Author Reveals Who Was Scheduled To Win Jason Jordan Vs. Kurt Angle Planned WrestleMania Match
Jon Robinson, who wrote the new Creating the Mania: An Inside Look at How WrestleMania Comes to Life book, was recently interviewed by the Smark to Death podcast. You can download the podcast on iTunes, Podbean or Stitcher, they sent us these highlights:
Having behind the scenes access to WrestleMania:
"Ya know, it's crazy. When WWE came to me and asked if I was interested in writing the book, I was like 'so wait, you're gonna give me access to the creative team and the business people and the superstars themselves' and I was like 'I don't believe it.' Other WWE books maybe they promise a behind the scenes look, but maybe didn't necessarily get the true story. And I said I was gonna write it unless I could tell the true story. So, I put together a list of 50-75 people and for the most part, I got to talk to the people I wanted to talk to. I got to talk to the head of creative for Raw and Smackdown and they were filling me in on the storylines months in advance of when these matches were announced. It was pretty crazy to know what was going to happen and then actually see it change on TV. And things happen, ya know, someone gets injured or whatever."
Plans for Jason Jordan to beat Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34 earlier this year:
"They were really gonna do Kurt Angle vs Jason Jordan and this was gonna put Jason Jordan over huge and make him a top star. Then Jason Jordan gets injured, that's another big change. Then what do you do with Kurt? Then obviously he gets thrown into an even bigger match. It's crazy to see everything change from what I'm being told, to watching the show, then going back and talking to them again. Having that kind of access was incredible, especially for someone like me who has been a huge fan since I was a little kid."
Whether he feels pressure when writing these books for wrestling fans:
"No not at all. I'm a wrestling fan myself. I try to write it how I want to read about the topic. A lot of the writing process, I forget people are reading this other than myself. I used to write for ESPN, IGN, and some writing for Sports Illustrated. Sometimes you write and you forget other people actually read it. I try to write for what the audience would like and hope for the best."