Shane Helms Says Some Wrestlers Think They’re Creative When They’re Not

Everyone wants to feel like they have somethings creative to offer, and The Hurricane can understand that. He recently spoke in depth about the importance of scripts in WWE, and how a lot of Superstars need them.

Shane Helms transitioned out of a Superstar role and into a backstage position when he became a producer for WWE. He was furloughed in April, but then recently brought back again.

He recently spoke to Back Sports Page about the importance of scripted promos. Not everyone is good at doing promos, and some need sufficient guidance to point them in the right direction. Scripting out their promos helps in this area immensely.

“I think it’s very important, but the flip side is that some wrestlers aren’t creative and they think they are, and therein lies your problem. You always hear this conversation about scripted promos, like there’s this, you know, really kind of like thought processes. Great. And the problem if he has it or not… everybody’s not good at doing promos. You guys have been to indie shows and you’ve seen some of these promos, Jesus Christ! That was terrible, you know? And even in WWE and a couple of live events, we will let the people down.”

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“I just go into and cut a little promo and give them that free reign. And it was like, Jesus Christ! I was frightened, so not everybody’s good at it. And you got to experiment with these talents to figure out which ones are good, which ones can you give bullet points and they can go and make it their own and make it better because there are people that can do that, but not everyone can.”

“And you know, when those scripts are turned in, when those writers turn in those scripts to Vince McMahon, they can’t have these big gaps of blank pages where a promo is supposed to be. Cause Vince is going to go, ‘What is this?’ He’s going to say, whatever he wants. Vince is going to go, ‘What are you talking about? What is the promo going to be about?’ You know? So, they kind of have to script something. They’ve got to write something on the paper, and then if the talent is good enough, they can make it their own. But generally, if the talent isn’t good enough, or they’re saying something random that doesn’t have anything to do with anything, or it might get the company in trouble [then it’s scripted].”

Some fans might not love the idea of scripted promos, but they make sure that all of the necessary elements are hit, and it helps talent as well. If the talent is good enough, they can take those words and turn them into something unique for themselves. The trick is having the ability to take someone else’s idea of who you should be and make it your own.

Thanks to Wrestling Inc for the quote