RAW tonight

[Dan]

On the new WOR, Dave is back to thinking it's a shoot. "Bryan kinda got screwed. Hahaha"

[jdw]

Who was the last WWE guy to go from being in the main event segment to getting fired within a week, Kennedy?

Warrior has to hold the record: getting fired after holding up the company for more $$$ on a PPV, then getting fired after the PPV.

[Matt D]

Who was the last WWE guy to go from being in the main event segment to getting fired within a week, Kennedy?

Warrior has to hold the record: getting fired after holding up the company for more $$$ on a PPV, then getting fired after the PPV.

 

Amusingly enough, the opening to Superstars was still "warrior themed" for at least a month or two after that.

[jdw]

On the new WOR, Dave is back to thinking it's a shoot. "Bryan kinda got screwed. Hahaha"

My head hurts.

 

John

[kjh]

I don't really understand how Bryan got screwed by being shoot fired. Even though the NXT invasion angle got off to such a great start, so did the Spirit Squad and the NXT guys are a lot greener than they were. In the long run the odds are strong that either the WWE script writers will quickly botch the angle because they don't know how to and are unwilling to book an effective long term outsiders angle or Triple H returns, moans that none of these guys knows how to work and sends them all packing back to Florida. Meanwhile Bryan's sitting pretty, being paid to sit at home for three months and can then milk the indy circuit dry, while waiting for this storm in a teacup to blow over and WWE inevitably decides to bring him back. If, in the unlikely scenario that this angle is a big success, WWE can always slot him back into the feud a few months down the line.

[shawmic]

I don't think Dave thinks it is a shoot but because of the 1% chance it is he's covering his ass so people won't say he got worked. And because the story is breaking all kinds of traffic records for Dave and Bryan they're going back and forth on it every night to drive up interest.

[smkelly]

If it is a shoot firing, I don't understand the logic of the sponsor who supposedly got so upset about what happened. Last night, there were at least things that happened that were/could be considered worse than what Danielson did.

 

*The entire Bret Hart in the limo segment. Kidnapping a man in a "position of power" and then throwing him into a limo that crashes into a few other stationary vehicles.

*Shemus coming to the ring with a lead pipe. It's called felonious assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. Or, it could be inferred that he did have intent to commit murder.

 

Some people think the Danielson thing looked so bad because it was being compared to the Benoit murders. Obviously, a person could see it that way; however, it wasn't the first choking thing since June 2007, and not even the worst choking since that time either and HBK was doing the crossface not long afterwards anyway, which was a move synonymous with Benoit. While that's bad that the angle was apparently viewed as such, how many people are kidnapped a year in the United States?

To top things off, if this sponsors know pro wrestling history, they'll know that Bret has had a history of severe concussions and debilitating strokes. What better to have him crashing around in the back of a limo on live TV. I know Bret wasn't in the car when it was happening, at least I hope not, but to me, it definitely looked like he got out before the limo started crashing into randomly placed cars. Nevertheless, appearances are everything. Most people probably believed he was in the car when the WCW circa 99 angle started.

 

Something isn't registering here...

[jdw]

I like Super Chico's hedge with the punctuation:

 

 

John

[Jingus]

If it is a shoot firing, I don't understand the logic of the sponsor who supposedly got so upset about what happened.

I can think of a few possible scenarios, most of which involve Benoit in some way.

 

One: some Mattel executive flips on Raw. He's not a wrestling fan, so he has no history watching the show and rarely watches it now. However he does know about Chris Benoit, since that's the sort of skeleton you probably take out of the closet and give a good examination to before you commit a great deal of money on a client like the WWE. Suddenly he sees GODDAMN STRANGLING ON WWE TELEVISION, WHAT THE FUCK, FLASHBACKS FLASHBACKS! What, is this company trying to remind people of the violent choking deaths of Nancy and Daniel? An angry phone call is made, WWE denies responsibility and says the wrestler broke script and did it by himself, the sponsor furiously insists that this moron be fired Or Else.

 

Two: the hypothetical Mattel executive doesn't watch Raw at all, but his trusted corporate assistant does. Unfortunately for everyone, when the assistant was a little boy he was repeatedly molested by a pale white dude who kept yelling "I've got til FIVE to pull out!" The assistant has been on a personal crusade for years to destroy Bryan Danielson, but all of his murder attempts have backfired in wacky manners. But finally, the assistant realizes he's in a position of power. He goes to his Dilbert-esque Pointy Haired Boss and is all, "You know, this dude on our client's television was strangling someone. That might remind everyone of when this other dude from our client's television strangled some other someones. We need to take steps." An angry phone call is made by the executive, while the assistant runs to the executive washroom in order for some privacy while he cries maniacally and masturbates furiously.

 

...admittedly the second one is a tiny bit less probable than the first.

[Sean Liska]

If it is a shoot firing, I don't understand the logic of the sponsor who supposedly got so upset about what happened.

I can think of a few possible scenarios, most of which involve Benoit in some way.

 

One: some Mattel executive flips on Raw. He's not a wrestling fan, so he has no history watching the show and rarely watches it now. However he does know about Chris Benoit, since that's the sort of skeleton you probably take out of the closet and give a good examination to before you commit a great deal of money on a client like the WWE. Suddenly he sees GODDAMN STRANGLING ON WWE TELEVISION, WHAT THE FUCK, FLASHBACKS FLASHBACKS! What, is this company trying to remind people of the violent choking deaths of Nancy and Daniel? An angry phone call is made, WWE denies responsibility and says the wrestler broke script and did it by himself, the sponsor furiously insists that this moron be fired Or Else.

 

 

If they got such big heat from a sponsor for last week's content, it's strange to me that they would have the major angle on the next week's show be a car crash deal. I know that little kids don't drive, but it's still weird. The whole situation is weird.

[Dan]

For whatever it's worth, Keller says it's a shoot. And he says Daniels swearing on TV, also contributed to his endeaverment.

[kjh]

Bryan Alvarez in Figure Four Weekly refutes the Mattel executive is to blame for Bryan's firing story:

 

For those putting the blame on Mattel, people with friends in Mattel reported to us that Mattel had absolutely no idea any of this happened.

The fact that WWE are keeping the unhappy party so quiet suggests to me that it was someone on Linda McMahon's campaign team or a Republican party bigwig who freaked out when they saw or heard about the angle. I suppose it's possible it was someone from USA/NBC/Viacom, but that doesn't make much sense given all the bad taste, violent and risque angles WWE has done in the past that essentially were ignored.

[jdw]

Given all the batshit crazy things that the GOP is saying about guns, revolution and torture, it's a bit odd that anyone would freak out about a fake choking and a faking wrestling show.

 

John

[rovert]

Isnt Danielson a radical leftist? lol

[rovert]

 

Clue, perhaps?

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/em...-release-104583

 

I don't know how reputable this is, but

 

"To whom it may concern;

 

I am a campaign worker for the Linda McMahon Senate campaign in Stamford, CT and I wanted to pass this information along to you. I am not a "fan" of Mrs. McMahon's family business by any means but I also do not like to see people's livelihoods taken away because of someone's political ambitions.

 

In regards to the released performer Daniel Brian this decision was made by Mr. David Cappiello the new campaign manager for Mrs. McMahon. After viewing the video of an incident of someone being choked and spat on Mr. Cappiello advised the campaign this could have very negative repurcussions to the campaign as a whole.

 

It was his decision that many in the media would use this against Mrs. McMahon in her campaign because of it's violent nature and it would bring up memories of the Chris Benoit tragedy which the campaign has tried very hard to distance itself from. He also felt it would significantly hurt her stance on family values to be associated with a product marketed towards children that allowed it's performers to openly spit in the faces of one another. It was this decision that led to the performer being released to show the media that Mrs. McMahon does not tolerate or approve of such behavior.

 

I am sending this to you from a temporary e-mail address. I will not answer further questions I just thought the truth should be put out there and not this rampant speculation. You can chose to print this or not, I leave that entirely to you."

[CodySave]

No need to speculate now - this makes it pretty obvious:

 

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/13756/

 

Bryan Danielson booking information

 

As noted on his Twitter, Bryan Danielson is now taking independent bookings. Interested promoters can contact [email protected].

Both Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE are already advertising him for dates in July.

[jdw]

But... but... but... it's a work!

 

 

John

[Sean Liska]

And Cena is telling people to sign petitions to bring Danielson back. And the week after Vince supposedly had to pacify a sponsor and put out a potential fire regarding content, his big angle is one where a guy gets forced into a limo and crashed into several cars. The tie thing isn't really adding up. What's the real story? Did he inject steroids into his ass or something, because I can't remember a more secretive release. Supposedly Vince even called Danielson personally about it.

[Dan]

FWIW: WWE let Matt Hardy work indies during their 'work the Internet' thing. He even plugged ROH during his "shoot run-in" on Raw.

[Jingus]

Yeah, but Matt Hardy really was fired. They only decided to bring him back after the surprisingly large WE WANT MATT chants broke out in half their arenas afterwards.

[Guest Slickster]

I wonder if we will ever find out the true cause or if this will be filed next to Willie the Worker in the 'Unsolved Mysteries' cabinet.

[kjh]

And Cena is telling people to sign petitions to bring Danielson back. And the week after Vince supposedly had to pacify a sponsor and put out a potential fire regarding content, his big angle is one where a guy gets forced into a limo and crashed into several cars. The tie thing isn't really adding up. What's the real story?

This reminds me of the story where Harry Smith failed a drugs test in developmental and Vince McMahon put him on Raw for a few weeks, just so he could suspend someone on their main roster to prove that he was serious about drug testing. So would WWE script a fake choking angle just so they could "shoot" fire somebody who "went into business for themselves" to prove that they were serious about keeping their content PG? Just one possible silly conspiracy theory...

[rovert]

And Cena is telling people to sign petitions to bring Danielson back. And the week after Vince supposedly had to pacify a sponsor and put out a potential fire regarding content, his big angle is one where a guy gets forced into a limo and crashed into several cars. The tie thing isn't really adding up. What's the real story?

This reminds me of the story where Harry Smith failed a drugs test in developmental and Vince McMahon put him on Raw for a few weeks, just so he could suspend someone on their main roster to prove that he was serious about drug testing. So would WWE script a fake choking angle just so they could "shoot" fire somebody who "went into business for themselves" to prove that they were serious about keeping their content PG? Just one possible silly conspiracy theory...

 

In Trevor Murdoch's interview he makes the claim that he was fired for smoking pot to send a message that even you are liked by management and the locker room you will be fired for smoking pot.

[Cox]

That would make sense if Randy Orton hadn't been spared however many times. Of course, it's easier to fire Trevor Murdoch than it is to fire Randy Orton.