It’s all about Daniel Bryan. I should just type his name over and over, and that would be a great column.
Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Colt Cabana, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Nigel McGuiness, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan.
There you have it, possibly the greatest paragraph is wrestling journalism history.
In all seriousness, I feel as if the past couple months, WWE has turned their programming into The Daniel Bryan Hour featuring other Ring of Honor wrestlers. This might be the best wrestling WWE has had in the past decade, and I mean that seriously. Look, guys like Edge and Jericho are great performers, but one might agree, they largely carried the program on their own. You have Daniel Bryan, whom the programming largely focuses on now. Then you have CM Punk. Then you have Antonio Cesaro. Rob Van Dam. Damien Sandow. Bryan is for sure ahead of the pack, with Punk pretty much neck-and-neck, but Bryan is leading a crusade of something missing for a number of years, and that is a simple word: Wrestling.
In his promo before the main event at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan preached he does it for the fans, he does it for the wrestling. While John Cena, countered he does it for the fans, he does it for the entertainment. At some point, one might have wondered if Cena, script or not, intended to make Bryan’s argument into a heel-slanted one. Yes, Cena does bust his ass as he claims to perform, whether fans like or dislike him. The problem with Cena and his “hustle, loyalty, respect” mantra is that in order to entertain, you need the wrestling in a sports-entertainment company based around wrestling. Again, I have no doubts or intent to denounce Cena and his argument of his contributions to WWE. Totally 100% valid. However, in an era where guys like Punk and Bryan are hypnotizing fans with wresting unseen since the days of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit (yes, he DID exist), Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, William Regal, and countless others, you have to be more than a mouth on a microphone. Bryan, Punk, Ambrose, Ziggler, Rollins, Cesaro, and others have brought a new era to WWE wrestling.
To no one’s surprise, Triple H stripped Daniel Bryan of the WWE Championship. This makes Bryan uber-babyface, and both Randy Orton and Triple H the biggest heels of this era. The Game has fully embraced his inner-McMahon, while Orton is now the soldier, the strong-arm of the new Corporate stable. At the rate they are going, Bryan may wind up as an eight-time WWE Champion by the time he challenges for it at WrestleMania. By cleanly beating Orton at Night of Champions, Bryan proves he is the best wrestler in WWE right now and Triple H must come up with some new schemes to thwart the massive fan-favorite. Will constant title-teasing kill the momentum of Daniel Bryan?
Honestly, if Punk was not embroiled in a war with Paul Heyman, I would love to see Punk and Bryan team up or face each other over and over to qualify as the next contender. He kissed a sweaty Ryback. Ew. However, the tandem of Ryback and Curtis Axel could become something noteworthy in the future? Perhaps at sometime Heyman and Triple H will bury the hatchet and unify towards a common goal?
Speaking of those looking to rise up, we last saw a number of wrestlers aid Daniel Bryan in his battle against Triple H. I can see Big Show finding a way to break free, and with others, Bryan forming an alliance or stable of his own, a “Union” so-to-speak, to face-off with The Shield, Orton, and whomever else The Game will recruit. Maybe Wade Barrett? Where is he anyway? This angle is incredibly well-done, I am feeling the huge love from wrestling fans for Bryan, and unless WWE has a major blunder, I really, really see this going all the way to WrestleMania 30.
Prime Time Players were ready for Tag Team Gold, but Rollins and Reigns need to keep the belts in order to show their supremacy with Ambrose as Corporate Champions. I have no doubt, when the kingdom falls, The Shield will lose their titles abruptly to worthy contenders.
Anyone else like how Triple H uses the “King of Kings” entrance theme as a heel? Where is Mr. McMahon anyway?
Rhodes family vs…? It is clear Dusty, Dustin, and Cody will all be in the ring soon. I wonder what this whole WWE Battleground PPV is all about? We had Bragging Rights, which was a watered down Survivor Series, obvious reason as to why the former title was scrapped. It would be great if Battleground incorporated some old NWA/WCW pay-per-view novelties like the Thunderdome, the WarGames gauntlet, a World War 3 Battle Royale…? Something special. We have Survivor Series in November, so what could Battleground possibly be?
Hopefully this week sheds some light on answers, which, knowing WWE, will lead to more questions. Do we like more?
YES! YES! YES!
