We start with Steph giving another...honestly who the fuck cares. We are all here for Daniel Bryan. Daniel due to his history with concussions has to hang it up. He was grateful for well everything. He thanked Kane, Regal and of course the fans. There was a great thats what she said bit with the Yes chants and Brie. Bryan being honest on the fans getting behind him and hijacking Raw lead to an emotional story on how that was the last time his Dad saw him wrestle. He asks for one last Yes chant, Brie comes out, they kiss, hug family members and we say goodbye to one of the greats.
So, if that article and everything I've read about Bryan's situation and retirement are true, CM Punk fulfilled his destiny as the agent for change in a way I'm sure he never imagined. If Bryan wasn't cleared because of WWE's need to be overly cautious due to the Punk lawsuit, that created the opportunity for Bryan to take a different type of test that showed him that things weren't all good, and probably far from all good. I know the spin is "WWE cares" and I'm sure that they do to an extent. But this is a perfect storm for them that takes huge advantage of the "what have you done lately" mentality because, inarguably, this is the best thing they've ever done regarding the safety of one of their private contractors.
While he was never my number 1 favorite guy, I will miss seeing him perform. My relief that he got out (hopefully) before really bad shit happened and my happiness for him hanging it up before a complete breakdown greatly outweigh my selfish desire to see him continue to perform.
Revisionist history sucks, especially in this case. Bryan's fans remember every slight and every dumb booking decision regarding him(98% of them). Of course those were glossed over, ignored, and reimagined to fit the new narrative of "WE ALWAYS LOVED HIM AS MUCH AS YOU GUYS!" Bryan would've gotten close to the same reaction had they not announced that this was Daniel Bryan retirement night. He is the most over person they've had since Austin, including Rock. And they tried their hardest to fuck it up at every turn. They succeeded despite themselves and that gives me limited hope for the future as long as Vince is still in charge; he will never understand why or how Bryan got over so huge while he keeps focusing on the Reigns and Stowman's of his world and getting increasingly frustrated that they don't get close to the same reaction as the 5'8 190 pound vegan nerd loser.
Revisionist history sucks, especially in this case. Bryan's fans remember every slight and every dumb booking decision regarding him(98% of them). Of course those were glossed over, ignored, and reimagined to fit the new narrative of "WE ALWAYS LOVED HIM AS MUCH AS YOU GUYS!" Bryan would've gotten close to the same reaction had they not announced that this was Daniel Bryan retirement night. He is the most over person they've had since Austin, including Rock. And they tried their hardest to fuck it up at every turn. They succeeded despite themselves and that gives me limited hope for the future as long as Vince is still in charge; he will never understand why or how Bryan got over so huge while he keeps focusing on the Reigns and Stowman's of his world and getting increasingly frustrated that they don't get close to the same reaction as the 5'8 190 pound vegan nerd loser.
I was thinking that all day, how they're going to whitewash away the ENDLESS burying from Cole on commentary and jerking around the fans...according to WWE, Bryan's career with the company was a rocketride from the first NXT episode to the WM XXX main event.
As for the Deadspin article, here's my takeway, something that I've been thinking/saying for quite a while now: "the scripted world of pro wrestling cares more about its athletes’ brain health than the NFL does."
So now that the Dudleys have turned heel are they gonna lose to the Usos 750 times in a row like they did to the Wyatts? I would have much rather seen Bubba turn on Devon out of frustration for losing so much and bring back Bully Ray, who would be a great mid card heel and be very over right away on a roster bereft of over heels.
Road Dog said on Twitter that wins and loses don't matter and Owens doesn't lose anything because of all the jobbing he's been doing, well I gotta ask would the Outlaws have been over if they traded wins and loses with the L.O.D? I think we all know the answer.
The fuck is Kalisto taking the pinfall for when Sin Cara is right there?
The Jericho-Miz-Styles segment was once again a highlight of the show. Miz has really picked his game up and Jericho since he dropped the out of touch character has really been good lately. They so far have made Styles look like a star and did a great build to the Styles-Jericho match on Smackdown. They can go with two finishes for the match either Miz does a run in and we get a three way at Fastlane or Jericho jobs then snaps and turns heel.
The Bryan segment was tremendous and the WWE bigwig that leaked that the yes chant was over as hell and not Bryan must feel pretty stupid right now.
Putting Mandy Rose here seems like a no-brainer. She all ready dresses in all gold for crying out loud! As an added bonus, we would never have to see her wrestle again.
Thread rated: 5.25
#
