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| No, John, they were actually cheering for Daniel Bryan, dork Photo Credit: WWE.com |
John Cena and Randy Orton opened RAW, along with the Authority, and confirmed every single one of my major fears about the Autumn of Daniel Bryan in one fell swoop. In one segment, Cena's stay in the purgatory of the upper midcarders who flocked around the World Heavyweight Championship, the idea that Bryan was only taking a one pay-per-view cycle off from chasing the WWE Championship, and the hope for a unification match featuring a combination of wrestlers that didn't just pool from a set of wrestlers containing only Cena and Orton all died apparent deaths. Nothing typified the malaise that opening segment brought upon than Cena name-dropping Bryan when the crowd continued its trend of chanting for him while Orton was in the ring from the night before.
Cena going to bat for Bryan, in a vacuum, is a fine and wonderful thing. Cena is the top dog in the company, and his imprimatur stamped on a wrestler can go a long way for any superstar looking to scratch and claw his way into main event residency. However, context is a tricksy hobbit, and as I look closely at what Cena said, he didn't endorse Bryan in the slightest.
I am not in the minds of the fans, but Occam's Razor tells me that the fans were chanting for Daniel Bryan because they wanted to see him take the WWE Championship from Randy Orton to close the book that was opened at SummerSlam when they wrecked his moment in the Sun. Cena did not even remotely seem to consider that option, as he performed Nastia Lukin-levels of verbal gymnastics to say that the fans chanted for Bryan because they were tired of the Authority and wanted someone, namely him, to end Orton's reign of terror and unify the titles.
Even if Cena did put Bryan over in his speech, what good did his words really do? At no point during the broadcast did Bryan recognize the chants he got, even though they were directly tied to him and the struggle he went through all from SummerSlam through the night after Hell in a Cell. I don't think that Cena speaking on Bryan's behalf makes Bryan look weak, but Cena being the only person to realize Bryan was getting adulation while Bryan completely and totally ignored the fight he was engaged in for a quarter of a year makes him look stupid at worst, and blithe and oblivious at the very best.
To play Devil's Advocate, the wait-and-see argument states that Bryan and his new buddy CM Punk are being drawn into the main narrative. The Shield represents the police arm of The Authority, and the fact that Punk got waylaid by them after the Wyatt Family stole Bryan away suggests links among all three separate entities. However, WWE is not a wait-and-see company when it comes with its storytelling. They don't offer reason to assume anything except what is given at face value. I'm tired of doing the mental heavy lifting and assuming things that WWE might do instead of having them follow through on these supposed links with disappointment.
A company adept at constructing a narrative would craft a story around the organic growth of a character, but the way WWE has built their story vis-à-vis Bryan has suggested that at times, they actively are trying to suppress what should be the easiest fucking tale to tell with their diminutive bearded folk hero.
One of the things I've come to realize about pro wrestling is that the best companies don't build characters to be solitary badasses set on acquiring belts as the only feuds and angles with currency. A great company tells great stories utilizing their entire cast of characters in some way or another. Bryan feuding with the Wyatts is a great story, but it's an angle that is part of a poorly edited movie saga where one story ended like a dangling participle and was still being used to pump up another protagonist even though it didn't fit him as much as it does the original hero.
WWE may yet pull something magnificent out of their asses, but given their track record, I am not holding my breath for anything enjoyable that comes as a direct result of their own storytelling. Guys like Bryan, Orton, Wyatt, Punk, and Cena will keep me watching because they're fine wrestlers and at least passable characters. Until WWE writers, Vince McMahon especially, can get their heads out of their asses, they're going to ruin their shot at creating a timely and cathartic story featuring someone other than the guys they've already ensconced into the firmament.
Cena going to bat for Bryan, in a vacuum, is a fine and wonderful thing. Cena is the top dog in the company, and his imprimatur stamped on a wrestler can go a long way for any superstar looking to scratch and claw his way into main event residency. However, context is a tricksy hobbit, and as I look closely at what Cena said, he didn't endorse Bryan in the slightest.
I am not in the minds of the fans, but Occam's Razor tells me that the fans were chanting for Daniel Bryan because they wanted to see him take the WWE Championship from Randy Orton to close the book that was opened at SummerSlam when they wrecked his moment in the Sun. Cena did not even remotely seem to consider that option, as he performed Nastia Lukin-levels of verbal gymnastics to say that the fans chanted for Bryan because they were tired of the Authority and wanted someone, namely him, to end Orton's reign of terror and unify the titles.
Even if Cena did put Bryan over in his speech, what good did his words really do? At no point during the broadcast did Bryan recognize the chants he got, even though they were directly tied to him and the struggle he went through all from SummerSlam through the night after Hell in a Cell. I don't think that Cena speaking on Bryan's behalf makes Bryan look weak, but Cena being the only person to realize Bryan was getting adulation while Bryan completely and totally ignored the fight he was engaged in for a quarter of a year makes him look stupid at worst, and blithe and oblivious at the very best.
To play Devil's Advocate, the wait-and-see argument states that Bryan and his new buddy CM Punk are being drawn into the main narrative. The Shield represents the police arm of The Authority, and the fact that Punk got waylaid by them after the Wyatt Family stole Bryan away suggests links among all three separate entities. However, WWE is not a wait-and-see company when it comes with its storytelling. They don't offer reason to assume anything except what is given at face value. I'm tired of doing the mental heavy lifting and assuming things that WWE might do instead of having them follow through on these supposed links with disappointment.
A company adept at constructing a narrative would craft a story around the organic growth of a character, but the way WWE has built their story vis-à-vis Bryan has suggested that at times, they actively are trying to suppress what should be the easiest fucking tale to tell with their diminutive bearded folk hero.
One of the things I've come to realize about pro wrestling is that the best companies don't build characters to be solitary badasses set on acquiring belts as the only feuds and angles with currency. A great company tells great stories utilizing their entire cast of characters in some way or another. Bryan feuding with the Wyatts is a great story, but it's an angle that is part of a poorly edited movie saga where one story ended like a dangling participle and was still being used to pump up another protagonist even though it didn't fit him as much as it does the original hero.
WWE may yet pull something magnificent out of their asses, but given their track record, I am not holding my breath for anything enjoyable that comes as a direct result of their own storytelling. Guys like Bryan, Orton, Wyatt, Punk, and Cena will keep me watching because they're fine wrestlers and at least passable characters. Until WWE writers, Vince McMahon especially, can get their heads out of their asses, they're going to ruin their shot at creating a timely and cathartic story featuring someone other than the guys they've already ensconced into the firmament.