2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

Wyatt-Bryan was outstanding. Great story telling, outstanding match. I'm extremely impressed with Wyatt. Big man can go and he's the best "character" WWE has right now. By far.

Batista winning was awful because it was predictable. I wonder if it would've been an easier pill to swallow if he had been a surprise entrant and not returned last week? Either way, he has two appearances and both sucked something awful. Great run by Reigns, love his future as well.

It's funny, on a night when you had two young guns get major shine (Wyatt, Reigns), the one guy that is ready to get over the hump is the guy who is completely left out. I had heard rumors that Bryan was dealing with some concussion issues. I'm assuming that's not the case given the spots he did with Wyatt but is there any possible reason the E would have had to protect itself from putting Bryan in the main event the next two months? Or is it just typical crapping on the hottest guy they have because he's not a buddy of the bosses?

 

Usually (not always, but usually), WWE reins in its quick-response booking when it comes to the Road to Wrestlemania. Rumors may fly from all directions and in all directions, but usually they have a pretty good idea of where they're going, even if they don't know exactly what route to take in getting there. In sum: the Michigan State basketball crowd can push them into aborting the Daniel Brayan angle, but all the YES!ing in the world won't shake them if they're committed to Batista-Orton, even if they probably should.

 

I'm still not sure we'll get Batista-Orton, especially after this fiasco. As much as people would hate it, we might need Cena-Batista just to salvage it. At least Cena would get some positive reaction. Orton-Batista, or even Orton-Batista-Lesnar, in front of a Wrestlemania crowd -- and in a building that CAN get loud and reflect the true reaction to the home viewers, unlike last year's venue -- would be a debacle of the highest order. It'd make Goldberg-Lesnar look like Punk-Cena at MITB 2011. Those guys would never, ever have a chance.

 

Bryan-Wyatt is fine right now. We don't have to have Bryan in the title picture as long as he's getting plenty of air time and doing something fun and interesting.

But Orton and Batista? I just don't get it. These guys are *boring*.

Just from the guys who appeared tonight and in the same category:

Orton is a less interesting "great wrestler/star" than Cena or Punk, and Batista is a less interesting "big, dangerous" guy than Sheamus or Lesnar (as long as he's attached to Heyman).

We're getting the B-team here. At this rate, Wrestlemania 32 will be headlined by Del Rio vs. Big E Langston.

 

I'm trying to think of another company, any other company, that has such apparent disregard (or is contempt?) for its fan base.
I mean, seriously.
This is unprecedented in terms of blatant disregard for the will of the fans. I've never seen anything like this is all my years as a wrestling fan.
It would be one thing if this was Daniel Bryan circa 2012, a guy more know for his indy fame than anything else who was loved by a small portion of the audience and the majority of the IWC.
But this guy has got the kind of heat that only legends have ever had ... and he has it EVERY night in EVERY arena around the world.
This type of crowd reaction hasn't been seen on such a consistent basis since the Austin era and rather than capitalizing on it, it's like the WWE is actively trying to kill it. I mean actively.
You put Bryan in the first match of the night and have him lose clean? OK, that's odd. But then you have him lose clean to someone who is at best a midcarder right now? Really?
And, despite that booking, the crowd doesn't care. The match completely steals the show and the crowd goes wild. The crowd then chants non-stop for Daniel Bryan through the entire title match.
There is only one logical booking decision from this point. You put Daniel Bryan in the Rumble.
By not putting him in there at all, you're telling your fans one of the following things: 1.) He couldn't compete in the Rumble because he had already wrestled that night. This is untrue because BOTH Goldust and Cody Rhode were in the match despite having a title contest earlier in the night. 2.) There wasn't room in the Rumble for Bryan. This is untrue because the following people all got spots that could have easily gone to Bryan without a single person complaining: Alexander Rusev, Khali, El Torito, JBL. And that's being generous because, let's face it, there are probably 25 other guys under Bryan in terms of importance. 3.) You just don't care about them.

 

Actually, at this rate, WrestleMania 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 42, 45, 47 and 49 will be headlined by either Cena or Orton or both because there's apparently no need to put anyone else in the main event picture ever.

 

So, how did The E not screw up Hulkamania, Austin 3:16, or Hulkamania Chapter 2? What's changed?

 

The equivalent of this booking would be 1.) If they had Hogan try and fail to lift Andre at WM 3 and get pinned. Then, at the next show, Hogan jobs to Adrian Adonis cleanly, forms a three-person stable with Can-Am Connection and spends the next two years trying to get Rick Martel and Tom Zenk a legit tag title shot before retiring from the company following his WrestleMania 6 opening match loss to Paul Roma and 2.) If the night after Austin gave his Austin 3:16 speech, he jobbed cleanly to Jake the Snake and then continued to feud with Savio Vega for the next six years as Marc Mero and Ken Shamrock battled it out to see who would take on HBK for the WWE title.

 

But I don't think Bryan-Wyatt is going to continue. Certainly looks to me like Wyatt is moving on to Cena. Which leaves me to wonder where, exactly, Bryan goes next? Rumors of a feud with Sheamus but not really sure how that works since they didn't show any signs of establishing Sheamus as a heel nor do I care about seeing that again anyway. I have to think there's an angle for Bryan I'm not seeing right now but that might just be because I'm blinded by how awful this Rumble was. Especially after such an awesome open.

 

The only thing I can figure is that the WWE brass realizes that not putting the title on Bryan is making him more popular than he'll ever be with it. Right now, he's the guy people want to root for as the underdog, the one who's chasing the dream. Once he grasps it, they have to do something else with his character. Can he sustain this level of momentum when they finally have to shift gears?
Now, the obvious answer is YES! Bryan has spun lead into gold more often than any wrestler in history. He's had several dubious moments that could have destroyed him in the last two years and turned each one into another step up the ladder. My guess is he'd rise to that challenge like all the others.
The big question is, if they're not going to push him now, then when? He's already gone through the won it-lost it-won it-lost it title angle. He should be in line for the final push to superstardom at the biggest show of the year. It's a natural close of the pursuit angle and the beginning of a new chapter. Even if you have him win MITB and take the title later in the year, it doesn't do anything more than put him right back where he's at. He gets a title match at Wrestlemania and wins, it'd be a crowd reaction they're playing at his Hall of Fame induction 20 years from now.
Instead, they're content to push out of shape has-beens like Batista, who will need to be carried to a great match by whoever his opponent is. There's maybe three guys in the company who can do that (Cena, Bryan, Punk), and none of them seem to be in line for the shot.
I've bought the last six Wrestlemanias. I'll probably get the network, but I'd be thinking long and hard about dumping $60 for a standalone by of this WM.

 

Bryan can go form an isosceles lock with Miz and Dolph Ziggler, I guess.