Tag: wwe: unreal

‘WWE: Unreal’ earns three Sports Emmy Award nominations

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Netflix’s “WWE: Unreal” docuseries is up for multiple awards in the 47th Annual Sports Emmys.

The nominees were revealed on Wednesday with “Unreal” being recognized in three categories: Outstanding Sports Documentary Series: Serialized, Outstanding Sports Editing: Long Form, and Outstanding Sports Design: Speciality. We’ll find out the winners when the award ceremony is held on May 26.

“Unreal” debuted in 2025, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at WWE’s creative process and some of the company’s stars. Season two then arrived this January, with the next season slated to drop later in the year.

“WWE: Unreal’s nomination for three Sports Emmys is a testament to the work and dedication of every single individual @WWE whose work makes us run,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque tweeted. “Also, a massive thank you to our partners who helped bring this show to life and congratulations to all involved in the show and its production. @netflix @OmahaProd @NFLFilms & @Skydance Sports”

The eligibility period for the Sports Emmys covers the calendar year of 2025. Here are all of the nominees for the categories “WWE: Unreal” is up for:

Outstanding Sports Documentary Series: Serialized

  • Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues
  • The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox
  • Formula 1: Drive to Survive
  • Full Court Press
  • Quarterback
  • WWE: Unreal

Outstanding Sports Editing: Long Form

  • American Thunder: NASCAR at Le Mans
  • America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys
  • Butterfly in a Blizzard
  • Celtics City
  • Saquon
  • We Beat the Dream Team
  • WWE: Unreal

Outstanding Sports Graphic Design: Specialty

  • Believers: Boston Red Sox
  • MLB Now Open
  • NFL on CBS: The Evolution of the Big Head – Merging Human Artistry with AI Innovation
  • NFL Slimetime
  • WWE: Unreal

The Sports Emmys are a subcategory of the Emmys, which is best known for its annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Undertaker: WWE has gotten ‘too comfortable’ pulling back the curtain

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As you’d probably expect given his old-school mentality, The Undertaker isn’t the biggest fan of “WWE: Unreal.”

The latest episode of Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast included a discussion about the “Unreal” docuseries. While Undertaker thinks the show is well done, he does not like pulling back the curtain in this way.

“The actual presentation and everything is wonderful, right? From my aspect and my end of the business, I don’t like it,” Undertaker said. “And everybody’s going to say, ‘Oh my God, that’s an old-school guy trying to protect kayfabe.’ Look, I don’t care if it’s 2025, it’s 1990, or it’s 1984. Everybody understands what wrestling is. Everybody knows. Ain’t no big veil been lifted — except I don’t want to go to see a magician and know how he’s doing everything. And I understand that there’s a huge part, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, I want to do that.’ But there’s still that aspect…

“Everybody knows what we do, right? But when I’m in the ring, my whole goal, my motivation is to get one person, just one person to think, ‘Wow, Undertaker just clocked him. I don’t care what everybody else is doing. That right there, that was the real thing.’ So there’s always the doubt.”

Undertaker admitted that he knows people on the internet will take issue with his comments and feel like he’s out of touch. Still, he wishes pro wrestling would not expose the business as much as it does. Even hosting his own podcast can be difficult for Undertaker given his reluctance to pull back the curtain.

“I think we’re too comfortable now in talking about our business. And I struggle on these podcasts too, because it’s hard to talk. It’s hard to talk and tell stories without lifting it up a little bit,” he said. “But I think we’ve gone too far. And again, I understand. Everyone knows what it is, what we do. But there’s got to be a little bit of mystery.”

The second season of “Unreal” premiered on January 20, and the series has already been renewed for season three.

Undertaker retired in 2020 and is now involved behind the scenes in WWE, helping lead creative for Lucha Libre AAA.

Pat McAfee reacts to ‘WWE: Unreal’ clip, says facing Gunther was an honor

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Despite initially being skeptical of the concept, Pat McAfee has enjoyed the inside look that “WWE: Unreal” provides.

Season two of the docuseries arrived on Netflix this week with the first episode spotlighting McAfee as he prepared for his Backlash 2025 match against Gunther. One of the most talked about clips online has been a writers’ room discussion over who should win the match. Bruce Prichard said Gunther winning would be too predictable, but writer Jonathan Baeckstrom pushed back against a McAfee victory, explaining why it would be hard to move forward with Gunther after losing to a color commentator.

McAfee responded to the clip by sharing that he didn’t love the concept of “Unreal” when he first heard about it. But he’s “actually enjoyed” the series and is looking forward to showing it to his children and grandchildren one day, though he joked that he might not let them see this specific discussion about why Gunther should beat him.

“‘Twas an absolute honor to get to share the ring with The Ring General,” McAfee wrote.

“I, like many lifelong marks, didn’t love the #WWEUnreal concept when I heard of it.. I enjoy the suspension of belief and the magic of escape thru professional wrestling. I thought that would get ruined for the next generation of fans.. TBD but, I have a funny suspicion that professional wrestling is always gonna be a-ok.. when it’s done right, there’s not much better ENTERTAINMENT.

“What I’ve realized is I’ve actually enjoyed learning how the sausage is actually made.. I hope the show does good for the business.

“I’m thankful I’ll be able to show my kids and grandkids that I was lucky to do really cool things.. this particular scene will probably not be shown to them [laughs] but; the rest of the episode was really cool to re-live.”

Gunther did end up defeating McAfee at the PLE, which is the most recent time McAfee has competed in the ring. McAfee has been absent from his WWE commentary role since June 2025 due to feeling exhausted and like he had hit a wall with all the work he was doing. He hosts a show on ESPN every weekday and also contributes to the network’s college football coverage.

On “Unreal,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque said he believes a lot of people view McAfee as the face of WWE.

‘WWE: Unreal’ reveals scrapped plans for SummerSlam 2025

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The new season of “WWE: Unreal” shows how differently SummerSlam 2025 could have looked if early ideas for the show came to fruition.

In episode four of season two of “Unreal,” a whiteboard is listed showing potential matches for SummerSlam. They include Roman Reigns vs. Bron Breakker, a Bella Twins return, and Finn Balor bringing back his Demon character for a match against Judgment Day stablemate Dominik Mysterio.

  • World Heavyweight Championship match: CM Punk vs. Gunther
  • Roman Reigns vs. Bron Breakker
  • Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins (w/ Bronson Reed)
  • Women’s World Championship match: IYO SKY vs. Naomi
  • Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka
  • Jey Uso vs. Rusev
  • Finn Balor (The Demon) vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Women’s Intercontinental Championship match: Bayley vs. Becky Lynch
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match: The Bella Twins vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Of those, Punk vs. Gunther is the only match that happened exactly as it was listed. They main evented night one of the two-night PLE with Seth Rollins then cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Punk. Rollins’ cash-in is one of the key plot points of “Unreal” season two with WWE trying to keep up the ruse involving his kayfabe knee injury.

Liv Morgan’s shoulder injury from 2025 derailed plans for her to feud with Nikki Bella. The Bella Twins vs. Morgan & Rodriguez tag match never happened — and Brie Bella has yet to return to WWE alongside her sister.

Another whiteboard shown on “Unreal” lists Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship and Trish Stratus vs. TBD as SummerSlam matches. Rhodes vs. Cena ended up headlining night two of the PLE. Stratus did not compete on the card.

Netflix renews ‘WWE: Unreal’ for season three, update on timeframe and focus

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Season two of “WWE: Unreal” arrived on Netflix today — and we already know when the show will be back with new episodes.

The final episode of the new season closed with the announcement that “Unreal” has been renewed for season three. It will debut in summer 2026, with John Cena’s retirement run set to be a heavy focus. An exact premiere date will be announced in the coming months.

Brock Lesnar returning and attacking Cena is the last thing we see in season two. A teaser then airs announcing that Cena’s final run will be showcased in season three.

“We had a pretty f***ing good year,” Cena says to Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“Pretty awesome,” Levesque responds.

Among the other clips included in the teaser is Levesque telling the writers’ room that the most important thing for the December 13 Saturday Night’s Main Event episode — where Cena retired against Gunther — was making sure everything went perfect for Cena. There is also a clip of CM Punk and Cody Rhodes in the ring with Cena after his final match where Punk tells Cena that he loves him.

The “Unreal” docuseries is produced by WWE, Omaha Productions, NFL Films, and Skydance Sports. Seasons one and two each consisted of five episodes. Each episode is roughly 50-60 minutes.

Netflix reveals premiere date for ‘WWE: Unreal’ docuseries

Posted on by Joseph Currier

We now know when Netflix’s “WWE: Unreal” behind-the-scenes docuseries will be premiering.

The streaming service promoted its slate of new programming for July today, announcing that “WWE: Unreal” will make its debut on Tuesday, July 29. Season one will consist of five episodes with each being 50 minutes long.

“For the first time ever, step into the WWE writer’s room and outside the ring with your favorite WWE Superstars, where the drama is just as intense offstage as it is under the spotlight,” Netflix’s description for the show says.

The series is produced by WWE, Skydance Sports, NFL Films, and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. The NFL legend Manning is listed as one of the executive producers for “WWE: Unreal” along with Jamie Horowitz, Ross Ketover, Keith Cossrow, Ken Rodgers, Jessica Boddy, Lee Fitting, Ben Houser, and Marc Pomarico.

“WWE: Unreal” has been in development since WWE entered into its partnership with Netflix, which became the broadcast home of Raw at the start of 2025. Netflix also carries a wider array of WWE programming in international markets outside of the United States.

An official teaser trailer for “WWE: Unreal” was released back in April:

Netflix reveals trailer, new details for ‘WWE: Unreal’ docuseries

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Netflix has provided a quick first glimpse at its upcoming WWE docuseries

Sunday during the WrestleMania 41 night two broadcast, it was announced that “WWE: Unreal” is set to premiere this summer, giving fans a look at the WWE writers’ room and what goes on backstage. Netflix followed that up this morning by releasing the official trailer for the show.

“We’re going to lift the curtain,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque says in the trailer, which includes behind-the-scenes footage of him in the writers’ room and interacting backstage with Jey Uso.

The trailer also shows footage of WWE’s producers watching the 2025 Royal Rumble live as it was happening. “If they think this is awesome, they haven’t seen sh*t yet,” Michael Hayes says.

An exact premiere date has not been announced yet. Here is Netflix’s description for the show:

For the first time ever, step into the WWE writer’s room and outside the ring with your favorite WWE Superstars, where the drama is just as intense offstage as it is under the spotlight. 

Variety reports that the series will have 10 episodes with each being 50 minutes long. It’s produced by Omaha Productions, NFL Films, Skydance Sports, and WWE. Omaha Productions (founded by NFL legend Peyton Manning) also produces Stephanie McMahon and WWE’s show “Stephanie’s Places” for ESPN+.

Netflix became the new broadcast home of WWE Raw in the United States this January, with international markets also getting a wider array of WWE programming in addition to Raw.