Jimmy Jacobs Booked Shield Beatdown of Lesnar For His WWE Writing Tryout
As part of the process of trying to get a job on the WWE creative team, Jimmy Jacobs concocted a scenario that involved Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reuniting and joining forces to beat down Brock Lesnar.
Jacobs recalled the experience during an appearance on the latest episode of Chris Jericho's podcast, Talk Is Jericho.
After more than a decade on the independent wrestling scene, Jacobs decided to pursue a writing job with WWE, and took up the matter at a WWE event where he already was booked as an extra. After the extra booking was confirmed, Jacobs reached out to Daniel Bryan and Joey Mercury, both of whom vouched for Jacobs with WWE head writer Dave Kapoor, better known as the Great Khali's former manager, Ranjit Singh.
After a phone interview with Kapoor and Ed Koskie, Jacobs was asked to send in a writing sample that consisted of booking five matches for WrestleMania, along with the build-up to them.
Jacobs' main event concluded with the following pitch:
"This was February so the wheels were in motion for part of the [WrestleMania] card. The main event was Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. I had it, on the build to WrestleMania, to send a message to Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar destroys Dean Ambrose. And always remember, Seth had the Money In The Bank at that point. So basically the finish to WrestleMania is, Brock Lesnar beats Roman Reigns, but then out comes like a hobbling Dean Ambrose to attack Brock Lesnar for what he did to him earlier in the build. And then Roman Reigns, and then here comes Seth to cash in the Money In The Bank. So then basically the Shield beats Brock Lesnar at the end of the night. And you go off WrestleMania, with the three Shield members in the ring, Seth is the new champion and not knowing if the Shield is back together or not. … You end this huge moment with a question."
Someone evidently liked Jacobs' pitch. On March 6, 2015, 16 years to the day after he worked his first match as a referee, WWE called to offer him a spot on the creative team.
Jacobs' tenure in WWE, which ended abruptly earlier this fall when he was fired for talking a selfie with Bullet Club members outside the venue where Raw was taking place, did have its highlights. He helped come up with Jericho's "List of Jericho" and also wrote the Festival of Friendship.
However, Jacobs noted that, in many ways, being on the WWE creative team was a rather thankless task.
"You get all of the blame and none of the credit," he said.
Click here to check out Jacobs' entire appearance on Talk Is Jericho.