‘WWE Unreal’: Chris Weaver & Bianca Belair On Pulling Back The Curtain, John Cena’s Final Run, & The Reality Behind Wrestling’s Grind [Bingeworthy Podcast]

On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by Director Chris Weaver and Wrestling Superstar Bianca Belair to talk about “WWE Unreal,” Netflix’s new docu-series that finally takes fans inside the machine behind professional wrestling. For the first time, WWE allows cameras into its most sacred spaces, including the writer’s room, backstage before matches, and the constantly shifting road to WrestleMania, showing the creative chaos and real emotional toll that powers one of the most watched weekly dramas in the world.

The series comes from NFL Films (“Quarterback,” “Receiver”), with Chris Weaver serving as director. Weaver didn’t consider himself a die-hard wrestling fan going in, but that distance became part of the creative advantage. “I wasn’t this huge fan dropping in and trying to overdo it, but our other showrunner Erik Powers is an encyclopedic fan,” Weaver said. “It was a good dynamic. I could be the outsider voice, and he could be in the weeds.”

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When it came to access, Weaver admitted they weren’t sure how far WWE would really let them go. However, even long-time WWE employees began taking notice once they started filming. “They said, ‘We’re going to let you in,’ but we didn’t know what that meant,” Weaver admitted. “Then people backstage started saying, ‘Whoa, you’re shooting that?’ That’s when I realized we were getting something special.”

In Weaver’s eyes, the standout moment of the series is unquestionably John Cena’s retirement run and heel turn – a monumental moment for fans, seeing as Cena has never been the “bad guy” in his whole WWE run. The reveal was such a well-kept secret that it even caught the filmmakers off guard. “We didn’t know about it until minutes before the match,” Weaver said. “My immediate thought was, how do we show this process? Because that’s what the show is—it’s about the process behind what fans see on TV. We had to tell the story entirely through interviews with Hunter, Bruce, and Ed Koskey. And what’s amazing is they all had different versions of how it went down.”

Weaver compared the episode to a true crime story. “It plays like a mystery,” he said. “There wasn’t a lot of behind-the-scenes footage to lean on, so our producer Andrew Cordova had to build that sequence like a puzzle, and I think it’s one of the most powerful episodes of the season.”

Beyond the spectacle, what WWE Unreal captures best is the relentless pace of WWE life. “It’s not for everybody,” Weaver said. “They finish a major event like WrestleMania, pat each other on the back for a few minutes, and then the script for Raw the next night is already in Hunter’s hand. It made me rethink how I approach work in general.”

As for a second season, Weaver hopes this is just the beginning. “Netflix evaluates these things quickly, so we’ll see, but I’m thoroughly enjoying this. I hope we get to keep going.”

In the second Bingeworthy interview, WWE superstar Bianca Belair offers her perspective from inside the ring and behind the curtain. “There are definitely people who are more protective of what we do,” she said. “But this documentary is for the people who don’t know much about WWE or have misconceptions. I had misconceptions too, until I got into it and saw everything that goes into this. It’s more than hitting moves and grabbing chairs. It’s production. It’s chaos. It’s art.”

Belair also opens up about one of her lesser-known talents prominently featured in the show: designing and sewing her own gear. “When I joined WWE, my husband bought me my first sewing machine. I never took a class. I just taught myself on YouTube. I’m a little control freak, but I love it,” Belair said. “When I see myself in the video game or an action figure, it’s wearing something I made with my own hands.”

She’s also the sometimes unofficial locker room tailor. “People always ask me, ‘Do you have scissors, needle, and thread?’ And I always do—right in my purse. I’ve done emergency fixes right before we go out.”

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Belair also emphasized how tight-knit the women’s division is behind the scenes. “You see your coworkers more than your family, so they become your family,” she said. “We all want to give each other the best match possible. WrestleMania with me, Rhea [Ripley], and Iyo [Sky]—we’ve been fighting since NXT (WWE’s equivalent to the minor leagues). We trust each other completely.”

When asked about the usually guarded process of match preparation, she explained that it depends on the setting. “For TV, we usually prepare just the finish and some big moments; the rest is improv. If I’m with someone like Becky [Lynch] or Bayley, who I’ve wrestled a million times, we don’t need to plan much. We know each other. But for something like the Royal Rumble, you plan a lot. Sometimes your entrance music is hitting and you’re still backstage working things out.”

Belair believes the transparency seen in Unreal is here to stay. “We’re in a time where people already know it’s scripted. So let’s show them how it works. Let’s show them how much skill, production, and heart go into it. That’s only going to earn more respect. Just like people respect Cirque du Soleil performers, they will start seeing us the same way.”

WWE Unreal is now streaming on Netflix. Listen to the full interviews with Chris Weaver and Bianca Belair below.

Bingeworthy is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes Deep Focus, The Discourse, and more. We can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article.. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.

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