Does WWE Need Another Max Landis?

Hollywood writer/actor/producer Max Landis allegedly worked as a creative consultant for WWE in 2015. So what happened?

Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or hardcore weekend viewer, chances are you’ve seen a Max Landis film, even if you didn’t know it. He received critical acclaim for writing the 2012 breakout hit Chronicle, a found-footage style project about three friends who develop superpowers after accidentally discovering a strange object underground. The unexpected success of the film would skyrocket the careers of two of its stars: Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and Michael B. Jordan (Creed). Landis has also co-written the script for the gritty big-screen reboot of the Power Rangers franchise set for release in 2017.

Max Landis is the son of legendary film director/producer John Landis and unless you were born in 2016 you have seen one of his films. Coming to America. Animal House. Spies Like Us. Three Amigos. The Blues Brothers. Michael Jackson’s Thriller! These are all John Landis classics that should be required viewing for anyone who calls themselves an American.

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Max followed up the success of Chronicle by landing bigger stars but less successful box office results with American Ultra (Jesse Eisenberg), Mr. Right (Anna Kendrick), and Victor Frankenstein (Daniel Radcliffe). Wrestling fans were introduced to Landis’ love for the business with his 2015 mockumentary, Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling, which was written about last year by our very own Mike “Agent” Smith.

The film was apparently so well received backstage at WWE that it led to Landis receiving a consulting job with WWE, at least according to Landis it did. I say this because I couldn’t find any official references to his employment from anyone in WWE and a search for his name on the official WWE website returned zero results. To be fair, WWE routinely employs consultants they don’t publicly discuss, usually in the guise of former wrestlers or managers. As a sports entertainment outlet, it makes sense that they would hire someone from Hollywood to help with scripts and storylines, so why then was 2015 such an overwhelming disappointment for WWE fans?

During an interview with Table Talk in February 2016, Landis expressed what seemed to be his frustrations with the WWE creative department and the lack of structure in each episode of RAW:

"“The best episodes of that show is where one thing happens at the start and it starts a ripple effect through the entire thing. They don’t do it often.”"

It’s hard to argue with his assessment. The strange and unfortunate standard for RAW in 2015 was resurrected on the July 4th edition last week. The show opened with a food fight. Why? What was the point of this segment? There was none.

Much like every WWE contract signing since the beginning of time, every backstage display of craft services devolves into a brawl and this latest example once again violates the basic storytelling rule about Chekhov’s Gun. The fight served no purpose in relation to the rest of the show and set up absolutely nothing going forward for the rest of the episode. This is precisely was Landis was talking about so it seems that his employment by WWE meant very little.

As in 2015, the WWE creative team is content with segments and matches simply occurring in the ether for reasons of “because”. To them, not every vignette or match should have a purpose and while I agree with this in part, it should be the exception and not the rule. Like any good book or film, Act I (hour 1 of RAW) should set up the events we ultimately see in Act III. The WWE could benefit from the hiring of more professional writers, but only if they actually take their advice.

The July 4th, 2016 opening segment was described by WWE as “the most chaotic food fight of all time”. I guess they forgot all about the time Booker T tried to go grocery shopping:

So what happened with this situation?

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