Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes to make your favourite WWE matches and storylines come to life? In this video, we uncover the crucial roles of WWE Agents and Producers. Discover how these unsung heroes of the wrestling world work .
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You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#tripleh #jasonjordan #tysonkidd #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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00:00 If you're a wrestling fan and you've been really watching for a long time,
00:04 maybe reading those dirt sheets, you've heard the term "agent" or "producer"
00:10 attached to certain people backstage in WWE. And maybe for the more casual fan
00:16 you wonder, what the heck does a backstage producer or agent do? We've
00:20 heard names like former pro wrestlers who had in-ring action like Jason Jordan,
00:26 Tyson Kidd, Michael PS Hayes, and so many more being listed as agents for WWE
00:32 matches. Names like Pete Dunne and Robert Roode have slowly been entering those
00:37 same type of reports. It seems like a role tailor-made for wrestlers post their
00:43 in-ring career, because it is. While many wrestling fans have a rough idea of what
00:50 a producer does, most have no clue that they're basically the glue that keeps
00:55 the show together. Let's get into it. This is Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin.
01:01 Let us know your thoughts on producers in wrestling and agents and veterans
01:06 taking on new roles behind the scenes in the comments below. To give a rough
01:10 outline of what a producer is known for, it's a role that seems to be the person
01:15 in charge who's not in the ring in terms of a specific match or segment. They help
01:20 wrestlers organize a match, give them an idea on what the story should be told
01:25 bell-to-bell, ideas for big spots, and most importantly craft the finish of the
01:30 match within the pace of the performance. They serve as a middleman or mediators
01:35 between the talent, the creative team, and the production team to make sure that
01:41 everything is in sync. They're the main channel of communication between all of
01:45 these parties at the same time. They convey the ideas from creative to talent
01:50 while also providing feedback from talent back to creative. The backstage
01:55 producers have to make sure that the matches and segments, those are the
01:58 promos and interviews as well, are well primed and execute specifically on the
02:04 time they are in a television show and maintain direction from ringside as well
02:10 with referees to plan out the spots in advance so that everything is paced. You
02:15 notice how there's always some big moves right before a commercial break. Agents,
02:19 producers, they're involved in all of those decisions and their involvement
02:23 can carry in a very, very big way. For example, let's take a random match you
02:28 see on Monday Night Raw with little to no consequence that you can see on the
02:33 surface. The producers meet with the talent throughout the day to find the
02:37 time of the match that is allotted within what Raw will broadcast, the
02:41 finish of the match, and coordinate with them the best plan to deliver on the
02:45 orders handed down. On the other hand, the matches have high stakes and big
02:50 storyline implications week to week. Producers have to sit down with the
02:54 talent and explain everything with them start to finish that goes beyond just
02:59 that specific week. Taking another example, let's look at many of the
03:03 matches from last year involving the Bloodline. They were described as
03:07 cinematic and long-term booking had to be applied to them and that isn't only
03:12 because of what happened in the ring but because of how they were planned outside
03:16 of the ring. Some believe that pro wrestling is at its dramatic best when
03:20 matches are tooled for starting, furthering, and ending a story with
03:26 characters and this is where the producers really have to go into the
03:31 nitty-gritty of planning a match because the consequences of it play into the
03:36 next storyline, the next TV show, to keep fans hooked like a bass being reeled in
03:41 from a lake. And in this case, these pro wrestling minds who are not in the ring
03:47 instruct the superstars on those certain maneuvers, those certain elements to tell
03:52 that specific story to incite the intended reaction they want which is a
03:58 live crowd going nuts and people losing their minds watching it at home and of
04:02 course tweeting about it on social media. The reason this is needed is because it
04:07 gives the characters more of a calculated flow of how a story will play
04:10 out week to week as the characters developed over time. The basic term for
04:16 this is ring psychology. Being able to teach a pro wrestler how to play into
04:22 the psychology means that these producers also have the role of being
04:26 mentors to younger superstars and in some cases recalibrating veteran talent
04:32 as well. It's possible that first season veterans like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins,
04:37 Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, and others may only need to give a rundown of those
04:41 psychological specifics and the story that's being told in the match. In other
04:46 cases they may contribute more. It's a case-by-case basis especially with more
04:51 established active in ring talents. Based on some public knowledge producers spend
04:55 a lot more time developing talent who have less time in front of the four
05:00 walls of WWE with TV, a live audience, and all the different metrics to deliver in
05:06 the machine that never seems to end and when they help wrestlers elicit
05:11 reactions out of specific moments it's a big part of the role and they play a
05:16 huge part in it. Most fans don't know how much work and strenuous travel goes in
05:22 behind the scenes to elicit these memorable moments. The unfortunate
05:28 reality is that 100% of the credit really goes to the wrestlers in most
05:33 cases. The producers are a part of those special moments. There were men and women
05:38 that you don't see on camera that were there week to week to get a moment like
05:43 Cody Rhodes taking the belt off Roman Reigns to feel so special with so many
05:49 different moving elements involved. The role of former wrestlers becoming
05:53 producers has been around the pro wrestling industry for quite some time.
05:57 Decades ago the bookers of promotions were the ones who took on this role of
06:03 being the producers doing every little detail of a show behind the scenes but
06:08 once veterans began retiring some of them took over that role which was much
06:14 needed in the delegation of tasks and dealing with all the different talent
06:18 with different storylines in the three ring circus of a pro wrestling show
06:22 especially one that's on TV. This specific spot is tailor-made for
06:27 experienced veterans who understand how to listen to the crowd but also know how
06:32 to perform to the fan they can't see. Those watching at home because of those
06:38 people who know how to tell that story in the ring. An early example of a huge
06:43 match being crafted was the Wrestlemania 6 main event between Hulk Hogan and the
06:49 Ultimate Warrior. WWE legend Pat Patterson was responsible for producing
06:55 the iconic bout bell to bell. Patterson was a huge reason why the match was a
07:01 big hit as it was the reason why it has stood the test of time with his precise
07:06 pacing put in to the performance. For those wondering why it was so special
07:12 context is key. Sure there may have been a lot of Wrestlemania matches in the
07:17 years since that are maybe superior or whatever but Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior
07:23 at the time yeah how many have held up like that one? Not too many. The reason
07:30 why is Hulk Hogan who was a living legend already couldn't just handle it
07:35 all himself and it's because there was bigger elements at play. Back in 1990 the
07:41 idea of having a blockbuster main event between two good guys was extremely rare
07:47 and how do you protect both and make it still feel satisfying for both fans who
07:53 have someone they're supporting in that performance. If there wasn't an
07:58 experienced former wrestler like Pat Patterson to handle all of those things
08:02 and how they play out start to finish the chances of Hulk Hogan vs the
08:07 Ultimate Warrior being as memorable would have been slim. Being a producer
08:11 isn't exactly an easy job yeah it's not necessarily all it's chalked up to be
08:17 because there have been quite a few reported examples of situations where
08:21 it's clear that the job isn't exactly always fun. Take Dustin Rhodes for
08:27 example the man who many know is Goldus the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes
08:33 and yes the brother of Cody Rhodes. In the early 2010s he was looking to
08:39 transition out of his in-ring career as a wrestler and get a job backstage as a
08:44 producer in WWE. He revealed the pressure of the job at a talk with Inside the
08:49 Ropes. At the time producers also had to work their way up the ladder if they
08:53 were green to that specific spot in the company and they would get their start
08:57 with the Divas as they were called the women of WWE at the time. Now imagine the
09:03 pressure cooker that Dustin Rhodes is under with the headset on in the gorilla
09:08 position right behind that curtain and he could hear WWE boss Vince McMahon
09:13 talking on the side. WWE TV director Kevin Dunn in the production truck.
09:18 Another producer Billy Kidman telling him about the times and cues he had to
09:23 give the performers in the ring. All of this at the same time in real time with
09:30 very serious consequence. In this case the Divas did the opposite of what
09:35 Dustin Rhodes told them to do and the match didn't exactly hit the mark.
09:40 McMahon put him on blast telling Dustin it was his fault not the performers in
09:46 the match and he knew then that the producer role may have not been for him
09:51 in WWE and he was maybe waiting to get let go from the company. That finally
09:56 came in 2012 when during a match Yoshitatsu took a double powerbomb from
10:02 Darren Young and Titus O'Neil. The way Yoshitatsu landed looked a lot worse on
10:08 TV than it did in real life and that's because Dustin Rhodes was the one
10:13 producing the match. He was held responsible and reportedly was let go
10:18 for it. It has a similar role in AEW where these same type of people are
10:24 referred to as coaches and reportedly Dustin Rhodes is a lot happier being a
10:29 coach in AEW. He revealed to Thunder Rosa another member of the All Elite
10:34 locker room on her vlog that WWE's role for producers is far stricter and
10:39 everybody needs to follow the orders without much wiggle room. In AEW they're
10:45 known as coaches as we mentioned and they kind of had the opportunity to
10:50 really coach talent a lot more. Back in 2019 WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson's
10:57 nearly two decade long working relationship as a producer in WWE came
11:03 to an end when he was overseeing a non televised live event match where Alicia
11:10 Fox reportedly was in the ring and may have been intoxicated. Brian Myers who
11:16 many of you know as Curt Hawkins described the role of a producer in WWE
11:22 as thankless. In an interview with Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM, Myers reflected
11:28 on his two-month tenure as a backstage producer in WWE in 2018 back when he was
11:34 injured and not an active in-ring competitor. Because of his trusted role
11:39 in the company as a talent willing to make anyone look good, McMahon and others
11:44 granted his request to try out as a producer. He got insight from both sides
11:49 of the coin and when it came to McMahon he understood why McMahon got to where
11:54 he was while simultaneously wondering if his boss was insane.
11:59 Myers said that the reason why it's a thankless job is because if a producer
12:05 does something right then it's just business as usual on to the next. They're
12:09 supposed to do that but if they do something wrong they get completely
12:13 chewed out. This is just the machine of WWE as it stood at the time. We can only
12:18 hope the culture of chewing out producers or talent has hopefully cooled
12:23 off as of 2022 with obviously a new regime in place in WWE. If you look at
12:30 the current roster of WWE's producers alone you can see it's a spot of 100%
12:36 reserved for just former wrestlers. Those people that know how to run the ropes,
12:41 perform on camera. The producing role is also a very special one for those who
12:46 dedicated their lives and bodies to the business but simply due to injuries
12:51 could not continue like Jason Jordan and Tyson Kidd. They're still critical
12:56 members of what you see on WWE every single day. So while the common fan may
13:02 think it's just a process that's on the surface, Triple H is in charge, his
13:06 writers write it, the talent goes out there and perform it, it's just not that
13:10 simple and it could evolve and change over time. More than just employment and
13:16 a very good paycheck with the number one wrestling company in the world, a
13:20 producer in WWE and other televised companies have the opportunity for
13:25 wrestlers to make an impact on the business with eyes that are outside of
13:30 the ring. Just in time they're there behind the curtain to provide that
13:35 knowledge. In most cases the producers working behind the scenes often have a
13:40 bigger impact from a backstage role than they do maybe even in their in-ring
13:45 roles when they were performing. So remember to give them credit for all the
13:49 great stuff you're seeing on TV right now and everything you've seen before.
13:54 Thank you for watching. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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