sek69 Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 One of the things that held Daniel Bryan back for so long was that he was just happy to be in the company wrestling in front of the fans. He was pretty much the embodiment of the attitude that Vince hates about the "millennials". Like Johnny says, this isn't meant to be literal. It is just their way of saying you have to go after something big. To aspire to be the best worker you can possibly be, someone that can actually stand out with the fans as opposed to being a ham n egger who comes to the shows with their heads down and just committing enough effort to get through a match before going on to the next town. The best part is allegedly Vince first soured on Bryan because they do some kind of test to gauge how motivated you are and it's all questions like "do you want to own tons of cars and live in the biggest houses". Since Bryan's worldview is pretty much the opposite of everything they asked about, he's a slacking millennial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 This isn't too related to anything but does anybody else really dislike the recent-ish saying "if you're in WWE/NXT and you don't aim to be WWE Champion then get out of the company" Seriously? Oh, so D-Von Dudley reckons he's gonna be WWE champion yeah? Christ. Variety keeps the fucking show going so that a Rusev/Cesaro/Ryback doesn't have to eat a pin to each other at the shittiest of shit times. I despise it. I think a lot of it is a work and I think it's a great thing to say on television. But as a real way to evaluate talent, it's pretty dumb. They seem to think everyone should be able to work and talk and look amazing at all times, not realizing that sometimes, someone is so strong in one or two of those areas that the others aren't nearly as critical. And at the end of the day, all that should matter is that someone connects, not how they connect. When someone breaks the mold, the mindset shouldn't be to make excuses and make sure it doesn't work, it should be to learn what worked about it and what didn't that could be applied to someone else. There are good things about WWE happening to be the company that is the last group standing. There would be major issues we'd complain about with any sole survivor. But the worst aspect of it is that it's a company more than any other that has a very boxed-in idea of what a headliner looks like, sounds like and works like. Some of the territories were equally bullish about their way being the only way, but Bill Watts is the type who would have scoffed at Daniel Bryan or Rey Mysterio at first, then admitted he was wrong and worked hard to protect them in the booking. Then again, had Bill Watts won the wrestling war, Seth Rollins would get yelled at that he needs to sell more for Titus O'Neill if he has any interest in keeping his job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Bryan's organic connection with the crowd stood, and still does, stand out in a ridiculously controlled environment and if he's ever healthy enough to continue, the entire sequence will repeat again because nobody has taken his place as the fan's man. I agree with Loss that their idea of what a wrestler is and looks like is so removed from Bryan but I think, when he returns, they're going to get exactly what they've tried to repress for 18 months. It's how they react that's important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Bryan's organic connection with the crowd stood, and still does, stand out in a ridiculously controlled environment and if he's ever healthy enough to continue, the entire sequence will repeat again because nobody has taken his place as the fan's man. I agree with Loss that their idea of what a wrestler is and looks like is so removed from Bryan but I think, when he returns, they're going to get exactly what they've tried to repress for 18 months. It's how they react that's important. Well then good thing it would appear that Bryan is never coming back as a wrestler again. I really do believe if Bryan wrestles again, it would be either a result of a lawsuit he files against them for preventing him to make a living or that he was released and works an AJ Styles type indy tour style of commitments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Here's an interesting question that I don't even know the answer to. If Bryan had been around every week since Mania, would he have even had a title program with Rollins by now? I'm inclined to say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 They would have at least had a match or two on Raw or Smackdown but maybe not on PPV. Bryan was supposed to get a long run with the IC title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ready_Willing_Gable Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 So if I've got this right, Bryan is raring and ready to go again just about now, but WWE just won't clear him? I get that concussions are no laughing matter and this could really be seen as a smart protocol, but have/would they do this with anybody else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Some of ya'll really need to consider whether a guy who openly brags about trying to hide concussions and has had probably over 50 of them might not be the most credible source on whether or not he's ready to come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVZ Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I am with goc that they would have thrown Bryan vs. Rollins out there on Raw by now, but with no build or long term consequences. I agree with Loss that there would not have been a Rollins-Bryan program. I was excited for a Bryan IC title run but was this a way to rebuild the title or a way to occupy Bryan and placate his fans while still keeping him away from the main event? Wrestling fans who like Bryan value the IC title more than the WWE does I think. This was their way of satisfying his fans while moving on to a main event scene that did not include him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I was excited for a Bryan IC title run but was this a way to rebuild the title or a way to occupy Bryan and placate his fans while still keeping him away from the main event? Wrestling fans who like Bryan value the IC title more than the WWE does I think. This was their way of satisfying his fans while moving on to a main event scene that did not include him. Probably a little bit of both. And I absolutely don't blame them for not rushing him back into the main event scene before seeing whether he would be able to hold up. The only thing they fucked up on was not waiting until after the Rumble to bring him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Smackdown would have definitely been in better shape if Bryan was still here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 If the finish of Mania - Rollins, Cena, and Bryan as champs - could have stuck, it would have lifted all boats. But aside from Wyatt again or maybe Barrett, I'm not sure who Bryan would have been booked against. Rusev would have been the ideal from a quality match perspective, but I suspect the constant effort to pair Bryan with Sheamus would have taken hold. There are actually more IC-level heels in the company that I would have guessed, and you could always turn or elevate someone. A feel good run of Bryan staving off those four contenders for 9-12 months would have been pretty great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'm hoping for Kevin Owens/Cesaro to be the next IC title feud personally. I mean eventually they are gonna move Owens on from the Ryback feud and I'm not sure what other babyfaces there are at that level other than Neville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Before he got the concussion they were building to a Sheamus and/or Ziggler program for Bryan after Barrett. He'd probably tried to get a program with Cesaro too but who knows if he had kept the belt by that point or WWE would've actually booked that feud. The most interesting "what if" of his IC reign to me is him being able to convince WWE to book the Nakamura IC champ vs IC champ match he wanted for their Japan Tour (that ended up having a Network Special). So if I've got this right, Bryan is raring and ready to go again just about now, but WWE just won't clear him? I get that concussions are no laughing matter and this could really be seen as a smart protocol, but have/would they do this with anybody else? They did it with Christian before they did it with Bryan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 They did it with Christian before they did it with Bryan. They didn't want him to overshadow Roman Reigns either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I forgot about Ziggler trying to get the crowd to call Bryan names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Ziggler AND Ambrose. And then Sheamus came back, looked like a murder machine, and gets stuck in a pointless feud with Ziggler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 There are good things about WWE happening to be the company that is the last group standing. There would be major issues we'd complain about with any sole survivor. But the worst aspect of it is that it's a company more than any other that has a very boxed-in idea of what a headliner looks like, sounds like and works like. Some of the territories were equally bullish about their way being the only way, but Bill Watts is the type who would have scoffed at Daniel Bryan or Rey Mysterio at first, then admitted he was wrong and worked hard to protect them in the booking. Then again, had Bill Watts won the wrestling war, Seth Rollins would get yelled at that he needs to sell more for Titus O'Neill if he has any interest in keeping his job. Dave made a very similar point in the newsletter a few months ago; that many promoters would have said Bryan couldn't be a star, but once they saw he was getting over, all of them would have ran with it. Said modern WWE's insistence that a guy can't get over after he is already over is pretty much unprecedented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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