WWE: Unreal is already greenlit for Season 3, but it remains a divisive inclusion in professional wrestling. While some fans enjoy it, others have taken issue with how it's promoted during the actual product, which, of course, is scripted. Wrestling legends seem to be on both sides of being in support or against it, and finally, we have Stone Cold Steve Austin's take on it.
Austin was one of the baddest men in the ring during the Attitude Era, but these days, he spends more time doing cold plunges and other goofy stuff that might shock a time traveler from 1997. The WWE icon talked about the docuseries available with a Netflix subscription to SI.com, and revealed his feelings before and after watching WWE: Unreal:
I thought I was going to hate it. When you come from the era that I came from, especially if you were in a Bill Watts territory, it was kayfabe. You didn't smarten up anybody. If you smartened up anybody? You're going to get fired. If you get in a fight with some guy at a bar and he kicks your a--, you're going to get fired, because you got to protect the business. So, I thought I was going to hate it from that standpoint. They give away a lot of information, but that's what it's for, right?
Though plenty of wrestling fans were aware during the Attitude Era that the WWE is a scripted product, Stone Cold Steve Austin said it was still important for talent to maintain the illusion. To his credit, that mindset helped keep his brand strong as the tough guy of the WWE, so we still find it odd to see him doing talk shows and other things like that, even now.
Article continues belowImagine if we'd seen the real Steve Austin outside of the ring on another show, not long after seeing him do some of the most shocking things we've seen in the WWE. Fans would react to him differently now, which he suspects will be the case with the current roster when fans see them:
I think it changes the ride for the audience. When I was doing my thing, you really thought I was that guy. I wasn't back there just doing interviews, laughing, and joking because I got a sense of humor. Back then, you didn't think I had a sense of humor. You believed that I was an a-- whipping machine ... Now, if you saw me back there just laughing and joking with everybody, you might have a different perspective of Stone Cold the character.
I love hearing his perspective as a WWE legend, especially with WrestleMania 42 just around the corner. How does the WWE being more candid about its scripted nature impact it as a product, and how will the fans respond to it as more seasons come out?
There's also the meta crowd who then see supposed "candid" moments with Charlotte and CM Punk, and wonder how much of WWE: Unreal is just what the company wants us to see. One could make that guess, given it's made in-house, though that hasn't kept the Netflix series entirely free from controversy.
Love it or hate it, WWE: Unreal remains a fixture in the product, at least for the foreseeable future. It'll be interesting to see how the series continues to evolve, and which main roster talent agree to participate, while others stay away. After all, some wrestlers may prefer the old way of doing things, perhaps to keep their mystique and hopefully reach Stone Cold Steve Austin status one day.
Stream Season 1 and 2 of WWE: Unreal on Netflix right now. As a wrestling fan, I generally like watching it, though I can't imagine I would've enjoyed it when I was a kid! I wanted to believe it was real, even if I knew deep down it wasn't.
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