Brian Gewirtz On How Wrestling Is Portrayed In Season Two of Young Rock

In an interview with TV Insider, Young Rock executive producer Brian Gewirtz spoke about what fans can expect from the show’s second season. The comedy series returns to NBC tonight at 8 PM ET. Here are highlights:

On how wrestling is portrayed this season: “It has always been one of our main goals to change the way in which pro wrestling has been portrayed on network television. With our show, a network comedy, we really wanted to take a scalpel to it and show that these are real people with real lives. For Dwayne, it’s two families he pays tribute to. There is his actual family and then part of this wrestling lineage from locker rooms over multiple generations. Then with me being with WWE for a decade-and-a-half, it was very important we got it right while still getting the comedy out of everything because we wanted to be funny as well. This season is special even from a wrestling perspective because it’s so prominent from all three timelines we visit.”

On working with The Rock for so long: “I started out writing on sitcoms. That was always my dream. I never thought about working for WWE. Mainly through an encounter working with Dwayne when I was working with MTV and we did these specials together. He is the one who asked me if I ever considered working for WWF at the time. The wheels were put in motion. I met him in July 1999, and he had already headlined a WrestleMania with [Steve] Austin. His mindset was pretty much the same as now. He is not concerned about how many credits you have or what your background is. He is open to hearing ideas. He applied that mindset not only in his wrestling promos where it started but also in television shows and other projects. It’s always fun to create this season. Putting the script together and reminiscing all the times we would spend writing promos for WWE.”

On the creative process in today’s wrestling: “Things change in a flash. Even when I was there, the process went through so many different changes. It was basically get with the talent, put something together, make it to television, and we’ll see how the audience reacts and talk about it afterward. Then as the company became publicly traded there were a lot more eyes on it. It can be a good thing for a showrunner like Vince McMahon. You know what you’re going to get when the show is on the air. But you can also stifle the creativity a little bit in the wrestling business, which is known for more of the off-the-cuff promo skills like Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper. The idea of the writer in that era would be laughed at out of the building. I can’t speak to how it exactly works nowadays, but I think it’s a nice mixture where certain talents have gained the trust and leeway with promos while others go through a process. As far as I know in AEW, none of that exists. Great. I think it’s super cool to have as many options as possible.”

On season two looking at Rock’s early relationship with fans: “The trailer was a way to get fans excited. Without getting too into it, it’s definitely more than a fleeting moment. There are definitely going to be things fans of that era are going to walk away feeling like holy sh–!”