The Inside Story on How Writing a Ringer Feature about WWE Almost Gave Me a Panic Attack

It's WrestleMania Weekend!

I had given up when the phone rang just before my kid's bedtime on Tuesday night. The surprise call sent me into pure panic mode as I ran to the back to set up my recording equipment, yelling to my wife I needed her to take over with the kiddo.

Paul Heyman was calling.

I’ve had a relationship with Paul going back decades now, since he started making MMA moves, first in support of Brock Lesnar, later after recognizing some inefficiencies in the MMA media marketplace. Everyone has their own opinion about him, but Paul had always done right be me, even if he’s a man who moves on his own timetable—never yours.

In February Paul and Cody Rhodes had performed one of the great interview segments of all time. It was almost perfect—both men were near tears by the time it was over. And that’s when Paul snuck the knife in Cody’s back.

I knew I wanted to write something about this moment. It’s not often you’re witness to pure wrestling perfection like that and I wanted to know how it had come to be. Paul, I was told, wasn’t doing much media but he was going to talk to me. So I focused my Cody interview on his family’s relationship with Paul and hoped for the best.

And then the wait began.

I know this is all inside baseball, but when you’re working with WWE, the best time to grab an interview is on either Monday or Friday. The talent is all assembled for television and there are often down times when guys are just kind of milling around.

But not Paul.

He’s a wrestling genius and that means he’s in high demand. Yes, he works closely on the Bloodline segments. But he’s also approached by talent he’s cultivated up and down the card, wrestlers interested in his feedback and counsel.

So I waited. Mondays and Fridays passed and, eventually, it was the week of WrestleMania. What the hell was I going to do? Much of my conversation with Cody was focused on this moment. But without Paul, did I really have much of a story? This wasn’t just any blog post. The is The Ringer. The best of the best contribute to the site. It demanded my absolute top effort. Without Paul, I’d be giving them schlock. The idea of failing made me sick.

When Raw came and went with no call, I was convinced all hope was gone. I told Paul as much when we finally connected, speaker phone and Zoom H4N documenting the call for eternity.

“Have faith,” he told me. “Have I ever failed you?”

Lesson learned, once again, from wrestling’s one true wise man.

Here is that story.

I also profiled the great Charlotte Flair.

Both of these stories appear on The Ringer, the great website founded by Bill Simmons. When I was in the Army, more than 20 years ago now, I used to print out Bill’s column and carry it around in my uniform pocket to read whenever I could sneak a moment. Yes, this was before smart phones. Yes, I am old.

So you can imagine what a thrill it’s been for me to be featured on his site. One step forward towards my ultimate goal—talking to Bill’s friend Jack-O about complex litigation. (IYKYK)

Please enjoy WrestleMania, a national treasure!

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