Former head writer Alex Greenfield buries Dunn

[Stopspot]

I don't like Kevin Dunn; KD doesn't like me.

This could easily become the most TL;dr post ever as I’d love nothing more than to expend several gallons of digital ink telling you how little I like Kevin Dunn, but I’ll endeavor to restrain myself. Here’s the long and the short of it: when I saw that KD was the “My Name Is” today, my heart leapt with mean schadenfreude joy. I’ve been reading CSS regularly since right after ‘Mania, but this morning I was compelled to sign up. I’m kind of glad that there was a delay before I could post. Instead of just launching into a stream of vitriol, I got to read other comments. Many of them. Interestingly, it’s the defenses of Dunn that I find most intriguing.

The unanimity with which people hate on KD would absolutely set off my skepticism spidey sense if I didn’t know the guy. It feels to me like a lot of the defense in these comments can be boiled down to, “We don’t know the guy and he can’t POSSIBLY be as bad as these people are saying.” I totally understand the instinct to say that. Here’s the thing: I worked closely with KD for a couple years at WWE when I was a writer/producer on the creative team, and he absolutely IS that bad.

One of the primary arguments in his defense is that WWE product looks good, and that this demonstrates that he is a talented television director/producer. I’ve worked on a number of sports projects over the years and I’m here to tell you that KD is not one lick more talented than the EP/director of a mid-market NBA team. Indeed, I argue that WWE television would be well served bringing in someone just like that to take over television production because they would be more creative and could get outside the box programming has been in since the early-‘00s.

WWE shows do look good, but they also look the same. There’s a homogeneity to the feel of the product that stems directly from Dunn. His creative instinct is fast food: if it works, don’t muddle with it and keep Vince convinced it is the only way to do things by any means necessary.

When I took over as the head writer of Smackdown in the summer of 2006, one of the first things we pitched was to replace Kevin Dunn as the executive producer and promote Tim Walbert to take over the position. Tim was one of our directors (something KD is actually no good at doing – he can’t actually direct a live show to save his life) and was more than qualified for the job. We wanted Smackdown to look and feel like a completely different television than product – think in terms of Nitro vs. Raw – and for a little while Vince was intrigued by the idea (and Stephanie supported it as well).

Kevin, naturally, cared more about his fiefdom than trying something different with a show. He started his whisper campaign with Vince the moment we got off the plane (I intentionally did the initial pitch of the idea in Kevin’s presence on a flight back from TV). He buried Tim, me, the idea of a different feel to the product as a whole. It’s not just what another commenter said – that KD doesn’t give a shit about wrestling and is all about sports/entertainment – it’s that he wants to create an entertainment product that’s like fast food. He wants his job to be easy.

That means neutralizing any threat. Stephanie took a shine to me pretty early in my time at WWE and started grooming me to take over a show. She was no fan of KD at that point and it was very clear to me that he and handful of Vince’s other stooges would be gone at the moment of she and Hunter’s coronation. There are plenty of writers out there who bury Steph at every opportunity, but I remain convinced that the company will be in better hands when she takes the reins.

Any rate, the faith Stephanie had in me did not go unnoticed by KD and he did not like that at all. He didn’t like Stephanie having someone ambitious working for her, and he didn’t like that I was clearly on her side. So he started burying me with bullshit. It got back to me that he’d told one of the segment producers that I’d been slipped a roofie and passed out in a hotel lobby.

This was not the case.

I got my heat back on him plenty, but it was a constant fight long before I was given the head writer nod. The more instructive part of the story is that Kevin did this with anyone he perceived as a threat. Vince is a bit capricious about who he lets in his ear. Whenever he got close with Bruce Prichard, KD would be right there the first time Bruce was out of earshot burying him. Same with Brian Gewritz. Same with JBL. Same with JR. Same with a long list of people, and this I personally observed. KD once tried to turn ME against another writer who was similarly ambitious. Anyone who posed a danger to Dunn’s position from any perspective – a producer at the studio, a talent, whoever – KD would bury them to the boss. This was true even when there wasn’t any real threat.

So yes, KD still has a job, but I think the way you treat people matters. There is certainly something to be said about being cutthroat in a corporate culture that rewards sociopathy. I was no kinda freaking angel to get ahead as quickly as I did. At the same time, WWE would be a better place to work that would present a better product if Kevin Dunn were gone.

Case in point, one of the big rubs on KD: he’s a misogynist influence on the product. I can tell you this is absolutely true and I learned it almost from jump street. One of the long term stories I’m most proud of from my time at WWE was being the principal producer on the Trish Stratus/Mickie James “Single White Female” story. There’s no humble in the brag when I say we grabbed the audience by the throat by a couple weeks into the angle and our quarter-hour ratings bore that out.

The first time we were given a crossover segment because the story was getting over, KD fought it tooth and nail. He fought us every week. Show was heavy? KD wanted to cut Trish/Mickie. “Temple of Trish” segment? KD argued that we needed more action and people would get bored. Lesbian kiss? “Trish has gotta like it!” Every single element, he wanted both protagonist and villain to be sexier and stupider.

Perhaps the following scene will be more instructive. You are on the WWE corporate jet. Imagine every rock star plane in any movie: four captain’s chairs facing each other in the front. Behind them, two benches facing each other across the aisle on which are crammed the writers. The captains? Vince, KD, Michael Hayes, HHH (Steph was on maternity leave, of Hayes would have been on the bench). We’re flying back from TV after taping one of the early WWECW shows. Kelly Kelly has just been introduced as the domestic [violence] partner of Mike Knox.

Hayes: She just feels cold, you know? She’s not connecting.
Vince: Mm. She needs to find her sensuality.

KD hops up and down in seat with s......ing laughter in that “Hey, boss, pay attention to me” way. Vince turns to him.

KD: She NEEEEDS to find some TITS!

KD continues to snicker, eyes on Vince, begging for approval. Vince snorts. Conversation continues.

This kind of thing? The tendency to present women as only softcore objects? Those conversations came every single day, and KD was the WORST about pissing on any serious woman’s program.

Ugh. I’m now on pg. 3 of the word doc I’m typing this in, so I’ll wrap it up. [Yaaaaay!] In my opinion based on my personal experience, Kevin Dunn is a detriment to WWE programming from both a creative and a production perspective. It is fair to credit him with being a part of something we all enjoy, but at the end of the day the product would be better if he weren’t involved in it. When that day comes, WWE will be a better place to work for both talent and crew.

lol what a little prick this Dunn must be :dawg:

Source: http://www.cagesideseats.com/2014/7/...dunn#243156405

 

[The GOAT]

Pretty much all of the writers say that hardly anyone likes Kevin Dunn except for Vince McMahon himself. They also continuously claim (as Greenfield does in this article) that Dunn will likely be one of the first people cut when Triple H and Stephanie take over the reins from Vince. He's awesome and flawless at his job in video production though, I'd simply keep him away from having any input on the creative/storyline aspects of wrestling.

 

[Stopspot]

Cannot agree on him being "flawless" when it comes video production. Dude's been known to cut away from big spots so they are shot from in correct angles or not caught on screen at all.

 

[The GOAT]

I should have clarified that I was speaking more in terms of video packages that are used as the intros to PPVs and the ones used to hype up matches and whatnot. Even then, "flawless" was a bit of hyperbole on my part, but he is undeniably talented in that area.

 

[F.R.I.E]

Cannot agree on him being "flawless" when it comes video production. Dude's been known to cut away from big spots so they are shot from in correct angles or not caught on screen at all.

i.e. Bray Wyatt's catching Sister Abigail to John Cena at Payback was not shown because of the replay of Cena throwing the steps at Wyatt.

 

[Snowman1]

I'd take Russo over either Dunn or Cornette any day of the week.

But I do agree with this guy's sentiment on "bringing in someone from a mid-market NBA team". The most successful head writers in history were Russo and Bischoff, largely because they brought fresh, new ideas to a wrestling world that desparately needed them at the time. It's past time for one promotion (looking at you, TNA) to come bring some new ideas to the table and present a product modern wrestling fans can be happy with.

Heard a wise person say one time that "If ECW would have stuck around, their current product would look a lot like Ring of Honor. They were doing everything they could to cater to what the 18-35 demographic wanted at the time with their hardcore programming, and now that same business model would lead to more of a sports-based product." Tend to agree with that notion, and that's a big part of what made NXT Takeover so successful. So maybe for WWE the answer really is in-house, we just have to wait for KD and VKM to GTFO

 

[leojay]

The WWE's production style has been insanely generic, robotic and boring for years now. I think it's the biggest thing wrong with the product. I don't know if it's because they've used the "style" for so long or if it's shit, but regardless things just have to be changed. Whenever I watched Impact I always thought it was a breath of fresh air because of how different the show was produced.

And above all else, fuck that bucktooth beaver motherfucker.

 

[Leo C]

Well, WWE's presentation does seem stale. I liked the line about fast food producing. There's also one of the reasons why women don't matter much too, I guess. This completely explains why NXT's women's division is vastly superior.

 

[Nero_x3]

I'd take Russo over either Dunn or Cornette any day of the week.

But I do agree with this guy's sentiment on "bringing in someone from a mid-market NBA team". The most successful head writers in history were Russo and Bischoff, largely because they brought fresh, new ideas to a wrestling world that desparately needed them at the time. It's past time for one promotion (looking at you, TNA) to come bring some new ideas to the table and present a product modern wrestling fans can be happy with.

Heard a wise person say one time that "If ECW would have stuck around, their current product would look a lot like Ring of Honor. They were doing everything they could to cater to what the 18-35 demographic wanted at the time with their hardcore programming, and now that same business model would lead to more of a sports-based product." Tend to agree with that notion, and that's a big part of what made NXT Takeover so successful. So maybe for WWE the answer really is in-house, we just have to wait for KD and VKM to GTFO

In all fairness Cornette does actually know what he's doing in some sense.

 

[Jonathan]

Dunn was the one who ordered the fast zoom in/out whenever The Shield used to assault people IIRC, for that alone he deserves to be fired immediately. It got to the point where it was unwatchable. A guy on reddit actually slowed it down to a frame by frame basis, and from like 10 seconds of action you literally couldn't see anything, it was all just a blur.

 

[Roadster]

Vince McMahon likes everyone that nobody likes.

 

[Red Rain]

My understanding is that Vince McMahon isn't a huge fan of change, thus why things never change.
Logically speaking, if Dunn doesn't like change then why would Vince want to fire him?

 

[Stopspot]

My understanding is that Vince McMahon isn't a huge fan of change, thus why things never change.
Logically speaking, if Dunn doesn't like change then why would Vince want to fire him?

If some people are to be believed. Vince doesn't even like Dunn. He tolerates him. He likes Dunn's dad and promised to keep Kevin employed for life since Dunn sr saved some TV tapes from his burning car. Or so the story goes.

 

[Red Rain]

If some people are to be believed. Vince doesn't even like Dunn. He tolerates him. He likes Dunn's dad and promised to keep Kevin employed for life since Dunn sr saved some TV tapes from his burning car. Or so the story goes.

If Vickie Guerrero is any indication, those people may be correct. Vince may be greedy and delusional but he keeps his promises.