How's backstage camaraderie nowadays?

[Stu]

Is it safe to say that the overall camaraderie among wrestlers is actually pretty good right now? Sure, we've had those fights involving Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar, Sin Cara and Simon Gotch. But overall, it really seems like all the guys get along and mostly spend time playing video games with Xavier Woods. Even the women all seem like friends, which is a far cry from the Diva Search era when you always heard about girls not getting along with each other.

What's the good word? Is everything going well behind the scenes?

[Spider2024]

I would think higher than TNA morale.

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

well I think the cm punk nuclear doghouse is currently unoccupied so i'd say backstage morale is high.

[xCompackx]

I'm sure it depends on the event as WrestleMania's likely a stressful time for everyone compared to, say, a house show, but it seems pretty damn chill. The younger talent dominating the locker room combined with not having guys who rile everyone up (CM Punk) probably makes for a good environment.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

Besides the alpha dogs/tense oldschool guys (parttimer legends, Orton, Cena) I think the new crop ("millenials") get along great. NXT alums seem to be very tight (Sami, Neville, Balor, Owens, Cesaro, Enzo/Cass, Horsewomen, Renee, Jojo...), never hear about any animosities from the women

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

Mar 11, 2017 10:56:08 GMT -5 Zombie Mod is not a ghoul. said:

well I think the cm punk nuclear doghouse is currently unoccupied so i'd say backstage morale is high.

Wrong. That house now belongs to Handsome Rusev and Hot Lana.

[lionelp]

Everyone has a common interest

They all hate Sami Zayn

[Perd]

Aside from the occasional attempted homicide via forklift, it's not bad.

[Chainsaw]

That's one of the things that seems to have changed a lot lately from previous years. Despite a few hiccups, it seems like everyone is very happy with each other and not a lot of people are unhappy about their situation. It's one of the benefits that you're seeing from more positive people being on the show, and more opportunities for people to shine a bit. As much as we may not like what we're getting on TV sometimes, it's definitely a more positive output on a personal level.

[Blindkarevik]

It's kinda funny, back in the day it seemed like it was all about going to a bar after the show, getting drunk as hell and raising hell. The only reason you wouldn't, was because you had to drive to the next town and even that didn't slow some guys down. They'd prank each other, they'd get into fights with the locals, all that... it just seemed like a rougher lifestyle because they almost felt they had to prove their toughness in an avenue that wasn't really looked at as much more than athletic actors pretending to hit each other.

These days, we're more in tune with their every day activities due to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and the like... and it seems like half of them are just pumped to get in the same room and play video games. Yesterday, Will Osperay posted about getting Ghost Recon: Wildlands.... AJ Styles posted about getting a Sniper Elite 4 poster for his man cave.... Samoa Joe and Xavier Woods are, and have been, active streamers... it feels like a much more calm business these days where a good amount of your big stars are just giant video game nerds and are too busy trying to increase their K/D to get into a ton of trouble in bars and motels anymore...

[Zombie Mod is not a ghoul.]

Mar 11, 2017 14:28:24 GMT -5 häšhtå.gdālėÿ said:

Mar 11, 2017 10:56:08 GMT -5 Zombie Mod is not a ghoul. said:

well I think the cm punk nuclear doghouse is currently unoccupied so i'd say backstage morale is high.

Wrong. That house now belongs to Handsome Rusev and Hot Lana.

Hadn't been told of their nuclear status.

[JCBaggee]

Someone (I can't remember who) from back in the day was talking in an interview about how much the atmosphere has changed backstage since the old days. The guys are no longer out tearing up bars until 4 in the morning or doing a ton of drugs, they all just want to get to the next town and play video games and get ready. There's going to be a few fights and some tension, but I feel like the modern era is a lot less of a high school mentality or more of a community college.

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

Mar 11, 2017 15:43:09 GMT -5 Zombie Mod is not a ghoul. said:

Mar 11, 2017 14:28:24 GMT -5 häšhtå.gdālėÿ said:

Wrong. That house now belongs to Handsome Rusev and Hot Lana.

Hadn't been told of their nuclear status.

Rusev got a haircut without permission and married above his hotness allowance (based on Vince McMahon's personal thoughts & standards)

Status = Hot AF.

[Nickybojelais]

I get the feeling the locker room is calmer, more pleasant and sedate compared to days gone by. I often wonder if the more placid environment explains why the onscreen product lacks energy and edge at times.

[Bub (BLM)]

Mar 11, 2017 11:48:35 GMT -5 Big Bad Kahuna said:

Besides the alpha dogs/tense oldschool guys (parttimer legends, Orton, Cena) I think the new crop ("millenials") get along great. NXT alums seem to be very tight (Sami, Neville, Balor, Owens, Cesaro, Enzo/Cass, Horsewomen, Renee, Jojo...), never hear about any animosities from the women

From everything I've heard, Orton is cool backstage. Even guys like CM Punk and Paul London who hate everyone liked Randy.

[bootytea]

I remember a periscope from R Truth and you could really tell that everyone loved each other. It was weird because it made me like Seth Rollins more than his on screen personality.

All it took was weeding out all the shitty macho dudes. Reminds me of a job I had that had an awesome environment until a series of bad hires came in and tainted the company culture.

Its good to see how wrestlers get along a lot better despite it resulting in boring shoots once they retire.

Imagine Arn Anderson saying, "Yeah, Sid and I had a disagreement, so I took out a scissors so we could cut out some craft paper and calmed right down!"

[Stu]

I used to wonder if everyone resented Roman Reigns for constantly being pushed, but then it seemed like it didn't really matter. Likely because:

1: They're all friends and probably support him

2: They actually feel bad for him because of the fan reaction

[Deleted]

I also imagine it's a lot closer because many of the wrestlers knew each other in the independant scene or in TNA prior to the WWE. So you get all these long overdue indie king standouts prior to the 2011-Present hiring spree finally getting there long overdue break like Samoa Joe or AJ Styles and you just can't help but feel happy for them.

A big part of the reason why the independants had a big surge was the ECW effect. That these where the guys WWE or TNA didn't want mostly because they were too small or not a legacy talent (WWE being a bodybuilding dudebro company/2nd-3rd generation talent) or weren't famous enough (TNA's obsession with former WWE guys and Nostalgia). So there was that commadare of being the best wrestlers in the world that lead to independant wrestling boom.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

the more stubborn/place-on-the-card-orientated guys from the 07-10 era who wanted a bigger role/push (Ryback, Swagger, Cody, Barrett) are getting weeded out one after another

while guys like Breeze or Vaudevillains surely wouldn't complain about a better role (and more job security therefore), they seem to accept their role and enjoy the checks

[Deleted]

Most of them seem to be dating each other if not engaged or married to someone on the crew. That probably helps.