Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,
On Sunday, I completed the WWE Superfecta having attended 2006 Summerslam in Boston, Wrestlemanias XXVIII (Miami) & XXIX (NYC), 2013 Survivor Series in Boston and Royal Rumble 2015. I have to say I think the Royal Rumble will go down as the most memorable of all five of the WWE's supershows that I have attended. Between the best match I have ever seen live pitting WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar against John Cena & Seth Rollins and being a part of that crazy crowd for the Royal Rumble. We booed the ever loving shit out of The Rock and cheered for a Russian super heel, it was a night to remember.
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The subject of today's blog was at the lightning rod for the controversy this past Sunday. While Bubba Ray and DDP got the Royal Rumble started off with a BANG~!, Daniel Bryan being eliminated unceremoniously triggered first an eerie silence, but this was just the calm before the storm of thousands of boos raining down on Roman Reigns. For the record, I am of the opinion that Daniel Bryan being eliminated early was for the best if Roman Reigns had to win. I think they were total pussies in how they booked the Rumble where they did not even try to put heel heat on the person that eliminated Rumble, how Roman Reigns did jack shit in the Rumble until the end (as Austin & Keller put it, "took a nap") and that two people he was left with were the two heat vacuums of the roster: The Big Show and fucking Kane (and I say that as a fan of The Big Show) and then The Rock comes out because that was supposed to make everything better. I mean fuck that shit. How insulting! Personally, it was not the end of my world that Daniel Bryan did not win, but I was sitting next to the one Daniel Bryan HATER in this world and his insufferable yapping and gloating was interminable. So you best believe I booed the shit out of everyone else. Then when he would not stop screaming "THE DEMON KANE" for five agonizing minutes that is when I went all in on Rusev winning. I was trying to get a "Rusev" chant going because I knew he had only scurried under the bottom rope. I was so glad when a full-fledged "We Want Rusev" chant rung out. He just existed as one last fuck you from Vince because nothing was going to stop the Roman express. This is not about Roman Reigns, who I do feel bad for, but this is for Vince and all the higher ups, who had waved a middle finger at us and did not even have the balls to own it. Roman Reigns is your boy then treat him like your boy don't hang him up to dry by booking him like a numbnuts. Do I think Reigns going on a tear and being featured as a badass would mitigate the boos? Nope. It was the right thing to do though. Otherwise, you are just justifying the boos. It was crazy to be a part of that crowd and I did enjoy my Royal Rumble experience even if it was not exactly what I hoped for, which was of course a victory for young Daniel Bryan.
Unlike most fans of Daniel Bryan, I am actually a fan of his character first and foremost and the wrestler second. Don't get me wrong, I heard all about the great American Dragon, but outside of the ROH live events I never really got a chance to see him. In the WWE, he was brought in as the Miz's protege for the NXT reality show, but the joke was Daniel Bryan could wrestle circles around The Miz. Bryan was originally a part of the Nexus, but due to being a little overzealous choking Justin Roberts with his tie was shoot fired. Before he was rehired, I went to a Smackdown! I remember chanting for "Daniel Bryan" with everyone else because I thought he unfairly fired and I wanted to see the damn guy wrestle after all the hype. They bring him back only to ship to Smackdown! Well there goes any chance of seeing him. :)
| Who Knew What It Would Become? |
I was at the birth of the Yes Movement in Miami at Wrestlemania XXVIII when the crowd was going crazy chanting "Yes!" only for Bryan to lose in 18 seconds. They kept chanting for him throughout the show and into Monday, which was the first prominent of "bizarro" RAWs after Wrestlemania. Overnight, Daniel Bryan became a sensation again because the fans viewed his treatment as unfair. After the brand split was ended, I started to watch Daniel Bryan more closely. He was paired with Big Red Heat Vacuum, Kane, but he made him tolerable. He made Kane tolerable, I mean Daniel Bryan is a fucking miracle worker. Again, just when you think he is dead and buried being saddled with Kane, he kicks out. You can't hold Daniel Bryan down and finally it looks like they will pull the trigger by giving Bryan a victory over Cena at the second biggest PPV of the year at Summerslam, but then Randy Orton cashed in Money in the Bank. Well it is just a matter of time before Bryan wins after all, the babyface always triumphs. However, Bryan has the screws put to him repeatedly and then he is stuck in dead end feud with the Wyatts. Still, they could not quench the Yes Movement and at Royal Rumble 2014 when Bryan was not even in the Rumble, the fans revolted with molten fire towards every wrestler not in the Rumble. Daniel's Bryan's career was full of injustice, but what makes him so incredible is that not he is a great wrestler rather he is tremendous connection with the fans who believe in him and he believes in us.
I think Daniel Bryan is a great wrestler and he is one of the best hot tags that ever lived. Still, I find myself more drawn to the character than the wrestler. Daniel Bryan the character was the hook for me. He embodies hope. He is the little train engine that could. He never gave up on his dreams and in turn we never gave up on him. He is the hope that if you truly love what you do, work hard and fight for what you believe then you can overcome any obstacle and achieve your dreams. You can tell how surreal it is for him that on the grandest stage of them all he has triggered a movement that has pro wrestling to its very core and challenged the fundamental ideological tenets of professional wrestling. Unlike so many stilted promos in today's wrestling's landscape, you believe in how much Daniel Bryan loves pro wrestling and it is contagious. Just when we all thought that the clock had expired on Bryan at last year's Rumble, the WWE finally woke up and said "Yes!". At Wrestlemania XXX, the two Daniel Bryan matches are two of the most emotionally moving matches I have seen as a pro wrestling fan. They truly the cure for any bad day.
After his severe neck injury that prematurely ended his title reign and his treatment at the Rumble, they should only be more cherished. No matter what they do to Bryan or what he decides, he will always those matches and we will always have them to watch to remember that truly anything is possible in this world.
Match Listing:
Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt - Royal Rumble 2014 ****
Great Bray Wyatt performance. Action-packed. Lacking interesting story or hook.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs John Cena vs Daniel Bryan vs Cesaro
vs Sheamus vs Christian - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 ****
Great beginning and work by the mid-carders especially Christian. Finish stretch was pretty lame.
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H w/Stephanie McMahon - Wrestlemania XXX *****
Ultimate feel-good story. Both of them made each other work for every inch. Flawless.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan
Wrestlemania XXX ****
The Happy Ending. Fun Attitude Era style brawl with great crazy hijinx. Awesome finish.
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Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt - Royal Rumble 2014
Who is this Bray Wyatt and where the hell has he been? He was the King of the Explosive Cutoff in this match. He reminds me of Dr. Death in his ability to combine size with acceleration. You will see that in snippets in other matches, but it was in full effect here. In a lot of Wyatts matches, he does not have an opponent with as deep an offensive arsenal as Bryan so when he cuts off his opponent it is after each move, which makes it feel like he is trading moves and it becomes an exhibition. Bryan's depth affords the ability to have Bryan have longer spurts before a cutoff and Bryan's natural ability to exhibit a sense of overcoming the odds engages the viewer more.
One of the best things about Daniel Bryan is the overwhelming crowd support he gets and that was evident early as the crowd was very hot for this. There were periods where they dipped out, but they were staunchly behind young Daniel Bryan throughout. We get that first taste of how Bray Wyatt will use Bryan's momentum against him with an explosive elbow cutoff, but Bryan keeps coming and takes Harper out with a suicide dive. The ref sends the Wyatt Family packing. Bryan hitting two badass cross bodies was just a great rabble rousing moment. Bryan gets on top and Wyatt chops him off the top rope. Bryan takes a nasty fall. I would have liked that to have been a transition instead Wyatt goes head over heels on the steps. Bryan doing leg work is something I like because it gives his offense direction. I know unless it is a Rusev match that most likely the leg work would not be a factor and that does not annoy me as much as Daniel Bryan no selling head injuries later on.
Bray Wyatt gets an snap arm wrench onto the apron and then blasts Bryan's head with elbows as he is up against the post. I like my heels, violent and sadistic. Wyatt's back senton is awesome. I really liked the spot where Wyatt snapped Bryan into the middle rope. I had just seen that for the first time in Styles/Tanahashi and thought it was cool as all hell maybe they got it from here. The Wyatt chinlocks did seem to sap some energy from the crowd, but overall I think his attack on the head of Daniel Bryan was really spot on. I was disappointed a little bit that this did not seem to impact how Daniel Bryan would overcome the odds. I really think Bryan adjusting his game plan for a serious head injury would have made this a bonafide match of the year contender. Don't get me wrong, the finish stretch was very exciting, but felt like a departure from the rest of the match.
The match becomes about Bryan gaining more and more offense. First it is some elbows off a missed Wyatt elbow, but that is cutoff by a sweeeeeeet cross body block.Then Bryan fights through nailing a tornado DDT off the apron and a missile dropkick. He is feeling it and goes into frantic running dropkicks, but on the third one Wyatt nearly decapitates him with a lariat. Wyatt is the heir of Stan Hansen. His swinging lariat is a thing of beauty. Wyatt going for Sister Abigail, but Bryan getting a roll-up nearfall is so WWE. Bryan goes for the Yes-Lock, but Wyatts bites him. At this point, I am just going to say it, Wyatt is the better wrestler in this match. He is just on point in every way as a heel, whereas Bryan is being arbitrary and capricious about his move selection. Then in a moment that actually shocked me and blew me away Wyatt caught Bryan on a suicide dive attempt and delivered Sister Abigail. He hit one more time in the ring to win the match.
Great definitive finish, but also shows that at the time of the Rumble they really did think of Bryan as a B+ player as he had no protection in that loss. Wyatt looked better here than he has in his whole career. Great heel work mixed with excellent timing made for one helluva performance. Still I thought this lacked an interesting match hook. They could have gone body part with Wyatt's leg, or Bryan's head, but WWE does not care for that. Then it could have been can Bryan overcome the monster, Wyatt, but instead we were getting weak transitions like a roll-up or Bryan just starting up offense. The match was exciting, had some great spots and a great individual Bray Wyatt performance, but it was missing that overarching storyline to make it a match of the year contender. ****
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WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs John Cena vs Daniel Bryan vs Cesaro
vs Sheamus vs Christian - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014
The Royal Rumble, Money In The Bank and Elimination Chamber are matches I enjoy to watch live, but if I don't catch them that way, I almost never go back and watch them. I was curious about this one because it got some buzz, but then lost lost steam come end of year awards time. I really enjoyed this and this was far more character-driven than I expected. I thought Christian was the MVP with his desperate violence. If they booked all opportunist characters like this then they be far more interesting. Right from the outset, he taunts Sheamus while he is in the pod, which allows Cesaro to get one up on Sheamus. Then when he enters fourth, he shoves Sheamus off the top rope to the steel and then is laser focused on Bryan's arm. It made total sense, Christian is locking in on the weakest link and is looking to exploit it. The only problem is Sheamus hates him and Cesaro is a fucking rogue powerhouse. Cesaro had the second best character as the hot dog, arrogant show off. He was not wrestling with a High Wrestling IQ. He was constantly breaking up other people's chances to eliminate people. He would engage Sheamus in gnarly macho pissing contests. Why? Because he was out to prove he was The Man and that his raw power and sheer might would overcome even a shitty strategy. The first time we see that is Bryan has Sheamus in the Indian Deathlock and Cesaro comes at him which allows Bryan to hit the Northern Lights Suplex while in the Deathlock. This would be a constant thread throughout the match with Cesaro. Cesaro on at least two occasions stopped Cena from hitting FUs. Cena comes in and the secondary finishers go flying. Orton walks in too a mass of humanity laid out. Orton gloats as the crowd boos. He goes for the punt on Bryan, but whiffs. He is cornered so he retreats to the pod and the crowd chants "Pussy!". Holy shit, three heels acting like heels, I LOVE IT, MICHAEL~!
Sheamus blasts the pod down with a Brogue Kick because he is all man. Cesaro attacks Shemaus even though he has the upper hand. Then Cena hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle on Orton, but Cesaro attacks again. Giant Swing on Orton for about 30 revolutions. THAT HOT DOG! Bryan hits Chaos Theory on Cesaro. It would have been great if he got eliminated there with his hubris getting the best of him. Sheamus Brogue Kick Cena. Christian ROLLS UP Sheamus! NO! Christian DIVES ON Cena! No! Christian being the best American Yoshinari Ogawa is awesome! Sheamus gets up and sees red and wants to kill Christian. Christian retreats to the top of the pod. Sheamus gives chase and Orton superplexes Sheamus. Christian SPLASH OFF THE POD! Complete with Here Comes The Pain sell into the cover! He eliminates Sheamus! YES! YES! YES! Bryan hits his exploding knee and eliminates Christian. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! NO! NO! NO! Daniel Bryan sucks! :)
Cena/Bryan showdown is fucking electric. I loved their strike exchange. They need to go back to that well for this year's Summerslam. Cena hoists Bryan up for the FU, but Cesaro Germans the both of them. Cena makes Cesaro pay with an FU on the plexiglass and then tap to the most vicious STFU ever. I would have liked Cesaro's arrogance really be exploited in his elimination, but this was good enough. The match really goes downhill at this point. The Wyatts appear to start the Cena program and attack Cena. Orton eliminated Cena after Sister Abigail. Kane is out to restore order and Bryan dives onto him. Bryan hits his exploding knee, but Kane pulls out the ref. RKO -> 1-2->NO! Bryan is alive, but Kane uppercut and Orton RKO takes care of that.
No reason to have Bryan win, but still it is a pretty lame ending. Better to just have Orton get the best of Bryan's shoulder in my opinion. Cena/Wyatts was lame. The three midcarders were awesome in this. Cesaro and Christian added a ton of interesting spots that made sense in the context of their characters. Sheamus is just fucking awesome and his exchanges with Cesaro ruled! ****
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| 1-2-NO! NO! NO! YES! YES! YES! |
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H w/Stephanie McMahon - Wrestlemania XXX
In light of recent events, this match should only be more cherished as the night everything was right with the world of pro wrestling. The most emotionally impactful of the match of the year contenders of 2014. The Shield versus Wyatts made the best use of past history, AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki told the most interesting intra-match story and Tanahashi/Nakamura rocked the limb psychology like no one else this year. Wrestling should not hit in you the head, it should hit you in the gut. When I watch this match, I was moved moreso now than probably when it happened. Daniel Bryan represents so much more to me than just a great wrestler. He proves if you love it, want it and work hard enough for it that anything is possibly. We all know the obstacles in front of him and he just kept his head down plowed through them and became the World Champion on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Before the fairy tale ending, Bryan had to face the man who was the exact antithesis of Bryan. He was not the populist choice. He was a member of the Kliq, given a forced push to the top, and married the boss' daughter. Triple H is a lightning rod of controversy. Some contend he is a great ring general and master of ring psychology while loathing his backstage politics and knack for burying opponents. Others call his entire reputation a sham manufactured by the WWE to work the fans into believing he was one of the greatest of all-time when he was just a mediocre wrestler that happened to be connected to the correct people. This made him the absolute perfect opponent for Daniel Bryan because no matter your feelings on Triple H, he represented everything corporate and artificial about pro wrestling while Daniel Bryan embodied the passion and humanity of pro wrestling.
Triple H offers his hand to begin the match and Bryan kicks it away only to roll him up quickly. Bryan came to play, brutha. Bryan is on him with kicks and HHH bails. Stephanie, who is a total smokeshow tonight with those short shorts, gives The Game exhorts while Bryan now offers his hand. What I love about the early part of the match is that even though Bryan shoulder is taped and HHH targets it, it is not as soon as HHH attacks it that Bryan just writhes in pain. There are levels of pain. Bryan is able to fight through the first couple attacks because of his determination and he can't afford it to be worked on. Yes, it causes a wince, but it is a just brief inconvenience. It is a babyface shine that is truly earned that culminates with Bryan hitting a tornado DDT from the apron and the somersault off the top rope onto The Game. Triple H seems shaken from this onslaught and has underestimated Daniel Bryan. He is able to cause Bryan to lose his balance on the top rope. HHH is not going to fuck around and looks to end this early with a Pedigree on the announce table, but the feisty Bryan fights out so Triple H quickly switches gears and wrenches the bad shoulder right into the edge of the announce table. OUCH!
Only now does the heat on Bryan begin with Triple H destroying Bryan's arm and delivering the best limb work of his career. Stephanie laying the badmouth on Bryan, "Mess with the bull, you are going to get the horns" among others was just awesome. She would be such an excellent manager if she ever committed to it full time. Bryan's first hope spot is his signature suicide dive, but Triple H blasts him with a right hand. HHH hits a nasty back suplex with the arm behind the back on the apron. Triple H busting out the Crossface Chickenwing into the Crippler Crossface was wicked cool. Daniel Bryan will not be denied. He makes it to the ropes and begins his signature high-octane comeback. Triple H looks to cut him off with a suplex, but Bryan gets two Germans of his own. Triple H looks to stop the bleeding with a Chickenwing Crossface, but has to settle for the Tiger Suplex. Sick! Triple H showing he is not always a Cerebral Assassin mounts D-Bry on the top rope, which gives him the high ground and the chance to hit a sunset flip powerbomb. Daniel Bryan with a repeated running dropkicks, but on the third Triple H bursts out of the corner with a wicked lariat. I love the struggle of this match. You really feel like two men are fighting strongly for their respective ideologies and pride. Neither one wants to give an inch to the other. Triple H is getting anxious and abandons the arm work for the one surefire way to end this: The Pedigree. Bryan counters into a pinning attempt. Bryan's diving headbutt eats a boot and HHH right back on the arm with a Crippler Crossface, but Bryan reverses into the YESLock. Triple H after all the smack he talks feels desperate to end this. Bryan is a fucking maniac and hits not one full speed suicide dive, but two full-speed suicide dives! Bryan is feeling it, kip up, YES CHANTS! He is looking for that Knee that took down Cena. SPINEBUSTER~! PEDIGREE~! IT IS OVER 1-2-NO! NO! NO! YES! YES! YES! Honest to God, had totally forgotten Triple H hit the Pedigree in this match and Bryan kicked out. I actually saw him hit the Pedigree, my stomach dropped, then I remembered Bryan won and was ecstatic he kicked out. Now if that is not the hallmark of a great fucking match, I don't know what is! Triple H is flabberghasted and tries to beat the shit out of him while Stephanie screams in the background. This is Daniel Bryan's night and Triple H is coming to the realization he cannot overcome the power of Daniel Bryan and the People! Triple H desperately tries to pull the trigger on a second Pedigree, but Bryan wriggles out until finally EXPLODING KNEE~! 1-2-3! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Awesome match that feels like a real war and really mirrors Bryan's rise to the top. Bryan had to earn every single move in this match. His babyface shine was earned working through Triple H's early arm work. Then he fought tooth and nail not submit to HHH's killer arm work. From there, just when you think Bryan has the match won, it turns on a dime and Triple H hits his knockout shot and Bryan kicks out. They don't waste time with 8 million false finishes. Triple H gets his and keeps going for another Pedigree and then Exploding Knee knocks him out. Stephanie has to carry her husband out while they watch Daniel Bryan go to the main event of Wrestlemania. It is such a feel-good story combined with amazing fundamentals. I don't see a flaw. *****
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WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan
Wrestlemania XXX
It is amazing how much of an emotional impact this match still has. It has not been deadened one iota by the disappointing aftermath. In fact, I think it resonates only more strongly because it reminds that no matter what the future holds, he will always have this. We will always have this to remember the night that an impossible dream came true and to put a smile on our faces.
Thank all that is holy, that Batista vs Orton was not the main event of this show. I actually like Orton just find as an in-ring heel. I think his work usually looks good, he knows when to bring a match up and down and everything feels like it has a sense of purpose. I can leave Batista at the door. We saw snippets of the Bastista/Orton singles match it was just so bland. They were just going through the motions. I loved how Daniel Bryan would come flying into our screens from outta nowhere. First, it was the missile dropkick to both of them and then flying headbutt. It was the perfect way to reintroduce Bryan whenever he was off selling his arm injury for extended periods of time. The match really picked up when HHH & Steph brought out Scott Armstrong to put the screws to Bryan. It is funny how all the shitty booking up until this match actually made all these nearfalls credible. It is strange how shitty booking actually enhanced the drama of this match. Would they really be that stupid? The answer is yes they really could be that stupid. I just love how invested this crowd is in the Daniel Bryan story. It is not about MOVEZ~! It is not about Daniel Bryan winning clean. Fuck, we will take a goddamn fluke rollup just give him the damn title. I loved it! Bryan cleaning house on the Authority only to get double teamed by Batista/Orton was a great last ditch attempt to make people believe that Bryan maybe not be winning after he got RKO/Powerbombed through an announce table and was put on a stretcher. Damn, does Orton have the worst luck with gimmicks or what? That looked gnarly as fuck landing on the monitor like that. I really thought Orton was good in this match in being violent. I think they could have milked the Bryan on the stretcher for even longer to really freak people the fuck out. Instead they get everybody pretty good with Batista wiping out Bryan by accident and Orton hitting the RKO on Batista for a close nearfall. I think that was the loudest collective sigh of relief of all time. True to form, Bryan come flying into our camera to hit the Exploding Knee, but Batista looks to steal his glory. Ooooooooo another good one. Orton get taken out by a Batista Bomb and Exploding Knee. to Batista! YESLOCK~! The rest is glorious history!
The purely joyous response of the crowd is so overwhelming and still moves me to this day. . Also, I love how it started the tradition of one wacky Attitude Era-overbooked clusterfuck per PPV, which is just good popcorn fun that is easily differential from the normally sterile product. This match is the cure to any malady or bad day ****
