By Paul Hall
Take Storage Wars, Pawn Stars or anything to do with memorabilia, mix in some WWE flair, and you will get the premise of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures (April 18, A&E).
From the search for Ric Flair’s Butterfly Robe to Andy Kaufman’s neck brace, prepare for the ultimate road trip as some amazing WWE Legends head out across the country to find some of the most elusive WWE collectibles.
“There are certain things that just resonate with [people], and going back is like stepping into a time machine,” WWE Executive Vice President of Strategy and Talent Development Paul “Triple H” Levesque tells us. “There’s a Maya Angelou quote that states, ‘People won’t remember what you said or did; they will remember how you made them feel.’ And I truly believe that. It’s especially true in our business because WWE sort of makes you feel something, these characters make you feel something, they take you back to a time in your life where you felt a certain way … and there’s nothing like that.”
The series captures great behind-the-scenes looks at the significance of these relics, where the items were found and who owned them. “Meeting the network of fans and the collectors … it really shows you the depth of how much WWE Superstars touch fans’ lives and how much they really mean to them,” Levesque adds.
In addition to Treasures, WWE Studios and A&E will present eight original installments of the famed Biography series (beginning April 18), which will include profiles on WWE Legends like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Booker T, Ultimate Warrior, Mick Foley, Bret “Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels (one of Triple H’s best friends in the business).
“A&E sort of started the grand acceptance of biographies … nobody better for us to partner with,” Levesque shares.
While some of these stories have been told in some manner before, they’ve never been told this deeply.
The biographies are “ways for you to engage in sort of what it takes, not only as an athlete, as a performer, but just the human story of what it takes, what it entails, and how you come to something and somebody’s passion for it,” he explains. “You don’t have to understand WWE to understand these stories, but once you do see their stories and the passion they put into it, it engages you in WWE in a different way.”