WWE star CM Punk has revealed one of the "secret rules" within wrestling and named the two acts who regularly use it to their advantage.
Punk, who made a shock return to WWE in 2023 after nearly a decade away following an explosive exit, is on a generational second run and finally achieved his dream of main eventing WrestleMania when he squared off against rivals Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to close out night one in Las Vegas.
His journey to the career-defining spot is captured in the all-new 'WWE Unreal' Netflix documentary, which and is released on July 29 and completely pulls back the curtain on the wrestling business.
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The five-part series starring a slew of WWE's most important figureheads and top talent offers a never-before-seen look at how the biggest matches and events are put together.
Viewers will see how captivating storylines like John Cena's industry-shattering heel turn are planned and executed in Paul 'Triple H' Levesque's meetings with his team of writers and producers.
“I think the biggest takeaway will be how detail-oriented, intricate and involved one Monday Night Raw is," Punk told SPORTbible in an exclusive interview about the documentary, which is set to completely change how the wrestling business is viewed on a wider level.
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“For them it’s Monday Night Raw but for us it’s all day Raw! We show up at the building at 11am and we don’t go live until eight. It’s an all day thing and it’s an entire process of communication.
"I think it will be interesting for the fans to see exactly what that entails, how many people are involved and what the communication process is between Triple H, writers and producers and talent and how it all translates to the final product.”
Producers are essentially the unsung heroes in the WWE production and are tasked with putting matches together and ensuring that they run smoothly and on time - with every second crucial.
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The show highlights the sheer chaos of a producer speaking to an earpiece-wearing referee, checking on potential injuries and issues and calling for the finishing sequence.
Punk, a 28-year veteran, explained that talent can avoid an earful from those backstage if they go over their time - but only if what they produce is of the highest caliber.
He went on to disclose that segments involving The Rock and The Bloodline faction typically get a free pass because of the unparalleled crowd participation from the thousands in attendance.
"It’s one of the secret rules," the 46-year-old admitted.
"As long as it’s really, really good, you can get away with it. Going 20 minutes over and you suck, that’s no good.
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“I don’t want to cut into anyone else’s segment and there’s a lot of times I have X amount of time for something and I don’t think I need all that time, I’ll just go out there and go short. I would rather go short than long. If Rhea [Ripley] is in the next segment, I can nudge here and be like, ‘Hey, you guys need two minutes? I can give you two minutes’.
“That’s the way a lot of the talent work together. I know there is a lot of Bloodline segments or stuff with The Rock, when it’s really good and the crowd’s going absolutely banana for it - you can’t really rush through it.
“The overseas crowds, they love to sing and they love their soccer chants. You want the fans to react and don’t want to step on that because that makes the moment special.”
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Former women's world champion, Rhea Ripley, one of the company's biggest stars and a key character in 'WWE Unreal', was let off the hook when one of the biggest matches of her career went significantly over back in 2020.
Ripley revealed: “I’ve never been punished but I know that one of my matches, the COVID era WrestleMania with Charlotte [Flair] - we definitely went double the time we were supposed to but we didn’t get punished for it.”
CM Punk revealed the expletive-filled phrase he tells 'panicking' referees
Producers and referees have a duty of hurrying up those inside the ring when timings are tight and for the first time ever, fans are able to see that constant communication - including behind the scenes of 'Gorilla Position' for the first ever live show on Netflix in January.
However, Punk, who faces Gunther for the WWE world heavyweight championship at SummerSlam, stressed that he is not one to panic under pressure and has no issues telling officials in his unique, expletive-filled way.
“This is something I’ve had to pull people aside to explain to them," the former UFC fighter added.
"If you have a producer that’s panicking and they’re hitting the button and screaming at the referee, the referee then in turn panics and starts screaming at the talent.
“If you’re in there with the wrong person, they’re gonna start to panic. I’ve been in there with referees that are panicking at me where I calmly turn them and I go, ‘Shut the f*** up! Calm down’.
“That’s just a level of experience speaking though. I can very much see how the lesser experienced people, you panic, everybody’s panicking and you’re gonna rush. And it’s gonna look rushed.
“I think that’s an aspect of this Netflix Unreal show that is going to be an eye-opener for fans because they’re going to see all that stuff happening in real time.
“I’m not necessarily concerned about pulling the curtain back too much because it’s all fascinating.
“Most of our fans are very intelligent, they know what they’re watching."
Raw and Smackdown take place every week, while WrestleMania and now the upcoming SummerSlam premium live event have been split into two nights to ensure more matches are given greater focus.
But with such a stacked roster, there are unfortunately some performers who struggle to get booked onto the shows.
Australian sensation Ripley, who main evented the all-female Evolution event against Iyo Sky, named Candice LeRae as someone who deserves "more of an opportunity".
She stated: "I feel like there’s a lot and it’s hard to pinpoint anyone specifically. Especially in the women’s division, there’s so many that I know are so amazing at what they do and they don’t get enough TV time or opportunities to show everyone what they can do.
“Someone that I love is Candice LeRae, going through NXT with her and seeing how her brain works and how she goes out there - she’s the veteran in the ring.
“She knows what to do, keeps everyone calm and she’s got ideas. I wish someone like her would get more of an opportunity.
“With TV there’s only a limited amount of time and everyone gets their spot. It’s just what happens in the business but there’s a lot of people who I believe should be in a different spot to what they’re in right now.”
WWE Unreal starring CM Punk and Rhea Ripley premieres on Netflix on 29 July
Josh Lawless