Bryan Danielson Real Life Hero: But Daniel Bryan Far From A Return To Ring

Daniel Bryan’s (Bryan Danielson) up and down 2014 continues to roll along as we mentioned on the Podcast yesterday was in San Diego for Comic-Con. He did a panel with Hulk Hogan, Sting and Paul Heyman. He also said he was working on an autobiography which was announced at while at Comic Con. He is picked up at the airport in Phoenix where he and his wife Bri live now to find their house being broken into. Danielson chases down one of the robbers and held him till police arrived.



In addition as mention in the above video Bryan confirmed that he just received word he will need to undergo a second neck surgery and gave the most detailed account of his injury to date. It would appear that he has a long road still to getting back to the ring. Still a story like this is just another example of how he has become this “everyman” type superhero for fans. Roman Reigns isn’t running down robbers in the street no of course it is Daniel Bryan.

Still as Bryan stated even with his wrestling skills it was likely not an intelligent idea to be attacking criminals with just his bare hands. Just add another story to the legend that is Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson. I am sure the WWE will make mention of this on Raw. It is to good a story for them not too. It will throw a wrinkle into the wrestling drama in which Bri had Stephanie arrested but still this story is too good to not mention. 

 

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5 Things We Need To See Coming Out Of Extreme Rules

So Extreme Rules is almost here and we are going to look ahead to after it is all said and done what we need to have coming out of this event . Every PPV or as they are calling them now special event needs to have some reason to it for us to stay invested as fans. The first major event after Wrestlemania is usually a time to start building some new feuds and ending some old ones. We always have some new stars to get over and make look good. So with all that being said let’s look at 5 things we need to see coming out of this event. After reading this go have a listen to our podcast where we preview this event and talk the news of the week in WWE.

5. A Stronger Paige: We saw Paige from NXT make her long awaited debut on the Raw after Wrestlemania winning the Diva's Championship from A.J Lee. It wasn’t the best debut for Paige to show of her ability in the ring with a bit of a screwed up finish to the match. Adding to the problems we had A.J Lee stepping away for some time off, to move to Chicago we are told, as she has become engaged to CM Punk who remains in limbo with WWE. So instead of an A.J vs. Paige feud that many have looked forward to we get an under promoted Paige vs. Tamina Snuka match. This match not only needs to see Paige win but do it impressively in order to validate her to the larger WWE audience that may not be familiar with her work in NXT. A stronger Paige and returning A.J Lee should make for a great feud.

4. A Strong NEW I-C Champion: We don’t hate Big E Langston but maybe we are not crazy about Big E. Jokes aside, it has been fairly clear that him retaining the I-C title is not going to be in the cards. We had all thought that new champion was going to be Cesaro and that might have been confirmed with a WWE Script making it’s way to the internet. Suddenly things changed and now Bad News Barrett is the man that sits on the verge of his fourth run with the I-C title. Rumours are that Vince McMahon himself has been the driving force behind the Bad News Barrett character so safe to say he has some support behind him if that is true. Much talk has been made of unification of the U.S and I-C titles. Dean Ambrose in a rare title defence for that U.S Title retained it on Smackdown. Regardless of this happens Barrett is deserving of having a long run with this title and maybe if he does the belt that once meant so much in the WWE can once again. I would feel more confident with Cesaro in this role honestly though.

3. Continuation of Steph vs. Bri: We have not seen Stephanie McMahon in a WWE ring in a match since 2003. This was just prior to her real life wedding to Triple H as she fought he father Vince in a match. The couple you love to hate in storyline have 3 lovely daughters and perhaps the time has come to see Steph get back in a ring. In the PG world of WWE when they script the word bitch into a program you notice. The woman dropping that B-Bomb was Bri who is married to Daniel Bryan of course. This is not the first time we have had a feud for Stephanie teased as she and A.J Lee had some interactions that made you wonder where it was heading. Some may cringe at the idea of this match with Bri and Stephanie taking place, but I say why not. If you’re looking for a mat classic this likely will not be it, but no one would expect it to be. In any case, the feud itself I like and would not mind seeing more fuel added to the fire coming out of Extreme Rules.

2. More Heroics from the Swiss Superman: As we mentioned there is a lot of circumstantial evidence this was not the plan for Cesaro for this show. When you get lemons you can be a rosebud or make lemonade. So, seeing as Cesaro is not likely to become an Adam Rose fan will go with the ladder option. Basically it seems in this 3 way it could go a few ways. It could serve as continuation of the Swagger vs. Cesaro break-up that has involved Paul Heyman and Zeb Colter. It also could lead to a program with RVD a former Heyman Guy and a legendary performer in wrestling. Ideally Cesaro should get the win in this match-up and draw some conclusion to his feud with Swagger. You could easily make that happen with Heyman screwing RVD and Cesaro getting the pin on Swagger. That likely makes the most sense to build Cesaro for what many are speculating could be a future feud with Brock Lesnar. Continuation of a Swagger feud is only holding Cesaro back. However it ends up Cesaro needs to shine in this match and build on the momentum his Battle Royal win and next night manger change has given him.

1. A Dominate Daniel Bryan: We need to see a strong first title defence for the new WWE World Champion. This feud needs to be one and done for Daniel Bryan as a feud with Kane despite the history with the two has not captured anyone’s imagination at this point. This is the Randy Savage on Saturday Night’s Main Event vs. One Man Gang type of title defence. The first for a new champion against a much large opponent to showcase he can beat the big guys. It is nothing more than that and why The Shield vs. Evolution is likely the main event of this show. We have Daniel Bryan entering a match selling an injury yet again which makes the chances of him looking dominate a bit less likely. However he entered the title match at Wrestlemania 30 with the same restrictions but was able to put on a great performance. The days of Daniel Bryan beat downs need to be less and he needs to establish his title reign as a strong champion. If he looks like anything different from that, it is a failure and does not speak well for his future as the reigning champion.
  

1(B) Bray Wyatt Words Need To Have Action: So you thought we forgot about Bray? Not at all and following Bray Wyatt's example, we will not conform and giving you 6 things in a list that is only suppose to be 5. It is important that Bray Wyatt comes out of this event not being all talk and no action. He needs to win this match or have some validation for what he has been saying. Ideally we get both to happen in his match with John Cena. This is a much better version of the feud between John Cena and Kane, that was used to fill in the gaps for Cena as he prepared for his first encounter with The Rock. Bray Wyatt just like Kane wants to expose a darker side to John Cena that he claims exists. John Cena is showing some doubt on if the fans are really behind him on this one and that is already a partial victory for Bray in comparison to the Kane vs. Cena feud. If Bray fails to get a win the only way this feud to continue with any kind of logic is if Cena some how cheats to win. Given this is a steel cage match with no real room for that to happen logically Bray needs to win. Bray may not care about his win/loss record but for the fans to believe in him they need him to win. This feud has elevated Bray to being in the conversation as one of the best talkers in the WWE. Part of being a great talker is being able to take those words and turn them into action and that time is now for Bray Wyatt.

So why do we not see any mention of The Shield and Evolution? Reason for this is basically because you could have a number of acceptable outcomes to this one, without one standing out as better than another. I think regardless of who wins this feud is not finished and thus the result here is only this first step in a much larger war. It is not to say it won’t be potentially fantastic and a great match. It very well should be that. It is just that nothing NEEDS to happen here to any degree. No one in this match will be hurt by a loss and no one gains a ton from a win at this stage if this program continues on as expected.

Raw Notebook: April 28th, 2014 from St Louis

I should start by saying that I like to do these things the next day because it allows everything to settle in. It is far less reactionary when you do it this way. I do love recap shows right after Raw as well and they have a place as well, but often are based on instant reaction like social media as we watch. Not to say we may not do similar shows in the future, but for now we have the notebook.

Show Opening/ Cena vs. Wyatt

I struggle to think of a better start to Raw in quite sometime. This opening segment was validation of why we are wrestling fans for me. You had John Cena out in the ring for the first time admitting that maybe the WWE Universe is not on his side. He questions why this is which in many ways is comical I could list about 100 but will save that for another day. He is interrupted by a child’s voice in the darkness as only the ring was lighted. Singing that familiar tune of “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” and than the lights come up and a whole choir of children join him singing. They are joined by Bray Wyatt and his family, with Bray joining in singing and the children follow him and surround the caged ring. The lights go out again and all of the children have on sheep masks and continue to sing. They cut to Bray in his rocking chair with a small child on his lap in the sheep mask. Just a brilliant visual and the symbolism of this was off the charts.

Cena later in the night is approached in the back by Renee Young and asked to comment and he is speechless. At this point GOLD go ahead and take my money I want to see these two go at in a cage on Sunday. You need Cena entering a match doubting if his supporters will actually support him any longer as he faces a dangerous and demented man in a cage.

But as always with John Cena they take it one step to far for what purpose I have no idea. Later in the night he talks to Young and apologizes for earlier and not addressing her question. He goes into John Cena comedy and talks about buying Bray a donkey and he realizes his fans are still behind him and he is going but a fist in Bray’s face and a foot in his ass.

Why can’t we have Superman be vulnerable every once in awhile heading into a match? Isn’t that best for business to not know who is going to win?  Even the actual Superman is paralyzed by Kryptonite. What is John Cena’s Kryptonite commitment? Ok I am being like Cena making bad jokes I will stop now.

Kane/Bryan & Steph and Brie

Plugged throughout the show was Stephanie was going to apologize to Daniel Bryan for Kane’s actions last week. While some may have groaned at the thought of this, not me I love what she does in roles like this.  If there is anyone better at insincerity on this planet I don’t know who that is. I think Stephanie will one day run for political office and win avenging Linda’s losses. She has about the same level of sincerity as most politicians. Anyway the short answer is I love Stephanie in roles like this. 

So when we roll around to that Steph true to form was almost in tears addressing her regret to Bryan and Brie who are on the entrance way. Bryan continues to say that Stephanie is full of crap and talks about the trauma his wife was put through. To which Stephanie says she can totally relate to as she has spent many a night in a hospital beside her husband Triple H falling asleep in his room worrying about him being ok.

Stephanie invites Bryan to come to the ring which he refuses because his mamma didn’t raise no fool. I say this, he didn’t say that, I did and it sounded more like something Mr.T would say as opposed to Daniel Bryan. If not for Kane I believe he still would be thanking his mamma. Anyway back to this and Stephanie informs Bri that she is going to have a shot at the diva’s title and she could be champion along side Bryan defending that title at Extreme Rules and the match it starts now.

Bryan protests and says there is no way he is going to allow this unless he is accompanying Bri to the ring. Stephanie is fine with this and we have a Diva’s Title match.

All through the night they had shown Kane’s mask in a case which Stephanie had mentioned in trying to prove her sincerity was locked in her office as proof Kane was not going to attack Bryan. Right before they cut to break the mask is gone and we return for the Diva’s title match. You know what happens next Kane’s music interrupts the match and he comes from under the ring and tries to drag Bri Bella under the ring with him. Bryan fights him off while wearing a neck brace from the attack on Raw last week. He manages to get Bri out of the ring and than Kane Chockslams him and Bri comes back in the ring distracts Kane and Bryan is able to be taken out to the ring and Bri is able to escape from Kane.

Later in the night a concerned Stephanie goes to the medical room and is almost tearful that this has happened again and asked if Bryan will be ok for Sunday. Bryan says he will be there Sunday to defend his title. She than apologizes again to Bri who is trying to be very concerned and emotional as best as Bella can act. She screams at Stephanie “You Bitch” and tells her to get out.

All and all some pretty good stuff, but despite it all I don’t consider Kane a real threat no matter what they do and the fact this match will likely not be last on the PPV that is a sign that the  WWE doesn’t either to some degree.

Shield/Evolution- Ric Flair WOOOO!!!

Well Evolution hit’s the ring for the final segment that is supposed to be a match with Roman Reigns and Randy Orton. They cut a promo showing that they were impressed as The Shield systematically took out the 11 guys they had faced on Raw a few weeks ago on last week’s Smackdown. Triple H even going as far as saying it reminds him of them. Shield hit the ring and before they can say much Ric Flair’s music hit he cuts a very odd promo that lacked logic and he basically endorses the Shield after reminiscing about his times in St Louis and his time as part of Evolution. Flair was just not himself and he is a legend and all of that can never be taken away but I can’t help but feel sorry for him as he seems a shadow of his former self.

Anyway we do have a bit of match which ends with a flat out brawl and another no-contest on the night as the Diva’s Title Match earlier. Dean Ambrose was going after Triple H like he owed him money. It was a long brawl that saw the Shield get the better early than Evolution did before the Shield made a final rally and controlled the ring. That was how Raw left you to head into Extreme Rules on Sunday.


Other Notes:

• As expected Bad New Barrett became the number one contender for the I-C belt. Cesaro and Swagger who has a match earlier would get involved. After losing RVD would take care of both Swagger and Cesaro setting up a three way at the PPV for those three as Chris Walder predicted on our Podcast.
• A forgettable segment with Hugh Jackman, Dolph Ziggler and Damien Sandow took place.  Some X-Men movie Promo non-sense that makes me so sad for both Sandow and Ziggler who were a year ago in much higher profile places. They are now reduced to doing bad comedy bits.
• The Uso’s defended there titles against Ryback and Axel. This was nothing spectacular but nice to see titles being defended on Raw and T.V in general.
• Speaking of titles not being defended Dean Ambrose on Smackdown will have a three on one match against Del Rio, Ryback and Axel for his seldom defended U.S Title.
• Storyline of a Cody and Goldust break-up coming was advanced a little tonight.
• Speaking of little we had the El Torito and Hornswaggle epic feud continue…..They are set to go one on one at the PPV in a mini TLC match.
• Paul Heyman proved he can get over anything as he told a knock knock joke and got it over with the punch line we all saw coming MY CLIENT BROCK LESNAR CONQUERED THE STREAK.
• All in all I liked this show my fellow podcasting partner Chris Walder was not as big a fan. Will find out why and sort it all out on Friday on the IWCP. To this point we do not have a guest booked so we may have more time to talk this week will see. 
• Oh and ADAM ROSE debuts next week....Can't wait. 

After having a drop off of 600 thousand viewers in the final hour last week on Raw will see if this show was able to rebound. It was clear a lot of effort was put in to make sure that is does.

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