SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The first episode of WWE Unreal Season 2 is an exercise in contrasts. The bulk of the first episode is focused on Becky Lynch, who comes across as very likeable in real life, but is in the midst of a heel turn with her character last year. The show starts with her return as a face at WrestleMania 41 and subsequent heel turn on Lyra Valkyria on the Raw after WrestleMania.
The final part of the episode is an interesting look at how Pat McAfee vs. Gunther was put together for Backlash. It’s a much more straightforward look at WWE’s booking process behind the scenes and how they put together a match while running creatively on fumes post-WrestleMania 41.
It’s almost like this episode was used to fill in all the backstory missing from Becky’s return and her previous relationship with Lyra Valkyria, who she met when Valkyria was still wrestling on the independent scene. Paul “Triple H” Levesque is there as the doting papa bear figure behind the scenes to assure Becky everything will be fine as she struggles with mixed feelings about coming back to WWE.
Becky comes across tremendously in this episode. It’s impossible not to like her. She’s an adoring mom and wife. She’s worried about her daughter being upset with her for going back to WWE full-time.
Lynch is also worried about how the crowd will react to her when she is announced as Valkyria’s mystery partner to challenge Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. She says this is probably her last contract and she wants to give back.
Becky returned at WrestleMania 41 and won the Women’s WWE Tag Team Championship with Lyra Valkyria. They had a rematch against Morgan and Rodriquez on the Raw after WrestleMania last year and Valkyria ended up getting pinned and Becky turned on her. None of the story they are trying to tell with Lynch and Valkyria had time to resonate.
The turn happened right after they first teamed together. Valkyria is shown talking about how the audience cheered Lynch turning on her because she hasn’t yet built a connection with the audience. She provides some interesting commentary as to why Lynch’s initial turn came off the way it did and shows an admirable amount of self awareness in the process for someone just getting their feet wet on the main WWE roster.
The big problem with this portion of the show is that Becky Lynch is still a heel presently in WWE and in this episode she comes across as extremely likable. You don’t want to dislike her after hearing her talk about her purpose moving forward at the tail end of her career on this episode of Unreal. WWE should want its audience to buy into the characters they’re watching and not strip that away with their auxiliary programming on Netflix.
The last part of the episode that primarily focuses on the Gunther vs. Pat McAfee match at Backlash 2025 is an interesting look at how things are put together behind the scenes from start to finish. Bruce Pritchard is shown talking about how WWE needs fresh content post-WrestleMania and a name like Pat McAfee is someone they can utilize in a big spot on a PLE.
They tell a simple story of McAfee standing up for his real life friend Michael Cole when Gunther attempts to bully him. The angle unfolds with footage from the gorilla position of Levesque relaying instructions to ringside directing Gunther when to crank on the choke and when to finally let go.
One of the highlights of the episode is when Prichard begins to pitch McAfee winning at a creative meeting, which is quickly shot down by writer Jonathan Baeckstrom. This was a much more effective segment for WWE Unreal for those that want to learn about how WWE works behind the scenes in a way that doesn’t undermine their own product.
I’ll be back with more thoughts on WWE Unreal Season 2 in this space in the coming weeks. Based on the trailers released for R-Truth being released and rehired and Seth Rollins working a leg injury at Saturday Night’s Main Event in July 2025, it looks like WWE Unreal Season 2 might be the place where WWE tells its own version of what happened with those events.
Sean Radican has been Pro Wrestling Torch for over 22 years. He has covered the independents, ROH, and NJPW in-depth over the years in addition to also watching all the major promotions in the U.S. PWTorch VIP members get access to his weekly Radican Worlwide podcast looking at a variety of news topics from the past week and then an in-depth Go-Home segment with a guest on a big topic of the week. You can contact him at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. You can follow him on X @SR_Torch and on Bluesky @SeanRadican.
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