WWE's AI Pivot: What Creatives Can Learn From the Experiment
Reports indicate WWE has brought on Cyrus Kowsari as Senior Director of Creative Strategy to push AI-assisted storytelling. Triple H introduced the move internally, and early tests with the Writer platform reportedly produced weak pitches (including a Bobby Lashley arc fixated on Japanese culture). Another promotion reportedly tried AI and concluded it couldn't grasp pro wrestling's story logic.
Set the snark aside and there's signal here for creative teams. AI won't replace a writers' room. It can expand the sandbox, surface fresh angles, and stress test arcs-if you build the right process around it.
The Takeaway for Creatives
AI is a collaborator, not a showrunner. Treat it like a junior writer with infinite stamina and zero context. Your job is to provide the taste, the guardrails, and the final call.
WWE is stress-testing the edge cases so you don't have to. Early "absurd" outputs are a feature, not a bug. They show where prompts, constraints, and cultural checks are missing.
Where AI Helps (and Where Humans Lead)
- AI: Alternate beats, what-if scenarios, promo drafts, name ideas, faction dynamics, match stipulation variations.
- Humans: Long-term arcs, character integrity, timing, crowd psychology, legal and cultural risk screens.
About Those Storylines…
The leaked Bobby Lashley pitch-framing him as obsessed with Japanese culture-shows a common AI failure: surface-level tropes. It's loud, meme-ready, and merch-friendly-but tone-deaf without nuance, consent from the talent, and cultural depth.
Use it as a caution flag. Big, viral ideas need roots: character truth, audience trust, and respect for culture. Without that, you're building heat you can't pay off.
Ethical and Brand Filters
- Culture: Avoid tokenism, caricature, and "borrowed" identities for cheap heat.
- Consent: Align pitches with the talent's voice and comfort.
- Continuity: Anchor every twist to a core trait or past moment.
- Context: Sense-check with diverse readers before it hits the room.
A Practical AI Workflow for a Writers' Room
- 1) Define the brief: character goals, constraints, tone, time horizon (weekly, quarterly, WrestleMania season).
- 2) Build a style pack: canon facts, banned beats, brand voice, cultural rules, do/don't examples.
- 3) Prompt in batches: request 20 alt-beats, 5 promo angles, 3 match finishes per scenario.
- 4) Triage quickly: speed-read for originality, feasibility, and risk. Tag "keepers," "fixable," "bin."
- 5) Human rewrite: integrate 1-2 AI sparks into an arc you'd actually defend in the room.
- 6) Table read: punch up cadence, cut filler, sharpen reveals.
- 7) Pre-mortem: "What could blow back?" Legal, PR, culture, talent input.
- 8) Test small: tease beats on socials, dark segments, or B-shows before PPV payoffs.
- 9) Track reception: live crowd reaction, watch time, social sentiment, merch lift.
- 10) Archive: log prompts, outputs, and real outcomes to train a better internal playbook.
Prompt Starters (Tweak to Your Voice)
- "Give 10 fresh feud inciting incidents for [Wrestler A vs. Wrestler B] that avoid nationality tropes, rely on personal history, and set up a PPV payoff in 6 weeks."
- "Write 5 promo frameworks for a cocky veteran vs. hungry newcomer. Each should end with a crisp, quotable line fans can chant."
- "Propose 7 faction names and identities for a power-stable built around [core traits]. No references to real cultures or religions."
- "Offer 5 match finish options: 2 clean, 2 dusty, 1 shock-each with a logical next-week hook."
KPIs That Actually Matter
- Live reaction delta: pop/boo intensity vs. segment average.
- Retention: minute-by-minute viewership around the turn or reveal.
- Social echo: unique quotes, meme formats, non-bot shares within 24 hours.
- Merch lift: item velocity tied to the story beat.
- Continuity score: internal audit-did we violate character truth?
On the "AI Villain" Satire
The LOLtron "world takeover" gimmicks (cloud titles, algorithmic mind-control, android replacements) are tongue-in-cheek. Treat them as stress tests for your brand: how far into tech-theater can you go before fans reject the premise?
Useful creative question: how do you bring tech motifs (data, apps, virtual belts) into kayfabe without losing believability? Ground it in character motivation, not gadgets.
Guardrails for High-Concept Angles
- Tech as metaphor: use it to amplify jealousy, loyalty, betrayal-not as the whole story.
- Clear stakes: if there's a "digital title," what does the winner actually gain on TV next week?
- No secret-weapon plots you can't pay off live. If it can't land in-ring or on-mic, cut it.
Tools and Next Steps
If you're testing platforms like Writer, build your own prompt library and style constraints before judging the outputs. Tools amplify your process-good or bad.
- Writer (enterprise writing platform) for style guides and team workflows.
- WWE for current story cadence and pacing benchmarks.
- Prompt Engineering resources to build a reusable creative stack.
Bottom Line
AI in a writers' room is leverage, not a shortcut. Treat it like a relentless idea generator and a brutal editor-then let humans set taste, timing, and heart.
If WWE can make AI work under bright lights with millions watching, your team can use it to ship better stories faster-with fewer dead ends and more moments people actually feel.
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