone at that time. They knew that I was gonna be gone and I was going to go to AEW as soon as I can.”
While it’s important we take Lee’s comments with a grain of salt out of fairness, this isn’t a surprise. We’ve mentioned numerous times how the WWE has made it a habit for the last twenty years to sign every promising talent away from other promotions seemingly to keep said promotions from becoming a threat. As the Disney of professional wrestling, the WWE was able to get away with it for years, but between the rise of AEW as a potential safe haven, the promotion hemorrhaging money, and now the coronavirus shutting down live events, they’re unable to continue to do so, and there are rumors they may even release some of their stockpiled talent to try to balance the ledger.
It could be bad if that happens as even AEW isn’t a lock as they’re suffering through shows without fans in attendance as well.
While it’s a business decision on the WWE’s part they may have to make, it’s not going to endear them to those same or future wrestlers looking for a home.
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