Daniel Bryan was called upon to overcome the odds. This triumph didn't play out in the bullshit, John Cena "let's conflate the narrative even if the action belies it" way either. No, Brad Maddox, the weasely dude-bro trying so hard to suck up to the guy who hired him, put three of WWE's biggest, meanest, orneriest hosses in front of him with the intent of shaming him out of his title match with John Cena at SummerSlam. Each wrestler towered over Bryan. Each one outweighed him. But Bryan overcame the odds.
No doubt ever existed in my mind that he would, of course. Bryan is a man who could make high tea with the Queen of England, sans corgis, entertaining (for the record, corgis make everything better, but no one should be surprised by that statement coming from me). So of course, 50 minutes of him wrestling at the end of RAW, especially when the show placed him squarely in the role of pissed-off underdog with a chip on his shoulder, would overdeliver. Imagine ordering a pizza, and getting free french fries, soda, and nachos with it. Daniel Bryan does that every week.
The gauntlet played out perfectly too. Of course Bryan would dismantle Jack Swagger with ease. Swagger is a dope, a loser with no future. Bryan is the best in the world; he can't ALWAYS struggle. Cesaro acted as the intermediary boss, the fight that you as a gamer might underestimate before getting to the final one. My best comparison is that Cesaro was like fighting General Beatrix in the ruins of Cleyra at the end of disc 1 of Final Fantasy IX. You think the fight will be easy because she's an intermediary, but then she busts out a Climhazzard, and your entire party in the yellow at the very best. But if you are to defeat the stalwart leader of Queen Brahne's armies, the kill stroke probably will come on something amazing, an unexpected Trance or a last minute critical hit off a Summon, represented here by the small package counter out of the pop up.
Ryback came out as the final test; apparently, Big Show's advertised return was bumped to the dark match, a development okay by me. Let Big Show be a part of his own story. Anyway, Ryback's role in the whole process was to advance a story. I saw many complaints that when Cena came out to prevent Ryback from picking bones any further that he was putting the spotlight on himself and ruining things. I saw the save as a chance for WWE to advance Cena's character in a meaningful way.
Too many times, "The Champ" is mechanical, robotic, formulaic in how he deals with his adversaries and even worse, his friends. He was faced with a moral choice. Did he keep his word to Bryan from earlier in the locker room to stay out, or did he break his own rationale for picking Bryan in the first place? If he had allowed Ryback to fully decimate Bryan, then Bryan doesn't go into SummerSlam fully intact. Cena knows this. Bryan will refuse to let himself acknowledge it, and bam, more coal gets shoveled into the furnace of their main event match without having to dip into the Bella well.
And the endpoint of RAW was a story advanced, a new hero absorbing the adulation of the crowd, and the real big bad, the gold standard by which all WWE big bads are judged, looming in the background. Vince McMahon doesn't feud with you unless he likes you, guys. While the central theme of RAW tonight was Bryan overcoming the odds, the reasoning behind the main arc of the show playing out the way it did felt like WWE and McMahon played it safe. They know what they have with Bryan. They knew that if they gave him 50 minutes to wrestle and play as the canvas for post-match angling, they would bang it home with the fury.
So while Daniel Bryan, the character, was put behind the 8-ball, Bryan Danielson, the person, gave them the best chance to succeed. Tonight proved as validation of something that we, longer time fans of the American Dragon, have known all along. CM Punk is very good, but he's not the best in the world. Brock Lesnar is quite enjoyable smashing things, but sorry Paul Heyman, he's not the best in the world.
Daniel Motherfucking Bryan, the bearded assassin, the American Dragon, the sound and the fury, is the best in the world. He always has been.
No doubt ever existed in my mind that he would, of course. Bryan is a man who could make high tea with the Queen of England, sans corgis, entertaining (for the record, corgis make everything better, but no one should be surprised by that statement coming from me). So of course, 50 minutes of him wrestling at the end of RAW, especially when the show placed him squarely in the role of pissed-off underdog with a chip on his shoulder, would overdeliver. Imagine ordering a pizza, and getting free french fries, soda, and nachos with it. Daniel Bryan does that every week.
The gauntlet played out perfectly too. Of course Bryan would dismantle Jack Swagger with ease. Swagger is a dope, a loser with no future. Bryan is the best in the world; he can't ALWAYS struggle. Cesaro acted as the intermediary boss, the fight that you as a gamer might underestimate before getting to the final one. My best comparison is that Cesaro was like fighting General Beatrix in the ruins of Cleyra at the end of disc 1 of Final Fantasy IX. You think the fight will be easy because she's an intermediary, but then she busts out a Climhazzard, and your entire party in the yellow at the very best. But if you are to defeat the stalwart leader of Queen Brahne's armies, the kill stroke probably will come on something amazing, an unexpected Trance or a last minute critical hit off a Summon, represented here by the small package counter out of the pop up.
Ryback came out as the final test; apparently, Big Show's advertised return was bumped to the dark match, a development okay by me. Let Big Show be a part of his own story. Anyway, Ryback's role in the whole process was to advance a story. I saw many complaints that when Cena came out to prevent Ryback from picking bones any further that he was putting the spotlight on himself and ruining things. I saw the save as a chance for WWE to advance Cena's character in a meaningful way.
Too many times, "The Champ" is mechanical, robotic, formulaic in how he deals with his adversaries and even worse, his friends. He was faced with a moral choice. Did he keep his word to Bryan from earlier in the locker room to stay out, or did he break his own rationale for picking Bryan in the first place? If he had allowed Ryback to fully decimate Bryan, then Bryan doesn't go into SummerSlam fully intact. Cena knows this. Bryan will refuse to let himself acknowledge it, and bam, more coal gets shoveled into the furnace of their main event match without having to dip into the Bella well.
And the endpoint of RAW was a story advanced, a new hero absorbing the adulation of the crowd, and the real big bad, the gold standard by which all WWE big bads are judged, looming in the background. Vince McMahon doesn't feud with you unless he likes you, guys. While the central theme of RAW tonight was Bryan overcoming the odds, the reasoning behind the main arc of the show playing out the way it did felt like WWE and McMahon played it safe. They know what they have with Bryan. They knew that if they gave him 50 minutes to wrestle and play as the canvas for post-match angling, they would bang it home with the fury.
So while Daniel Bryan, the character, was put behind the 8-ball, Bryan Danielson, the person, gave them the best chance to succeed. Tonight proved as validation of something that we, longer time fans of the American Dragon, have known all along. CM Punk is very good, but he's not the best in the world. Brock Lesnar is quite enjoyable smashing things, but sorry Paul Heyman, he's not the best in the world.
Daniel Motherfucking Bryan, the bearded assassin, the American Dragon, the sound and the fury, is the best in the world. He always has been.