Death of Wrestling: I’m Not The Weak Link

Greetings to all… It’s David Davis with my weekly blog: Death of Wrestling. For all of those who read this regularly, you will know that this is not a blog about bashing wrestling; it’s a blog of a frustrated fan, who loves the business and wishes that each week it could be a little better.

Last week’s blog was all about the arrival of Curtis Axel and the refusal/shortsightedness of the WWE to let him get over properly. But this week I actually want to praise the WWE for letting a man get over and this time it was Daniel Bryan.

D-Bry seems to have a tumultuous relationship with the top brass at the WWE. He was sacked as a member of the NXT for strangling, only to be brought back with a major push. He was crowned the World Heavyweight champion only to lose it in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania…

In all honesty, I think Daniel has the WWE Universe to thank for a lot of his success. I mean, a lot of wrestlers say ‘I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you’, but in this case I think it’s true. When he was fired for strangling, the internet erupted with support for Daniel Bryan to the extent that Vinny Mac realised there’s good business to be had. When he lost the belt in 18 seconds the ‘Yes’ chant was born and the fans helped elevate D-Bry to the next level.

I genuinely think that the WWE has apathy for Daniel Bryan but the fans love him and so the WWE have been forced to love him too. Don’t get me wrong, Daniel Bryan deserves the adulation of the crowd because he is a phenomenal wrestler who developed a cult following in the independent circuit. If it wasn’t for the crowd, Daniel Bryan wouldn’t be where he is today, but if it wasn’t for Daniel Bryan, the crowd wouldn’t be behind him in the first place, so props where props are due.

The ‘I’m not the weak link’ storyline worried me a little because he was/is blatantly the weak link in Team Hell No. The apathy that I spoke about earlier meant that the WWE could seriously see him as the weak link and a slow burial of his character could have ensued. One only needs to look at Cesaro, Kingston and Tensai to see how a push can be halted in an instant.

The end of Smackdown had me smiling like I smiled at wrestling when I was a kid. The sort of reaction I had when I saw Lex Lugar slam Yokozuna. I don’t think Super characters work week in week out – John Cena anyone – but on occasion, when the storyline dictates it, seeing a Superstar being unbeatable and singlehandedly taking out the most dominant force in the company is a great thing!

The end of Smackdown reminded of a great match in TNA at the Against All Odds PPV where Team 3D had been on a mission to prove that the X-Division was just full of ‘little boys’… Black Machismo Jay Lethal – Oh yeah – was the champion at the time and he lost his belt to the X-Division traitor Johnny Divine. At the PPV, Machismo teamed with the Motor City Machine Guns to take on Team 3D and Divine in a Street-fight. Both the Machine Guns were laid out and Lethal, now left in a 3 on 1 situation, manage to kick out of a Divine Intervention and a Bubba Bomb before hitting the Macho Man Flying Elbow to win the match… It was Epic.

So this week WWE, I salute you, but with one caveat: you know how to let people get over; you proved that on Smackdown, so please don’t just waste moments like this on wrestlers who are already main-eventers. Use moments like this sparingly – we don’t want another Super Cena – and use them to help mid-carders get over and thus stave off the DoW.

That’s all folks… As always, post your comments, thoughts and opinions below! Or message me on twitter and let me know what you think the ‘Death of Wrestling’ is and I might just blog about it!!! Peace and I’m out…