Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 I know there's a Smackdown thread, but this is worth discussing. That's the oddest thing I've seen in years. Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose (two popular babyfaces) casually call him a turd and the show ends. What the fuck? Its just weird. Â Dolph: "You're a turd, bro" *I'M HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD, I'M HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD ...* -show ends- Â Their plan to try and make Daniel Bryan just another wrestler is fascinating. I dont think this has ever been done to this level before. Who else have they actively tried to lessen the star of to this degree who was as over as he was? Nobody on any active roster I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hearing Cole genuinely exclaim "WHAT?" was the icing on the cake, Turdgate's seriously the oddest thing I've seen in wrestling for a while now. This must be the only time when people are right when claiming that a guy is being buried/held back etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's bizarre, isn't it? Almost like a “what happened when Smackdown! went off the air” segment.It played like the ending to Empire Strikes Back or Eden Lake. Just fucking grim. What’s worse is that I’m really beginning to care less about Bryan this year than I did last year, so whatever they are doing is having the desired effect on some level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 If it wasn't for the whole weird "wrestling is fake, thus no real world rules apply to the business" deal you'd think stuff like this shouldn't fly with stockholders. Devaluing any wrestler (if not to specifically build up somebody with more potential), whether it's for political reasons or disciplinary or proving a point, is harming a company asset. I don't see McDonalds renaming the Fillet'o'Fish as the 'Turd Burger' because the CEO doesn't like fish and likes toilet humour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallicks Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 When they mentioned this on the smackdown spoilers on the radio, I thought they'd been trolled. But no. "Big" 6 man main event tag, got 20 minutes, and then a completely barmpot bit at the end, clearly shoehorned in by someone desperate to kill Bryan. Maybe there'll be an explanation down the line, maybe it'll be forgotten by next week (it is Smackdown after all), but man. Turd. Turd. The last time I heard someone say that in an actual conversation was in year 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Eddie Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Somebody posted a long Meltzer quote a week or two back that mentioned this whole situation and he also had trouble thinking of any booker/promoter in history who wouldn't have at least run with Bryan as the top guy in the short-term just to see how far they can go.  They've spent the last few years embracing social media and constantly asking the fans to "join the discussion" on twitter and the like, while also playing up the WWE Office on TV as a bunch of money-hungry assholes who put business matters before the fans. Now, having done all of that, they are somehow surprised when their audience doesn't take kindly to having it's opinions completely ignored and having it rubbed in their faces on RAW? They can't have it both ways - you can't run with Occupy RAW segments and talk about "fan movements" and then be annoyed when they continue to think they can (in their view) positively affect the TV show just months later.  Cena comes out every couple of weeks and cuts a promo that includes the likes of "We do all this for you, the fans. It's your cheers or boos that make this place what it is. You decide what happens around here, not the evil Authority". You can't actively ask the fans to tell you what they want/think all the bloody time and then turn around and expect them to ignore their own instincts and preferences and just get behind what you tell them to like a bit later on.  Blurring the lines between the real-life creative input of Steph and Hunter and their evil on-screen TV personas has given the fans free reign to express their opinions of both the characters and the real people during their TV show. It's created a weird dynamic that isn't doing anyone any favours. They spent so long trying to engage real emotions with Daniel Bryan (by incorporating genuine current and past concerns about him as a talent from management) that the fans got behind him for both on and off screen reasons. He became the living embodiment of the "hard working, super talented smaller wrestler who WWE and Vince won't push" that the smart/net fans could rally behind, while also getting genuine support from the wider audience. You can't then just try and turn all that off, and go back to "Yeah, just follow our story-lines now, forget all that behind the scenes stuff. We actually do think he's a B+ at best, so tough shit".  Wrestling should be simple - who do the fans care about the most? Who do they hate the most? Book those two people against each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's a big fuck you to the fans who insist on loving Bryan more than Reigns/Batista/Cena/etc. It's fucking unfair on Bryan though. He's a good guy who's worked hard to get to where he is.I'm genuinely sorry for him that he's in the middle of this. As much as I dislike some of the cunts who follow him, he's never done anything except work hard and get over. Â For me, this all comes down to them being too stupid to keep him off TV until WrestleMania or the following Raw when they could have run with Bryan vs. new Champ (or Lesnar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 I may well be off with this, but I've been thinking for the last few weeks that the reason Bryan has been so clearly demoted (despite still being their 2nd most popular babyface) is basically Vince having a bit of a tantrum at the fans because they aren't taking to his Roman Reigns, so he's decided that he'll take it out on their favourite Daniel Bryan. It's a bit out there, maybe, but so is the way they've treated Bryan the past few months. Â EDIT: Seems I'm not the only one that thinks so then. Â What's rubbish is a returning Daniel Bryan v the Beast Brock Lesnar for the WWE title he never lost is a far more compelling and interesting story than Roman "he's great, honest" Reigns facing Lesnar in a cold match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's definitely a lot more interesting than if he'd just pinned Harper and then the show finished. "You're a turd, bro" and Bryan laughing at the stupidity of it. Will they follow it up on Raw? And how? It's such a strange thing. Â Â Wrestling should be simple - who do the fans care about the most? Who do they hate the most? Book those two people against each other. Â It's the same answer to both, though, and you can't do Cena vs Cena as your WrestleMania main event. Triple H might be the most hated, actually, and I've no interest in him vs Cena again either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 It's always a classy move when a promoter essentially tells the customers their preference is wrong & they should just like what they're given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron&Hermione Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If it wasn't for the whole weird "wrestling is fake, thus no real world rules apply to the business" deal you'd think stuff like this shouldn't fly with stockholders. Devaluing any wrestler (if not to specifically build up somebody with more potential), whether it's for political reasons or disciplinary or proving a point, is harming a company asset. I don't see McDonalds renaming the Fillet'o'Fish as the 'Turd Burger' because the CEO doesn't like fish and likes toilet humour.This is the part which I don't understand. It comes off as actively attempting to devalue the company as a whole, given that Bryan is one of their biggest stars. I know They own a majority of the company, they still have a public traded company who answers to shareholders. Â Unless of course all the research done actually shows that isn't the case? I mean he may well be popular in the tv arenas, but does he sell merchandise and bring in the live crowds? Does he actually move the needle and make money for wwe? (That's a genuine question as I don't know.) Â Is it just a case of "we made as much as we could with the guy, but time to move on."? In fact I can't believe that this is anything but that. Otherwise the wrestling business is more fucking bonkers than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Really Big Shoe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 The main event for WrestleMania this year should have written itself. They could have put together some video packages of D-Bry coming back from his almost career ending injury, do like a documentary type thing similar to the Boxing & UFC type ones where they show him training & such. Then they build the hype to a fever pitch and have him winning the Rumble and the whole David vs Goliath match up versus Brock. They could tell a story during the match of Lesnar going after Bryan's injuries and he manages to pull out a huge upset and win the Championship. Think Mania ending with an arena full of "Yes!" chants. Now this year it'll be something like; Â Michael Cole: "1-2-3!!, we got a new WWE World Champion and that man is ROMAN REIGNS!" JBL: "Maggal, I can't believe, he just beat BROCK LESNAR!!! Â WrestleMania audience: Â Â I think Daniel Bryan's actually lost in the shuffle now, same as Dean Ambrose & Bray Wyatt are. They were also super over at one point and they have to pull the trigger when the fans are getting behind certain characters, rather than holding back. I think Bryan's world title win was super delayed if they did it earlier than he would be established now as a main eventer. But WWE are forcing people to accept Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins (who WWE have chosen to be the top guy(s). The ending of SmackDown! sounds weird, since in theory they should have been building up Bryan for a huge WrestleMania match, now he's in the IC title match IIRC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 Be very interesting to see how the fans react to it all. My guess is they will just get behind him even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digforvictory Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I think the actual Mania crowd and probably the night after Mania will still treat Bryan as the biggest star on the show regardless of how he's booked but for everything else I wouldn't be surprised if his reactions were diminished.  I first thought it was just one of those terrible things the WWE do now and then where it's obvious it made it to air just because Vince found it funny. Even if it's stupid and childish and makes everyone look like idiots as long as Vince laughs it gets on.  Reading through this though and a few other things it looks pretty obvious it's a petty attempt to make Bryan look like a goof because they're angry he's so over. It's so stupid. You watch those Monday Night Raw documentaries on the network and listen to WWE talking about how stupid WCW were. Well this is right out of the WCW at their stupidest playbook. Punish a really talented guy for being too popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted March 13, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted March 13, 2015 I'm not so sure, boss. Fan support seems to be - albeit, slowly - dwindling. My wee lad is/was a HUGE Bryan fan and I got him a rake of D-Bry merch like t-shirt, hoody and some ROH DVDs etc for Christmas (at his request) and now he doesn't like him as much. I asked him why, and he said he didn't know, just that "it's not the same as last year". He's into Rusev, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens now. Â East Coast and post Mania crowd will always have his back though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.