411’s WWE: Unreal Season Two, Episode Four Report – ‘Performance Art’

-WWE: Unreal Season Two, Episode Four – ‘Performance Art’
-Written: 1.21.26
-Source: Netflix
-Run Time: 1:00:45

-Plugs: Episodes One, Two, Three of WWE: Unreal.

-We start in the creative room with HHH pitching the idea of Seth blowing his knee out before SummerSlam and playing it as legit, but he comes out on crutches and cashes in on someone. HHH says if they are going to do this, it has to be with only this team and tells someone not to put it in the notes.

-Paul Heyman uses his Fifth Amendment right to avoid telling us what a work is. He also says he is not a fan of this show. He grew up in an era where you defended the secrecy of the business, and if you didn’t, you were beaten up and ostracized from the business. He is asked how important a work is in wrestling, and we see NASH IN A WHEELCHAIR WITH THE FAKE INJURED LEG. Oh wow! They include footage of Vince being blown up in his limo.

-Heyman tells about Sandman getting a cigarette pushed back in his eye and Dreamer caning him in the head. They told people for five weeks on TV that he was blind. We hear someone call him Hak, so there’s the WCW name. Sandman did not leave his house for five weeks, and they brought him back for a retirement ceremony. He peeled off the bandage and then beat the tar out of Dreamer. Heyman says people still talk about that 30 years later. “You tell me, was that a work or performance art?” He continues, “That’s how we earn our living.”

-Show opening!

-HHH says for business reasons, events are coming faster than ever, and mentions they have SNME, Evolution, and then SummerSlam a few weeks later. With all of that, they are also trying to work something out with Jelly Roll. He is here and says his name is Jason Deford, and his mom gave him the name Jelly Roll. He is 40 years old, and his profession is a musician. We get CMA footage of Jelly Roll winning an award. He saw celebrities doing matches: Bad Bunny, Knoxville, Shaq, Jon Stewart. Bruce says they are approached by celebrities who think this might be fun, and he says it is fun, but you have to be able to do it.

-Jelly Roll got to do a little something on RAW where he pushed Prison Dom. Then came SummerSlam 2024 (I was there) and he hit a Five Knuckle Shuffle, but needed help from Truth, Miz, and the ropes to get off the mat. He knew at that moment he was going to die if he didn’t do something. He wanted to be back for the next year’s show as a different human. He told HHH he is losing the weight, and he wants to get to SummerSlam. Good for him!

-We get footage of Jelly Roll weighing in at The PC, and he weighs 327 lbs. He says that is where he got the last time he tried to lose the weight and gave up. The goal of SummerSlam is to motivate him. He bought two houses in Orlando so he could train but also do music. He actually bought two houses as his crew was in the other house. We see footage of him working in the ring with Matt Bloom. He says every day, it scared him as he wondered if he bit off more than he could chew. His body told him no after that first week, but the DAWG came out in him. He says the trainers beat him to death, and I give the man all the credit in the world for going through all this for his health. He is so excited to have a SummerSlam match. He meets Punk before a show, and Punk calls him a skinny motherfucker. He is at 300 lbs for the first time since middle school. Punk is inspired by him!

-Back to creative, and they are blown away by what Jelly Roll is doing. We see a side-by-side of things he is doing compared to Dusty. HHH calls him a sloppier version of Dusty. Funny! They knew they needed someone who could lead Jelly, and it was Randy Orton. They needed assholes to beat up, and that was easy: Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul. Good call!

-SNME: Chris Park is a producer on the segment. Let’s hope Chris doesn’t have to apologize for anything.

-HHH goes back to the Seth fake injury angle. Bobby Roode says not many people were in on it as the circle had to be small. HHH tells Cody and doesn’t want him to repeat it to anyone, but Cody is the guy and needs to know what is happening. We hear about the ref giving the infamous X and the ref doing an audible. HHH says the ref didn’t need to know, but medical did because they can’t believe an injury is real. HHH says he was told by a wise man that you can’t lie to your lawyer or doctor. HHH says he had to make sure LA Knight needs to know, and Seth questions that decision. HHH explains that if roles were reversed, Seth would be pissed if he didn’t know, and Seth agreed. Cody tells HHH he thinks it’s great, and they are going to hook them.

-Back to Jelly Roll, who just wants to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone as he is coming into their world. We get a funny visual of someone yelling “pyro” and everyone in Gorilla plugging their ears. That’s great! The match is Orton vs. Drew with Paul and Jelly on the outside. Chris Park is the agent and on the headset. Jelly and Logan get into it on the floor. Orton gets the win with the RKO and then gets knocked out by Logan. That brings Jelly into the ring, and he decks Logan. The crowd was way into it, and then Drew is a glorious dick and hits Jelly with The Claymore.

-Randy Orton hugs Jelly back in Gorilla and tells us Jelly is a lifelong fan who did so well. He gets a hug from Chris Park, who tells him it was awesome. HHH tells him it was bad ass, and the fans were chanting for him. Jelly says he loves wrestling because of the chants, and he will never hear stuff like that at one of his shows.

-Orton tells HHH he was’t sure when he was first sat down, but he is sold. HHH was worried at first as well, but soon realized they could do something bigger. Orton tells HHH he is very thankful for the spot.

-Back to Seth, who says a lot of the creative for him is his ideas, but he can’t take credit for this one. He talks about storytelling and affecting the audience on a deep level. Roode says only a few knew in Gorilla, so they had to act like it was real, but not overdo it. This should be interesting! He notes they had to be careful not to ring the bell, and you hear HHH tell someone do not let the fucking bell ring until I tell you. Wow, the reverse Montreal! Seth says the fun part is you never know when it is a work or a shoot. That gray area is what makes them special as performers. It’s boring if you can see through everything they do. Seth doesn’t think there is a line that can’t be crossed, but you have to figure out if it is worth crossing. He hits the lionsault and lands on his feet, and there goes the knee. We get Roode on the headset asking if Seth is okay, and he tells the ref to tell Knight to back off. Knight is playing it off well. Seth tells the ref for LA to hit his finisher, and HHH says they have to do it. HHH then sends the doctors out to check on Rollins and to get Knight out.

-We see the crowd giving Rollins a standing ovation as he is helped out of the ring. HHH kicks everyone out of Gorilla, so there is room to get Seth back through safely. They head into a doctor’s office, and Roode is there, and we hear him, HHH, and Seth celebrate. Knight says it was awkward as hell, but that’s what sold it. Jamie Noble tells someone to turn a camera off. HHH puts over Knight’s selling of the moment and says it helped fans believe in the moment that something real just happened.

-We see Seth come out of the doctor’s room on crutches. Seth says there was speculation all over the internet. No kidding! Seth says there was every story under the sun, and nobody had any idea what the truth was. “Nobody really knew what was going on.”

-Thirty minutes in, and we get a new story to follow: Iyo Sky is working out in a gym in Florida. Doing a handstand against the wall for five minutes. Yeah, no! Masami is her first name, but nobody calls her that because she has been wrestling since sixteen. She has gone by Io Shirai, but now she is Iyo Sky. She talks about how she likes to jump from high places and talks about Over The Moonsault. We see the montage of her jumping off The War Games Cage with a trashcan on her head. “I am kind of stupid and didn’t realize I couldn’t see anything.” Ha! She panicked and jumped quickly to get it over with, and laughs about it. “That’s crazy, I know.” She says she is short (5’2”) and nobody thinks of her as a wrestler when she is out in the real world.

-HHH says Iyo has had crazy charisma since day one. He does the Iyo deal and says it is money when she does it. He says if he had to start from scratch with a roster and was left Iyo, he would be good.

-We talk Evolution and the first and only PPV being in 2018. They knew it was time to bring it back for another edition, and the idea was Rhea vs. Iyo because Rhea never had a win over Iyo. Iyo says she would rather headline Evolution than WrestleMania. She feels a tremendous amount of honor and responsibility.

-We visit Naomi in Florida as she has the MITB briefcase. She says you have to take the case everywhere you go. She makes sure she cleans it out because she doesn’t want to get in trouble. She has a taser in there and pepper gel spray, a wig, her gear, rat poison (for some reason), razors, some whiskey, and the contract. Jey gave her his action figure to put in there as well.

-We get to Evolution, and HHH tells her to get her junk out of there before they take it. “What is going on in there? A shot glass,” and she slams the lid shut. Ha!

-We see Iyp and Rhea going through a spot where Iyo is going to dive off a camera box in the crowd. We see them measuring things, and Hayes has concern for the bump Rhea has to take. HHH wants to make sure they are padding it. They have Rhea lie down to see where her head is going to land. Again, this may kill the magic for some, but it’s all good to me. We hear Iyo say “what the fuck,” and Hayes says it still sounds cut,e and Rhea agrees. That was tremendous!

-We go back to Lyra as it’s been a few episodes since her story. She recaps the deal with Becky taking Bayley’s spot at WrestleMania. Bayley says it was bittersweet as she was excited to have Becky back, but she was off Mania. “I worked for that.” Becky says Bayley deserved to have a Mania match, and she was taking her out. She felt like she was The Grinch, and she even tells HHH that. Bayley gets pissed at Becky for doing it, as she had accepted it and didn’t want to get back on the show because Becky went to HHH. They go through with the plan and now have that to play off for Evolution.

-Evolution: TJ Wilson is the producer on the match with Becky defending the IC Title against Bayley and Lyra. Seth is backstage in a knee immobilizer with crutches. TJ notes the crowd sounds different as there are more women in the building. It was a great show! TJ: “They are doing fucking awesome.” HHH says Bayley’s hair is magnificent and looks like Michael Hayes in the morning. Awesome! Seth says it was straight up that she would be Marge Simpson. Becky retains in a sweet finish where she pulls Bayley off the cover and into a backslide in one motion. That was sweet!

-The women get a standing ovation when they walk back into Gorilla. TJ tells them the finish was awesome, and Becky jokes, “I am a fucking athlete.” She says she really isn’t, but she felt like one and was honored to be in there with Lyra and Bayley. Lyra is just beaming, talking about the match and being put in that spot. Good for her!

-Next is No Holds Barred: Jade vs. Naomi with Bianca as the special ref. Bruce says they knew where they wanted to end, and that was Naomi cashing in, but they had this match first. Kenn Doane is the producer on the headset. Jade beat the hell out of Naomi and hits Jaded through a table for the win. HHH wants them to tell Naomi to sell big. WWE likes having the MITB winner lose before cashing in, and Bruce says it’s a way to get the fans to think there is no way she can come back tonight.

-Naomi is bleeding and gets treated by the doctor. Molly Holly tells her to let it bleed and dry. Molly’s HARDCORE!

-Hayes tells HHH the audience doesn’t want good, squeaky clean girls. “They want bad ass bitches. That’s why they love her (Rhea).” He is the producer for the Main Event and says he will do what he wants.

-Iyo vs. Rhea: It’s great because it’s IYO VS RHEA! Bruce marks out over the poisonrana, and Hayes wants to make sure she is okay. The ref gets bumped and isn’t there to count Rhea’s pin. Rhea is pissed, and Hayes is impressed with the way she reacted. He then wonders how Iyo’s little body takes all the abuse. We get to the area where they planned the dive, and it looked like Rhea’s hit back a little further than they wanted. She missed the padded carpet. Apparently, no issues, as they make it back to the ring and Rhea kicks out of the Over The Moonsault. Great near fall, and Hayes is popping backstage. TOP ROPE SPANISH FLY! They cut to Naomi backstage and send her out to cash in MITB. She is selling the beating from Jade and has tape over her nose. The match is made a Triple Threat, and Iyo gets blasted with the briefcase, and Rhea gets posted. Split-legged moonsault and we have a new World Champion. They cut to Nia and other women going crazy in the back. Sweet moment! HHH and Hayes are celebrating, and Hayes is basking in his genius as he yells, “Take that motherfucker.” You need an ego, and Hayes has one.

-Naomi: “who knows what’s ahead of me now?” A baby! I guess we will get there. Rhea talks about the all-women show and how big a deal it is. Iyo gives HHH a massive hug and thanks him for always believing in her. HHH has the nickname of rockstar for Iyo. That’s awesome! Hayes gives her props for the dive, and they fist bump. Iyo is great and deserves everything she has gotten and probably more!

-HHH says the bar for what women do has been raised so high, and they have changed the business. He is at the press conference and says Seth will be in Birmingham tomorrow, but it doesn’t look good. Heyman says keeping a secret is part of the thrill. Is it a work or just the planning of performance art? We get a tease of SummerSlam and close as Burn It Down hits. INTRIGUE!

-Love this show, and I don’t care if they are only showing us what they want us to see and still fitting their narratives. It is an hour that just flies by and keeps me enthralled. They keep everything focused, hit the right beats, and move seamlessly from one story to the next. This show just gives me a deeper appreciation for what they all do. We close with SummerSla,m and I am hoping to have that one done tomorrow as I have Evolve to do tonight. Thanks for reading!