The Wrestling Thread

[Gamerforlife]

Should be an interesting RAW after that shit show pay per view.

Didn't catch the PPV but will be hosting a Raw shin-dig tonight.

Reading the last few pages of this thread has been...something. For me, all the fun of wrestling is sucked out when it is taken seriously. I don't care about "faces" and "heels", as it's duders in underwear running around clobbering each other. As long as they keep that up and sprinkle in a cute girl skipping around a ring, it's all good with me.

Well, isn't that what the internet is all about? Everyone has an opinion and theirs is always right, no matter how trivial the topic.

This is the best synopsis I've seen and like the guy said in this article all this is doing is helping Daniel Bryan become even more popular

If this is actually all calculated, which is hard to believe given how dumb WWE usually is, it's working brilliantly. Bryan's level of "overness" is getting insane. He's getting tons of mainstream exposure. According to some sites I've been to:

"Affter winning an award at the UK National Television Awards (presented by Chris Noth) the cast of Educating Yorkshire did a YES chant as their speech. "

Also making rounds on the net right now:

"A story on WWE excluding Bryan from Sunday's Royal Rumble match was the #2 most-read story on the BBC website by Monday evening (U.K. time). Refreshing BBC's "Most Read" list moves the Bryan story up and down the Top 5"

Also, a lot of sites are reporting that Batista was so pissed at the fans booing him that he flipped off a fan (which was caught on the Titantron) and was also mocking Bryan's yes chants

Austin made a comment on Twitter asking fans if they're frustrated yet with the lack of a push for Bryan and said he'd have comments about it on his podcast. Mick Foley made a bunch of angry comments on facebook and Twitter about Bryan's treatment at the Rumble. There's just a ton of negative reaction around the net.

This Bryan situation is damn fascinating. Him not being in the Rumble has started a shit storm. I listened to the pwtorch post Rumble audio show and pretty much all people talked about for two hours was the Bryan situation

[BurningDoom]

Yep, as much I'm not a Bryan fan (DAMN I hate the "YES!/NO!" chants), there's no doubting his popularity. He's at the level of Shawn Michaels or Goldberg in the 90s (can we really say he's as iconic as Hogan or Austin yet, though? I don't think so.).

What's crazy about the situation is that WWE just doesn't see it, even though everyone else involved in wrestling, at every level, can see it as plain as day. The chants are huge for him from the fans, and as Gamer pointed out, his popularity is starting to spill over into other areas. I too have heard the "YES!/NO!" chants in other arenas outside of wrestling.

But this isn't anything new. WWE has been operating this way since the big Cena/Orton push. How often, and for how long now have we heard the "CENA SUCKS" chants in arenas, yet WWE still kept making him the consummate main-eventer for years. What are you going to do?

A few years back, you could say "watch TNA". But yeah, that ship has sailed. TNA doesn't have much life left in it unless someone does something drastic. The only good guys left on that entire roster is Roode, Aries, and Storm.

[BurningDoom]

Okay, scratch everything I said above. I started watching Raw, and WWE isn't as clueless as they seem. They're working it into an obvious storyline.

BTW, who else caught Rollins biff-it over the railing at the beginning of Raw? lol

[Luke]

There's no nice way to say this, but the fact that you're the type of fan WWE caters to these days is ultimately what is killing the product

The product might not be what YOU like, but the WWE is more than healthy.

[BurningDoom]

There's no nice way to say this, but the fact that you're the type of fan WWE caters to these days is ultimately what is killing the product

The product might not be what YOU like, but the WWE is more than healthy.

Healthy, sure. But successful? I don't think so. Go look at WWE's ratings during the Attitude Era, then compare them to today's ratings. It's not even a competition. And that's even with WCW taking half their ratings, back then.

[Razzmatazz]

Bryan's "pop" on Raw was very good but on the level of Austin? Come on... I really don't see what the big deal is with Daniel Bryan - he's a great wrestler but he's as bland as my nan's wallpaper. He doesn't exactly set the mic alight, which is a big part of being a main eventer so I kinda get why he isn't 'the man'. Would Bryan have been a big deal in the Attitude Era? No.

[Gamerforlife]

Okay, scratch everything I said above. I started watching Raw, and WWE isn't as clueless as they seem. They're working it into an obvious storyline.

BTW, who else caught Rollins biff-it over the railing at the beginning of Raw? lol

You know seeing the way he does the roll over the barricade, I always envisioned him having some kind of slip up one day, but not like that

Yep, as much I'm not a Bryan fan (DAMN I hate the "YES!/NO!" chants), there's no doubting his popularity. He's at the level of Shawn Michaels or Goldberg in the 90s (can we really say he's as iconic as Hogan or Austin yet, though? I don't think so.).

It's funny reading this now as Steve Austin recently tweeted:

"You heard it here first, folks...
YESAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD!!!"

https://twitter.com/steveaustinBSR

The only thing keeping Bryan from reaching that level is WWE not pushing him as "the man" or protecting him like they did those guys. In fact, Bryan specifically said that in a recent interview he did. That's what pisses fans off. We think he could be that guy if WWE gave him a chance, but the only guy to ever get that treatment is Cena, a guy who was never worthy of it and was never CHOSEN by fans the way Bryan has been

Bryan's "pop" on Raw was very good but on the level of Austin? Come on...

Very good? Are you watching the same shows I am? Kofi Kingston gets "very good" pops. Daniel Bryan takes over shows with his pops



Seriously, you naysayers need to open your eyes. In fact, last night Cena and Sheamus got "very good" pops when they came out for their match. Batista came out for a talking segment and got no love from the crowd. Bryan brought the house down when he came out and the crowd didn't pop for anything on the entire show as loudly as they did whenever Bryan was in the ring whether it was for his promo at the start of the show or his match later. It's like the crowd was asleep for most of the show, except whenever they saw Bryan. That's a bonafide star right there. In fact, if you read reports from people in the crowds or hear them call in for podcasts, it seems TV isn't even doing justice to how loud Bryan's pops are, and that's saying something

[BurningDoom]

Okay, scratch everything I said above. I started watching Raw, and WWE isn't as clueless as they seem. They're working it into an obvious storyline.

BTW, who else caught Rollins biff-it over the railing at the beginning of Raw? lol

You know seeing the way he does the roll over the barricade, I always envisioned him having some kind of slip up one day, but not like that

Yep, as much I'm not a Bryan fan (DAMN I hate the "YES!/NO!" chants), there's no doubting his popularity. He's at the level of Shawn Michaels or Goldberg in the 90s (can we really say he's as iconic as Hogan or Austin yet, though? I don't think so.).

It's funny reading this now as Steve Austin recently tweeted:

"You heard it here first, folks...
YESAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD!!!"

https://twitter.com/steveaustinBSR

The only thing keeping Bryan from reaching that level is WWE not pushing him as "the man" or protecting him like they did those guys. In fact, Bryan specifically said that in a recent interview he did. That's what pisses fans off. We think he could be that guy if WWE gave him a chance, but the only guy to ever get that treatment is Cena, a guy who was never worthy of it and was never CHOSEN by fans the way Bryan has been

Bryan's "pop" on Raw was very good but on the level of Austin? Come on...

Very good? Are you watching the same shows I am? Kofi Kingston gets "very good" pops. Daniel Bryan takes over shows with his pops



Seriously, you naysayers need to open your eyes. In fact, last night Cena and Sheamus got "very good" pops when they came out for their match. Batista came out for a talking segment and got no love from the crowd. Bryan brought the house down when he came out and the crowd didn't pop for anything on the entire show as loudly as they did whenever Bryan was in the ring whether it was for his promo at the start of the show or his match later. It's like the crowd was asleep for most of the show, except whenever they saw Bryan. That's a bonafide star right there. In fact, if you read reports from people in the crowds or hear them call in for podcasts, it seems TV isn't even doing justice to how loud Bryan's pops are, and that's saying something

Is Bryan popular? No doubt. Is he getting huge pops from the crowds? Yes. Is he getting chants from the crowd? Yes.

But has he cemented a legacy for himself as Hogan and Austin has? No. Not yet at least. Maybe in the future, if this level of success continues, then sure. But remember, there have been a hundred different flashes in the pan in wrestling. Guys that seemed a sure-fire bet at the time, but then fizzled out quickly.

We aren't at the point in Daniels career yet to put him at that Hogan or Austin level. Hogan and Austin are guys that permeated pop-culture, well outside of wrestling, they were so popular.

[Gamerforlife]

^I hear you, but the only way we'll ever get another Hogan or Austin is if the WWE gets over their goddamn Cena obsession and actually gives someone else that monster push that Cena has gotten for the past decade. Getting fans behind you like Bryan has is 50% of the equation, the other 50% is WWE doing their part to make the guy look like a big deal. So far they haven't done that. Sure, they are somewhat protecting him and giving him more TV time than most other guys, but there's a difference between that and portraying a guy as the best person on your entire roster, and they haven't even given Bryan a meaningful title run yet. Bryan gets the crowd reactions of a top guy, but they're not actually pushing him like one.

It's entirely possible that Bryan doesn't have what it takes to be another Hogan or Austin, but unless the WWE takes a chance and goes all in with him, we'll never know one way or the other. When they saw how popular Hogan and Austin were getting, they pushed them to the moon and history was made, but now it seems like that can never happen again because WWE apparently wants to keep Cena as the face of the company until he's 80 years old and will not back anybody else to that level no matter how over they get, and Bryan's more over than anyone in the WWE has been in the past decade, and that includes Cena because Bryan gets universally cheered like a true top babyface should while Cena has had to deal with "Cena sucks" chants the whole time he's been at the top of the roster

[RCBH928]

I saw the Rumble it wasn't bad, WWE PPVs usually makes me regret wasting my time and giving them a chance but this one wasn't bad. Its not great, but just around okay . I didn't like the outcome though...

Not sure why WWE fans are crazy about Daniel Bryan, and the "YES" chant/catchphrase is very weak. I remember people got upset over Austin's "What?" , but that is much better than sreaming " YES YES YES YES"...

To be honest, I haven't followed the guy but from the bits and pieces I have seen I do not know where he gets his popularity from. Even more confusing, he does not have the usual look of the popular wrestler . In fact I do not remember any main-eventers with big beards except for some heels. He also looks like a "Goody two shoes" guy which is not a gimmick of the usual wrestling champion like Hogan, Flair, Sting, Austin, Rock, HBK, Diesel, Undertaker, Taz, RVD, Macho Man, Angle.

The really "innocent" gimmick is usually sits in the lower mid-card level, like the 1-2-3 Kid