In an interview with AL.com, Brian
Shields, author of 30 Years of Wrestlemania, spoke about his
feelings on Wrestlemania 31, which he thinks will be bigger than 30. Here are
highlights:
On who came up with the idea for the book: “It was WWE’s.
One of the great things about working with WWE and DK is that when you have an
idea, you have the forum to pitch them ideas. The second WWE Encyclopedia which
I co-authored came out in November 2012. So early 2013, I requested a meeting in
Stamford where I came up with a couple ideas that I wanted to talk about. We had
a great meeting and things were moving as far as that process. Then I got a call
in the springtime from WWE asking if I would be interested in writing a book
about the behind-the-scenes history and celebration of the 30 Years of
WrestleMania. It was a moment for me where how quickly and in how many ways can
I say yes.”
On WrestleMania 31: “I think there are so many factors
that can come into play that I’m not really sure. You never know the legends
that might come back into the fold. We don’t know what the future holds for the
Undertaker or Brock Lesnar. One of the exciting things for me as a lifelong fan
of Sting is will he become a part of WWE programming. If he is, I think that
immediately makes WrestleMania 31 unique. I think I speak for all the WWE fans
when I say I’m really looking forward to when Daniel Bryan returns and can get
back to having great matches with such a variety of opponents. One thing I can
say with confidence is that you can be sure everybody in the company, regardless
of what capacity they work in the company, shares that same goal of making
WrestleMania even bigger than last year’s.”
On who he was most excited to interview: “I’m not dodging
the question, but it was almost everyone. The McMahon family, Triple H,
executives, former employees, people working behind the scenes, Superstars,
Divas, Hall of Famers, Legends. I did a two-part interview with Roddy Piper, a
two-part interview with Kevin Nash. I had a four-part interview with Bret Hart.
It’s just an incredible list of people in their respective ways have helped and
continue to help make WrestleMania better every year.”
