Are the "Yes!" chants falling on deaf ears?

Welcome everybody to the first edition of “The Worked Shoot”. This is a blog about professional wrestling written by a lifelong fan that knows the ins and outs of the business. I’m not in the business and never will claim to be something I’m not, but what I could promise you is an educated opinion on the hottest topics in professional wrestling. I will always be open to any and all feedback so send your emails to me. If you have any questions or comments that you’d like for me to address in future posts, send those along too.

If you’ve been keeping up with professional wrestling lately, particularly the WWE, it’s an interesting time in the business in front of and behind the curtain. Crowds at WWE live events all over the country are seemingly “hijacking” shows as of late to show their support for Daniel Bryan being inserted into the WWE title picture, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears while current plans are keeping him out of the main event of Wrestlemania. For a company that apparently cares so much about what the fans want, why wouldn’t they give the fans their wish and give Bryan the run with the championship that so many people around the world think he deserve? Popular opinion is that the best course of action for the WWE going forward would be for Daniel Bryan to have his Wrestlemania moment on the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania 30 and finally break through the metaphorical glass ceiling to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It seems that the opinion of those in the WWE front office think differently.

 

Hulk Hogan was. The Ultimate Warrior was. The Undertaker was. Triple H was. John Cena was.  Batista was.  Brock Lesnar was. The Rock was. Vince will look at a guy like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Dolph Ziggler; and he’ll call them a great hand to have, but never the #1 guy. They’ll be in the main event feuds here or there, but they don’t get the ball to run with. Those guys aren’t the “face” of the WWE; they’re not the  “franchise player”.

Throughout history, the two exceptions to this rule were Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, but one could make an argument that Vince McMahon didn’t have a choice but to give them the ball after the old guard flocked to WCW in the mid 90’s. This was a monumental time in the history of the business because the WWE gave their fans a hero that looked just like them. These guys got by on their TALENT, not on their size or strength.

The business is always changing, because the world is changing. The average wrestling fan doesn’t have the attention span to wait a year to see a storyline unfold, they want to see it in a matter of weeks. In the eyes of the average wrestling fan, Daniel Bryan is the real deal. Daniel Bryan is a ring general. He’s one of the best, if not, THE BEST technical wrestlers in the world. He’s charismatic and showed his range as a character primarily during his run with Kane in Team Hell No. The “YES!” catchphrase is catching on in a way that the WWE could only dream of. If you think about it, there hasn’t been a guy on the roster since Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock that could win the ENTIRE CROWD over just by walking through the curtain. I guarantee that if Daniel Bryan were to get his title shot at Wrestlemania 30 and win, the crowd would go ballistic. 100 % of the people in the Superdome will be on their feet chanting “YES!” and a new SUPERSTAR will be made. So, will it actually happen? Probably not, but I don’t think that all hope is lost.

As a lifelong fan of the business, I’ve noticed why certain guys are put in certain spots on television. On an episode of Monday night Raw, the opening segment and closing segment are typically the ones that the WWE wants you to remember. Those are the biggest of the night. Let’s use the January 20^th edition of Raw for example, the go-home show before the Royal Rumble. Having the return of Batista in the opening segment of Monday night Raw was the WWE’s way of letting the fans know, “Hey, pay attention to this guy. He’s winning the Rumble”. The closing segment of Raw had John Cena chase Randy Orton out of the building. That was WWE’s way of telling its fans that they’re putting emphasis on the WWE World Heavyweight title match.

Now let’s go to last week’s Raw. Daniel Bryan was involved in BOTH the opening and closing segments of the show. Let me assure you, the WWE would NOT position Daniel Bryan like this if there weren’t HUGE plans for him down the line. WWE is giving you the great underdog story that you all wanted; it’s just taking a little longer than we’d like to get the payoff.

I was just as mad as the rest of you probably were when Daniel Bryan didn’t enter the Royal Rumble, but I’m fairly confident that it’s all going to work out in the end. The live crowds are too loud; there are too many tweets, too many legends speaking out on Bryan’s behalf. He’ll get his time. He’s too good.

With that said, it’s doubtful that we’ll see the storybook ending at Wrestlemania 30, but it’s mighty interesting that WWE moved the venue of their Extreme Rules pay per view at the last minute to Daniel Bryan’s hometown. Stay tuned…

Do you think that WWE will finally give in to the crowd reactions and give Daniel Bryan the ball? Let me know what you think below in the comments section, tweet me at @majorlugo or e-mail jlugo22@hotmail.com.