Those of you who regularly read my material know that I generally try to “look on the bright side” with regards to WWE and some of their empty-headed decisions. I may go on a rant every now and again, but I usually try to shed some light on dark situations that the company puts us in.
This week, I’m afraid it’s just too difficult to look at things that way. If you’re hoping for me to give WWE Creative the benefit of the doubt in this article, then I’m afraid this isn’t the place for you.
Last Sunday night, I sat down to watch my second favourite WWE PPV of the year, the Royal Rumble. For the most part, I enjoyed the show. The pre-show match was good, the opening bout was fantastic and the beating that Brock Lesnar dished out to Big Show was short, but sweet. And hey, the Rumble is always incredibly exciting – a reputation that it lived up to this year.
We saw some awesome moments in the Rumble, like Kofi Kingston’s epic leap to the ring apron, Alexander Rusev’s debut on the main roster and the return of Sheamus. We could’ve done without meaningless entrants, like El Torito, Kevin Nash and JBL, but all in all, the first 45 minutes or so were very entertaining…And then came Rey Mysterio at #30.
What happened was not Rey Mysterio’s fault, but you can’t blame the fans for turning on him. Everybody in the arena wanted Daniel Bryan, and they let the last few participants know about it. Excitement was at an all-time low after what was a pretty enjoyable Royal Rumble Match. The fans took control of the last 15 minutes of the PPV, and they let the WWE know how much they hated the decision to exclude Bryan from the match.
We all knew what was going to happen. Weeks in advance, too, but I suppose some of us (myself included) thought WWE wouldn’t be dumb enough to book something so stupid and annoying. Batista wins the Royal Rumble and guarantees himself a Championship Match at WrestleMania XXX.
What a slap in the face, not only to everyone watching, but to everyone who busts their ass, day in and day out on the WWE roster. Whether it’s Punk, Bryan, Ziggler, Cesaro, Sandow or even John Cena, anyone deserved to win that match over Batista. I’ll get back to that in a moment, but I will say that the only good thing to come out of the Rumble was Roman Reigns.
He eliminated 12 to demolish Kane’s record from 2001. Not only that, but as he stood toe-to-toe with Batista in the final moments of the bout, everyone was behind him.
You have to be very happy for the man, because he’s come a long way from being everyone’s 3rd-favourite member of The Shield. I’ll admit, I wasn’t too keen on him at first, but the guy is good. Really good. And that Spear has to be one of the most dominant finishers in WWE history. Sure enough, Batista still won the match, but Roman Reigns was the real star of the night, with the exclusion of everyone’s favourite beard enthusiast.
Before I get into this, I want to say that I don’t hate the fact that Batista won the Royal Rumble just because Bryan should’ve won.
I hate it because Bryan is only one of a number of guys and girls in the locker room who are passionate about professional wrestling and have worked their asses off to get to WrestleMania, only for Batista to waltz in after four years and take it from them without doing anything. Literally. A lot of people won’t even get to compete at ‘Mania, despite their hard work in the ring, in the gym and travelling to keep up with the busy WWE schedule.
I wouldn’t be one bit mad if this was leading up to Payback or Extreme Rules or any other PPV, but we’re talking about WrestleMania here. The Showcase of the Immortals, the Grandest Stage of Them All and the “Superbowl of Wrestling” (I don’t like that phrase, but hey, the Superbowl is tonight).
When you throw one of your biggest matches of the year over to an egotistical, stubborn individual who has four years’ worth of ring rust to shake off, you’re doing something very wrong. In the wrestling industry, there is a big difference between looking fit and being fit, and after Batista’s sloppy performance last Sunday night, it’s easy to see which category he fits into.
Just because he’s back to his old performance weight and looks like he could rip your head off (if his skinny jeans don’t rip first), that doesn’t mean he’s ready to go in the ring, especially for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I don’t know if anyone out there is excited to see Batista take on Randy Orton, in a match that is almost 100% confirmed at this stage before Orton faces Bryan, Cena, Sheamus, Cesaro and Christian at Elimination Chamber.
Think about it. Daniel Bryan is not going to win, because he’s likely to face Triple H in N’awlins. John Cena has stuff going on with Bray Wyatt. Sheamus would be an interesting opponent for Batista, but I don’t see him being pushed this soon (although pushing Superstars straight after they return seems to be the flavour of the month in WWE).
I would be on cloud nine if Antonio Cesaro won, but the WWE aren’t going to invest in this young phenomenon for a push just yet (if at all). Christian’s not going to win because, well, he’s Christian, and despite his immense talent, the guy does not have good luck in the way of earning Championship Matches.
It’s very likely that Randy Orton is going to pull this one out of the hat, unless someone else wins and makes it a Triple Threat at WrestleMania with ‘The Viper’ invoking his rematch clause, which I just don’t see happening.
Obviously, the plan is for Randy Orton to face Batista at WrestleMania, but you’d think they’d be considering new ideas at this stage. After Batista won the Royal Rumble, and the fans “turned heel” on him, they have to know that nobody wants to see the match. Sure enough, there’s a huge chance that the crowd will boo them out of the building when the match starts at WrestleMania, but I’d be more scared of the crowd being completely dead.
If you have a great match like Daniel Bryan taking on Triple H (or even Sheamus), and then The Undertaker puts his Streak on the line, there’s a good chance that there will be little to no crowd reaction when Batista and Orton come out. Nobody wants to see it, and people are way more interested in other potential ‘Mania bouts, so pure silence would well and truly kill this match. Then again, I’m sure “Daniel Bryan” chants could reign supreme, so you never know.
Looking back a month or two, I’ve come to the conclusion that Batista’s return has completely shaken the foundation of the WWE for the worst, and it’s likely to continue for the next few months. What they fail to realise is that Batista taking on Randy Orton does not only affect the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania, it plays a vital role in how the final card is going to look, and one man is the prime example of that.
CM Punk has been fucked over by Batista’s return. I don’t care what anyone says about Punk whining and complaining about his position in the company, because he deserves ten times more than what he’s getting right now. A feud with Kane was a great way to keep him busy from here until Elimination Chamber, and then facing Triple H at WrestleMania XXX (and potentially winning) would be huge for his career.
Thousands of old fans tune in every year for ‘Mania, and if they saw that the talent of today are better than the talent of ten years ago, then it could be a good way to get them interested in the product again. But no. They decide to give that to Daniel Bryan, which, in theory, could have the same effect, but why? Because Bryan got fucked over too, in terms of a Championship Match at WrestleMania.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s no shame in facing Kane. The guy is a great talent, he’s one of my favourite athletes/characters in wrestling history, but CM Punk is too good for a mid-card match at WrestleMania.
Everyone tends to forget about Punk because things are centred around Daniel Bryan these days, but Punk is still the best wrestling personality to come out of the last decade at least. His promo work is second to none, and his in-ring skills are insane, but just because WWE are dropping the ball with Daniel Bryan, does that mean they have to do even worse to CM Punk? So what does he do? He walks the fuck out. And rightfully so.
There was a lot of talk about Punk “quitting WWE” being a work, but I think it’s official now. The company has sent e-mails to fans attending his Meet & Greet at WrestleMania Fan Axxess saying that they could either exchange their pass to meet Ric Flair instead, or simply get a refund because Punk won’t be there.
CM Punk has been in huge matches for two years in a row at WrestleMania, so I honestly don’t blame him for “taking his ball and going home” this week when he was told about current plans. Do I think he’ll be gone forever? No. Do I think he’ll re-sign when his contract runs out in July? Maybe. But the guy has every right to be pissed.
Almost three years ago, CM Punk took the WWE by storm and demanded change, or he was walking out. He was pissed because “Dwayne” was in the main-event at WrestleMania and he wasn’t. But here we are in 2014, and Dave Bautista, who hasn’t been seen in WWE since 2010, is in the main-event at WrestleMania. Where’s that change CM Punk was talking about?
Well let’s look at how things stand right now in the WWE.
The New Age Outlaws are the Tag Team Champions, Triple H is the biggest heel in the company (on and off the air) and the last 2 PPV’s have seen Randy Orton and John Cena face off for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Is it just me, or do things look awfully similar to some of the stuff we saw in the 90’s and 00’s?
Sure, Punk is a star now, but the company is no different. And who’s to blame for all of this? If you ask me, it’s “The Game-Ah”, Triple H himself.
It seems as though Hunter’s buddies had the time of their lives in Pittsburgh, and whether it’s because Triple H has given into megalomania, or he’s just afraid of change, the guy seems to have no outlook for the future of the company he’s supposed to run.
Sure NXT is there, but if he’s doing nothing with the incredible talent of today, what exactly can he do with the talent of tomorrow? If Triple H wanted to solidify a future for the WWE, he would’ve given the Rumble win to Daniel Bryan last week. Let’s face it. Daniel Bryan is both the present and future of World Wrestling Entertainment, and Triple H can’t seem to wrap his head around that.
I was talking to someone during the week, and they said something that interested me while simultaneously pissing me off. He said that (the way he viewed it), WWE fans only like Daniel Bryan because of the way he’s booked, and thinks the fact that he’s always so close but yet so far from the Championship is why people love him. While I think there are some people who may fit into this category, probably younger fans who are unaware of Bryan’s history, I personally would tend to disagree.
I’m not going to lie and say I’ve been following Bryan for his entire career (when he was in the indies, etc), but when I saw this guy in the first season of NXT, I liked him, did my research and thought he was fucking awesome. I learned quickly that he was a phenomenal wrestler, began to study his old matches and just loved the guy.
I think that’s why people love Daniel Bryan. Not because of the way he’s booked, but because not only did he kick and scratch his way from the very bottom to the top, but he did it as the greatest technical wrestler in the world. The guy can do things that nobody else can do. People want him to succeed in the WWE, because it will show them that having a six-pack and being over 6 feet tall aren’t what you need to be a successful wrestler. If you’re good at your craft, that should be all that matters.
And yes, it helps Bryan’s fan support that he is constantly being screwed over by WWE management, but if Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, or even if he won the Royal Rumble last week, the fan support for Bryan wouldn’t change at all.
Look at Eddie Guerrero. That man was, and still remains, one of the greatest talents to ever set foot in the WWE, both in and out of the ring. In 2004, when Eddie finally got his moment to defend the WWE Championship (which he’d fought so hard to achieve) at WrestleMania, his fan support didn’t dwindle because he’d finally made it in the company. If anything, more people loved him because they were finally becoming aware of his story.
It’s common knowledge that people gravitate towards an underdog, but I personally don’t think that applies here. So no, Daniel Bryan is not the most over Superstar in the world because WWE holds him down. It’s because he’s entertaining, talented and deserves everything a Champion deserves. Because no matter who holds the title, be it Randy Orton, John Cena or Batista, the one true WWE Champion right now is Daniel Bryan.
Thanks for reading!
Twitter: @AdamOB_SLTD
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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