WWE News: Former WWE Writer Brian Gewirtz Talks Meeting Vince McMahon, WWE Tenure

During the Attitude Era, there weren’t many writers on Vince McMahon’s creative staff. Vince Russo is one of the most popular. That was a simpler time in pro wrestling when kayfabe was alive and folks still thought it was real. The Attitude Era allowed writers to still keep those characters that were larger than life. In 2016, that type of art isn’t around anymore. Stardust was the last one to actually portray his character on television and in real life.

In today’s WWE, there are several writers — likely more than 20 — on the writing staff. Many WWE fans accuse them of having “too many cooks in the kitchen.” While that’s not a harsh accusation, it may have become a reality. The last stop for what goes on television is and will always be Vince McMahon. Folks who continue to talk badly about WWE Creative needs to understand that McMahon has the final say.

Cody Rhodes, who left the WWE, pointed that out. He was frustrated with various WWE writers about ignoring his ideas or just flat-out not utilizing him to his full potential. In his letter to WWE fans, he pointed out that one of the writers is a “Brian Gewirtz-wannabe.” Speaking of Gewirtz, he was, at one point, the sole writer for the Rock when he would appear in the WWE.

In July of 2015, he left the WWE for a job with the Rock. He’s been busy but took some time to speak with Chris Jericho on his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, about meeting Vince McMahon and his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment.

The Daily Wrestling News had a summary of their chat.

“Old Timers didn’t take well to ‘a guy who looked like a twelve year old wearing superhero shirts and playing with a yo-yo writing their material.’

“Brian was hired in 1999 and promoted to head-writer of WWE in 2002. He then became the Senior Vice President of the Writing Department—a job he admits he should never have taken. He says the SVP position was much more managerial, when ‘all he wanted to do was write Funaki jokes.'”

WWE Creative has helped build stars in the industry that possibly shouldn’t have even become popular. It’s fair to say Daniel Bryan wouldn’t have been the star he was without the WWE machine behind him. As much as McMahon says that nobody is bigger than the WWE, he is right. Enigmas like CM Punk don’t come around every day. He was just as much of a success as Bryan.

McMahon got behind both men, which solidified their spot in the main event. However, WWE Creative isn’t perfect. They missed out on guys like Damien Sandow and Rhodes. Sandow spoke to Vince Russo on his podcast, The Brand, about the “Creative machine.”

“There are top guys in our industry, guys who had been pushed, who had actually had the creative machine behind them, and I just took a stunt double thing and because of being constantly creative, it turned into this. There is nothing more I can do in the industry that will equal this. Who gets this kind of reaction without the machine behind him? And, it was genuine, it was not forced. Everyone was cheering because they wanted to.”

Should the WWE try and re-hire Gewirtz, or are there just too many writers on the staff? When there are so many ideas being floated around for several shows, things can get complicated in a hurry. During the brand split of the mid-2000s, it worked because there were separate writing teams. WWE SmackDown had Paul Heyman leading that brand. He’s one of the most intelligent promoters in history.

With the impending brand split in July, things could change for the better, but it’s going to come down to the WWE Creative team to write successful television. They have the roster. The writers have to follow suit.

[Photo by Jessica Hill/AP Images]