Credit: Raj Giri
I recently spoke with Lucha Underground Co-Executive Producer Chris DeJoseph to discuss the return of Lucha Underground this Wednesday on the El Rey Network. DeJoseph worked on the WWE creative team from 2004 – 2010, and appeared on-camera for the company as Big Dick Johnson. In part one of the interview below, DeJoseph talked about his time on the WWE creative team, becoming Big Dick Johnson, working for Vince McMahon and more.
Make sure to check back tomorrow for the second and final part of the interview, where DeJoseph discussed leaving WWE, The Big Show being overexposed, how he became a part of Lucha Underground, how different working with Lucha Underground has been from WWE and more.
You can follow Lucha Underground on Twitter @LuchaElRey, and El Rey Network @Elreynetwork. DeJoseph is on Twitter @chrisdejoseph . Lucha Underground returns this Wednesday on El Rey Network, you can check out an exclusive clip from the episode in the video above.
You started with WWE in 2004, what were you doing before that and how’d you end up getting the job with WWE?
School. I was very persistent and kept trying to get my foot in the door. I was having a hard time getting hired and I finally got an interview. A friend of my uncle’s worked in the legal department and helped me get an interview. I went to do the interview at the TV department, a guy named Tony Cartalucci hired me.
Were you a wrestling fan growing up?
My whole life I was a wrestling fan. Part of the reason I wanted to go work at WWE was my dad was trying to get me do get a job, and I told him I wanted to go work in wrestling. He looked at me like I was crazy. I always enjoyed it and it had always been a passion of mine.
So you you more of a WWF guy instead of a WCW/NWA guy?
Well, I’d say I was more of a WCW guy probably in that pre-Monday Night War era, but I watched all of it. I wasn’t necessarily all in the attitude era. I grew up in Las Vegas, so WCW was always in town. They were always running the MGM or a place like that. I used to enjoy the longer matches and stuff they’d have like Flair-Steamboat. I went to WrestleMania 9, the worst WrestleMania ever.
Who were some of your favorites growing up?
Oh gosh, Macho Man for sure. Flair, Tully Blanchard. Mostly heels. I was never a real fan of the babyfaces necessarily. Shawn Michaels, for sure.
What was your reaction when you got the job with WWE?
It was the most exciting thing ever for me, a dream come true. I was nervous, but really excited to have my foot in the door there. I really had no intentions up ending up on the creative team, I was just happy to have a job there. I would have swept the floors.
What was a typical day like working in creative for the WWE?
It depends on the day. Wednesdays were usually the day back at the office where our week would start. We would pitch segments. At the time Raw had 11 segments, and you would pitch your 11 like a mini-version of the show. Somebody like Brian Gewirtz would take all those ideas and take the best ideas out of it and put a show together. Thursday or Friday we would meet with Vince [McMahon] and begin working on the shows, go back to the drawing board and start writing the show. You’d write the show over the weekend, sometimes get feedback over the weekend. Usually Sunday you’d get on an airplane. Then you’d work the entire time on Vince’s plane, which was horrible. You go to a meeting, you go through the show, there’s changes, there’s re-writes and you produce the show. Then you get in a car and go to the next town, get on an airplane and start all over again.
How far in did you meet Vince?
I saw him a lot when I was an intern, but I didn’t start on the creative team until 6-8 months. I applied for creative because I wanted insurance and it was a permanent job. I didn’t meet Vince until WrestleMania 21. He had blown out his quads at the Royal Rumble, and I started right after that and didn’t see him until WrestleMania.
What was that like?
I called him Mr. McMahon, and he corrected me and told me to call him Vince, as he does with everybody. It was a dream come true to meet him. I don’t recall being very intimidated. Vince was pretty cool.
Writers have very mixed opinions about Stephanie being head of creative. How was she to work for?
I wonder who you talked to. Working for Stephanie wasn’t horrible. She was always good to us, as good as she could be. She was in a management position and handling a bunch of things creatively. But she had so many other things she didn’t have much input on what went on the show. I can rarely ever remember her pitching an idea that got on the show or pitching anything at all. Usually just listening and saying no. She was a good boss, a nice lady.
How many people were on the writing staff back then?
I think when I first started there were 3 on Smackdown and 5 on Raw, and I was on Raw when I first started. Then the writing team fluctuated. The most I remember was 14 between both shows. I called it “high tide” because they’d bring in a bunch of people and then a bunch more would get fired. The life span of a writer in WWE is so short. The average I saw people make it was 3 months. I saw 40 people get fired there on the writing team alone. I understand now they have like 30 writers, which is insane to me. Vince literally talks to like two of the writers anyway.
How much of what you guys came up with was actually on TV?
There’s always tweaks to everything. I don’t think Vince would ever think that anything was perfect. A lot of the stuff we came up with would be on the show. A lot of the time you’d sit in a room with him and he’d just change his mind and you’d have to go back to the drawing board. Sometimes you’d be assigned a portion of the show, so I’d have “Chris Jericho promo segment” and take what was written in the script and re-write, and they would be actively involved in the promo. Then you’d present it to Vince, you’d read it to him and then he’d make his changes or say whether he liked it or hated it or if you wrote like a four-year old. You’d either rehearse it or get it approved. Now it’s a little different: you write the show and he goes over it.
When you were there were the promos scripted verbatim, or were they more general outlines?
They were scripted verbatim. Certain talent preferred bulletpoint, but for the most part they were all verbatim.
What were some of the challenges working for WWE?
The schedule. That was extremely difficult. Being on the road 49-52 week a year takes a toll on you. There’s really no days off when you work for Vince McMahon on the creative team. There’s never a day where you weren’t eating, sleeping, drinking WWE all day long. Politically it’s challenging for a lot of people, and it’s all about how you carry yourself and getting people to like you. It’s like a fraternity and you have to be accepted into the family and that’s difficult for some people.
It had to be hard working there during the Chris Benoit tragedy. You all were having Vince McMahon’s storyline funeral on that episode. What was that day like?
That was a horrible day. As a character, I was in a couple of scenes crying at Vince McMahon’s casket. We had shot all the scenes; I guess “Big Dick” was really upset Vince had passed away. It was a weird feeling. I remember they called everybody out ringside and they announced that Chris was dead and they found his kid and his wife. The thing that sticks in my mind is Vickie Guerrero screaming. I’ll never forget that. It was a strange, strange day. Some people had some feelings that something wasn’t right because he didn’t show up at the pay-per-view the day before. At that point they gave everyone the option of hanging around if they were comfortable. I don’t think they knew the details of it, and that’s when we started putting the show together of a mini-tribute to Benoit and his moments. Halfway through the show it went from a tribute to a retrospective when they found out that there was foul play involved. It was a different day from when Eddie died. The circumstances surrounding that were so strange.
What was the plan with Vince’s limo blowing up?
The plan was that we would see who would rise to power in his absence, but Vince McMahon had faked his own death to see where everyone’s hand was. That was kind of it. I don’t think we ever found a solution for ending that, which happens a lot with Vince. That’s how some stories get lost there.
Where you around for the “Vince’s son” angle?
Yeah I was there. The original idea was for Mr. Kennedy to be his son. I think Vince hated Kennedy. The crowd loved him, and everyone there loved him, but he didn’t wanna go there. The ending of the story was taken away and before you know it, it was Hornswoggle.
How was it playing the Big Dick Johnson character?
I did it because I was asked to do it. It was probably a bit of a rib on me, but I decided I was going to have fun with it. I never booked myself. Everything would be Hunter’s idea or Vince or someone else’s. It helped out with a little extra money, which was cool for me. I’m stuck with “Big Dick” forever, unfortunately.
