A fascinating read posted to imgur.com: an apparently real script for this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw. If you’ve ever thought you could do what they do in terms of writing a script for a big-time wrestling show, you’ll want to study this script.
Full disclosure: I had one shot at writing a script for a live wrestling TV show, the 2011 Awesome Wrestling Entertainment Night of the Legends pay-per-view. Which is not at all Monday Night Raw, but it was a live TV wrestling show. (Featuring Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, The Rock ‘n Roll Express, Lita, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Fit Finlay, Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, Zeb Coulter, Larry Zbyszko.
Based on my one-shot knowledge of what a script for a live wrestling TV show looks like, this is as close to the real deal as it can be, if it’s not the real deal. Language at the top of the first page on the link lists it as the third draft of the show. We can imagine that there were several more drafts after this one, but you can see the show emerging in this draft, which also included a script for the WWE Superstars matches taped before the live Raw, and the dark match main event after pitting John Cena and Bray Wyatt.
We also see how the writers sketch out scenes featuring backstage chatter, like the segment early in the show with Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista that served to swerve us from the Evolution reunion that was to become the show’s surprise ending.
One other fun thing that we see that you don’t often think about: the identity of the producers for each of the matches. Joey Mercury, Arn Anderson, Billy Kidman, John Laurinaitas, Mike Rotunda, among others, are names that will ring a bell with fans.
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