There are a lot of stars in the WWE television galaxy from Raw to Smack Down to NXT and many others, but my favorite entry in this wild world of wrestling is WWE The Bump streaming on Peacock. Hosted by Megan Morant, Sam Roberts, and Ryan Pappolla, it is an all-access, multifaceted look at the immensely popular WWE global landscape.
With interviews, commentary, highlights, and fan interaction, it is a fun blast of WWE news and analysis. I tuned into the March 20 show with Morant providing her usual vibrant opening. She was joined by Roberts and WWE wrestler Johnny Gargano. With just a couple of weeks until WrestleMania, there was a lot of talk and hype about the upcoming jewel in the WWE crown.
Morant tossed to Pappolla to get his take on the social media buzz for WrestleMania and other WWE happenings. Pappolla brings an upbeat and carefree attitude that reflects the contemporary feel of almost every WWE production these days. Wrestling fans run the gamut of age and interest, from young followers to longtime fans, but the production values have certainly skewed younger and more dynamic recently.
Morant is a great representation of this. Her obvious on camera magnetism totally lights up the screen, but it is her dramatic manner of playing up the good versus evil WWE storylines that make her an entertaining watch. She is the next in a long line of great WWE personalities going all the way back to Vince McMahon himself, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, Jesse Ventura, Jonathan Coachman, JBL, and many more.
WWE The Bump provides wrestling fans with a look back at some of the top moments from the week. In this episode, Morant highlighted Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson singing and then menacingly telling Mama Rhodes what he is going to do to her son, WWE star Cody Rhodes. At WrestleMania XL on April 6, The Rock and Roman Reigns will battle Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
The Rock held a weightlifting belt in his hand, telling Mama Rhodes that he is going to whip Cody Rhodes so badly that the belt will be covered in her son’s blood, and that he is then going to hand the belt to her at ringside. This is pretty graphic stuff for a guy who’s become a billion-dollar box office good guy. Still, it is nice to see The Rock stay true to his WWE roots.
Coming out of the segment, Gargano gave his opinions on this split personality, and Morant threw to a response from Cody Rhodes on Raw. Clearly, the soap operatic nature of the WWE franchise remains vibrant. Morant does a really nice job of capturing this while setting up Gargano and Roberts to give their insights on upcoming matches. She ably controls the tempo of the show and knows when to sit back and let her cohorts do their thing.
With so many WWE productions on various platforms, the strength of WWE The Bump is that it provides one stop shopping to get updated on all the developments and highlights that fans may have missed.
I especially like that the show gives ample time to fans’ views via Pappolla’s social media updates. Through the many decades, the backbone of WWE has been its deep emotional connection to its fans. Highlighting viewer social media posts is a super way to put the fans front and center and give them their own little moments in the sun.
In recognition of March being Women’s History and Empowerment Month, this episode of WWE The Bump featured a lengthy interview with WWE stars Natalya, Shayna Baszler, and Liv Morgan moderated by Jackie Redmond. Redmond, one of the truly bright stars not only at WWE, but across the sports media landscape, asked questions that were equal parts pointed and poignant.
The quartet discussed what it means to be a WWE female superstar, setting an example for young women, breaking barriers, and continuing to blaze a trail. Baszler, who has a background in MMA and kickboxing, staked her claim to history on The Ultimate Fighter series. She provided real talk on the progression of women in combat sports.
Look, I know that a lot of critics look at WWE as the comic book of sports media, but it is solid and slickly produced sports television for fans of the genre. Moreover, personalities like Redmond and Morant bring credibility to the WWE on air roster. They both come from mainstream sports broadcasting, Redmond from both NHL Network and MLB Network, and Morant from stellar work in the tough Boston media market.
Before joining WWE, Morant covered the New England Patriots in a variety of roles most visibly as a Patriots.com talk show host. She followed the team through two Super Bowl titles and appeared weekly on CBS Sports Network’s pregame shows. Morant was also a digital correspondent for the Big East Conference and a broadcaster for the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Both Moran and Redmond have taken their respective experiences to sports entertainment and are thriving. The WWE, in fact, has become a platform for several talented women who deliver news, analysis, and interviews at a high-level including Cathy Kelley and Kayla Braxton. These women are powerful, independent, and fearless.
In the interview, Redmond was both emphatic and empathetic, bolstering the message of power and perseverance while admitting that she was nearly moved to tears by the deeply personal responses. I like that visceral response to an assignment.
WWE uses The Bump as a tool to promote upcoming shows, personalities, and events, and Morant is the ideal host. She combines real enthusiasm with a raised eyebrow sense of humor. She also taps into the ongoing saga of rivalries and grudges. In short, she gets it.
The interaction with Morant, Roberts, Gargano, and Pappolla is excellent. Every one of them is involved, hyped up, and ready to rock. Roberts brings a calming and more analytical approach. He knows the wrestling game and uses this knowledge to ask insightful questions.
This edition featured an in-studio guest, Special Olympics athlete Cody Field who has been named WWE Impact Correspondent. It was really fun to watch Field’s unbridled joy both on the set and in clips of him meeting WWE wrestlers. All of the show’s hosts made him feel welcome and part of the team. Again, that personal connection to fans of wrestling is so key.
WWE The Bump is a bona fide contender and might just be the heavyweight champion of WWE programs. If variety, fun, and pure adrenaline is your thing, check it out and you’ll be figure four leg locked in for sure.
John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
