Backstage chaos during a live WWE broadcast is hardly uncommon, as Sami Zayn and Corey Graves have openly discussed on a WWE-affiliated podcast.
Often criticised for doing so, Vince McMahon is the sort of boss who will change all creative plans for an evening’s three hours of entertainment with minimal time until the show goes on-air. It’s not a new concept for WWE, but it’s not often discussed on WWE-related content.
On the latest After The Bell podcast, Sami Zayn and host Corey Graves got onto the topic of a frenzied backstage environment within the company. Zayn admitted that there have been teams when he’s been “frustrated” with how things have transpired (h/t Fightful):
“There are times when I’m frustrated with it, when things are going awry, and I’m frustrated and I’m about to go out and I go, ‘This just shouldn’t happen. This should be the week where it all explodes to where it never happens again.’ It never happens, we always pull it off.
It’s a testament to how talented everybody is. It’s crazy. This shouldn’t work, but it does. Just once, I’d love for it to not work so we go, ‘Guys, we can’t keep operating this way. We need to have things set beforehand, we can’t have it this close to the wire.’ No, we always pull it off, that’s why it keeps happening.”
Corey Graves added to what Sami Zayn was saying, referencing the situation (without directly referring to anyone) when Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE during a live broadcast of Monday Night Raw. Vince McMahon allegedly told Corey backstage afterwards, ‘Hey, it’s live TV, nothing can go wrong, right?’.
Both Sami and Corey jokingly agreed that Vince McMahon secretly enjoys when things go wrong backstage to keep everyone thinking on the job. Zayn added that he also thrives way better in that sort of situation, as opposed to when things are going according to plan.
Sami Zayn most recently lost to Riddle on last night’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, where he remains a quote-unquote honorary member of The Bloodline, alongside Roman Reigns and The Usos.