One of the best matches of the two night WrestleMania 37 - it sure was mine - was the Universal
Title triple threat between Roman Reigns, Edge and Daniel Bryan.
It had great back and forth action, Shakespearian drama, and Roman doing a weird pin which kind
of means Edge should be champion now.
But one person wasn’t really a fan, the guy at the bottom of the pin heap: Daniel
Bryan himself.
In an interview with BT Sport, a typically way-more-honest-than-WWE-would-like Bryan
admitted he found the match “really bizarre” and that he “felt very out of body in it.”
The kind of near death ‘out of body’ it seems, as it appears to be making Bryan re-evaluate
his entire life.
“When I’m wrestling, I feel everything and feel like I’m enjoying it.
This was weird, I was out there and it felt like I was detached.
It was so strange that before the match started, I got this strange feeling like, ‘Oh no,
is this what it’s like before you die?
Am I going to die?
Huh, well, okay.’
I don’t know why or how it happened, but it was unlike anything I’ve felt while wrestling.”
And it’s making Bryan consider stepping away from wrestling:
“Maybe it was a sign that it’s time to let go of being a full-time wrestler…
Like I said, I’m either gonna die or maybe it’s a sign that this isn’t it and it
isn’t the same type of fulfilment that it was before.”
Bryan then revealed in that same interview: “my contract is up relatively soon.
I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life.”
Oh my God, is this really happening.
It is!
It’s time to dust off an old gimmick we haven’t had since the last time Bryan kept
saying he was going to leave.
The how many f**** does Daniel Bryan give counter.
It’s zero, it’s back to zero again guys!
Daniel Bryan to AEW confirmed.
What would you like to see Daniel Bryan do next?
Let us know in the comments down below because I’ll be replying to people FROM OUTTA NO
HAIR.
Sucks to be Bryan though, because if he really does retire, he’ll miss out on his favourite
twice a year pay-per-view: an ethically complex, morally dubious paid show in Saudi Arabia!
WWE’s ten year and souls of your first born deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia means
they have to put on two shows a year there in the company.
But because of the pandemic, they’re a little behind on their quota.
With vaccine rollouts and optimism for a global recovery, even though there are more coronavirus
cases in the world now than any other point in the pandemic, WrestleVotes is reporting:
“Two WWE sources indicate that an event in Saudi Arabia prior to the end of 2021 is
very much on the table.”
I for one cannot wait to see Goldberg beat my favourite wrestler for their title then.
One big star who definitely won’t be on the show, though, is Ronda Rousey.
And it’s not just because she’s a woman.
Ronda has announced on her YouTube channel she’s expecting her first child with husband
Travis Browne, with the baby set to debut on the main roster of reality on the 22nd
September.
Ronda’s originally extended WWE contract expired over WrestleMania weekend, after only
wrestling for one of the three years she was signed.
And also congratulations to NXT, who pulled in 841,000 viewers on Tuesday, a steady growth
against strong news competition.
But well-wishes are more in order for former WWE star EC3, who has revealed on Instagram
that he’s been hospitalized with an infection for 5 days, and will need longer.
It’s Thursday, you know what that means, it’s time for a review of last night’s
AEW Dynamite, in about 5 minutes!
Dynamite opened on Hangman Page vs Ricky Starks in a solid match, where Page busted out a
beautiful Pump Handle Half Nelson bridging fallaway slam pin.
That’s like me trying to create a finisher in 2K14.
Presumably because he was going to tap out relatively quickly, Starks sold an injured
ankle throughout - which rather threw the psychology off, making Ricky a bit of a sympathetic
babyface.
Team Taz attacked Page afterwards, setting up Hangman vs Brian Cage next week, and Dark
Order made the save.
Trent vs Pentagon also didn’t have a story going into it, so they made up for it by just
starting with the final third of the match, a piledriver on the ring apron, and having
Penta debuting his new variant: Bat-Penta.
It’s good, but it’s not Penta In A Hat.
Penta’s translator/manager Alex Abrahantes said Trent’s mum sucks, letting Penta take
out Orange Cassidy and Abrahantes hitting Trent with the mic to win - setting up Cassidy
vs Penta next week.
This was fine, but I really want Pentagon to be doing something more high profile.
All sat on boyband chairs, ready for the key change, the Pinnacle got to cut a retort on
Jerich’s Immortal Promo - which didn’t really say anything new - which the Inner
Circle answered later on during a Tony Schiavone in-ring interview which somehow didn’t get
interrupted, where they managed to say May 5th Blood and Guts about 82 times.
Santana and Wardlow both stood out on the mic, and they set up an in-ring confrontation
‘paylay’ segment for next week.
In the first of the two big title matches on this show, we got Shida vs Tay Conti in
a great TV bout based on babyfaces respecting each other.
Conti’s pump kicks are so awesome, and she’s so exciting to watch grow as a wrestler.
If she’s this good just a year after shaking off the NXT plateau, think how good she’ll
be in a few years’ time.
Especially because her selling will work far better against an evil heel champion as a
babyface in peril.
I actually thought Conti had won it off a Tay KO near fall, but a brutal spinning knee
from Shida retained.
Britt Baker then revealed she’s the No. 1 ranked challenger, presumably setting up
the big Double or Nothing women’s title program.
In a storyline that’s exceeding all expectations, the Nightmare Factor vs Nightmare Family feud
saw Billy Gunn take on QT Marshall next.
Gunn looked great as the grizzled veteran, and QT’s Tony Soprano like transition from
trainer to mob boss has suddenly made him one of the most interesting characters in
AEW.
The various factions brawled at ringside, letting Anthony Ogogo hit a gut punch on Gunn
behind the referee’s back for QT to pick up the win.
Dustin Rhodes ran down for the save afterwards, and smashed a wooden chair on Nick Comoroto’s
head, which he awesomely no sold.
Then the show cut to The Elite in their own personal trailer with their own personal cameraman.
And if you didn’t get that they’re douchebags enough from that, they then proceeded to tell
you how great they are.
There was only a token mention of Omega’s IMPACT World Title match against Rich Swann
this Sunday, which I think could’ve done with a big angle.
But instead, AEW had something else planned.
Speedy getaways…
Omega’s promo on Swann kept getting interrupted by some horn honking outside, which was revealed
to be Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley in a 4x4, which they drove into the side of the trailer,
ready to bust some heads.
It was an awesome angle.
Eddie smashed in a window with a tire iron, they stormed inside to beat them up more…
and nobody was there.
Moxley and Kingston were really good together, but it was a weird finish that wasn’t satisfyingly
explained.
Did the Elite sneak away?
And if so, why wouldn’t they then jump Mox and Kingston from behind?
Or were they in a secret second trailer beneath the main trailer?
But then how did they hear the horn?
This could’ve been a terrific angle, but instead it just came across as filler.
Which is slightly frustrating when this week would’ve been better served putting over
Omega vs Swann.
I get you want to focus on your own company, but surely your champion winning another company’s
championship does that too in a big way.
Christian’s first AEW match was in the solid hands of Kaz.
So it was interesting to see him work with the much younger Powerhouse Hobbs.
Turns out: Christian is just great everywhere.
They had a really good match, with Christian mostly selling, and taking advantage of Hobb’s
cockiness at the end to win with a Killswitch.
And the main event, to continue building younger talent, was Darby Allin vs Jungle Boy for
the TNT championship.
This was an awesome match, starting off technical, spilling out into a brawl, having the presence
of Sting at ringside, and the great drama near the end of not just being against each
other, but also against the clock with the show-duration time limit.
Luchasaurus and Sting ended up brawling - in a fight that looked like my childhood wrestling
promotion made up of random action figures - leading to Darby just winning with the Last
Supper pin.
Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky beat up Darby after, but Lance Archer and Sting made the save in
a slightly anti-climactic finish.
I would’ve preferred them to focus on Darby and Jungle Boy.
I do massively respect AEW for putting so much faith in the young, homegrown talent.
That’s exactly what the company has always said it wanted to do: build new stars.
But this is an episode coming off one of their biggest ratings of all time.
You likely had a lot of new viewers watching.
There’s a definite argument to establish people like Darby and Jungle Boy in those
new viewers’ minds right away as main eventers.
But it’s also a very risky strategy.
This is me in my casual viewer hat now, not me as a wrestling fan.
New viewers are incredibly fickle.
They haven’t built the habit yet.
And if they’re watching relatively small guys they haven’t seen before, not your
Omegas, Codys, Moxleys and Young Bucks, there’s a very real risk they turn off.
Having Sting out there will hopefully insure against that somewhere, but, rather fittingly,
it’s a double or nothing strategy.
And I really hope it pays off.
I don’t think I would’ve been brave enough to risk it.
What did you think of Dynamite?
Let me know in the comments down below, and vote in our Poll on a Pole match on the Community
tab, where 77% have gone for ‘It’s like Christian never left.’
By AEW standards, I thought this was an average show.
The matches were great, but a lot of them lacked storyline feuds going into them, and
the majority of the big stars weren’t in action.
Which, like I said, is potentially risky booking when you’ve just been handed half a million
extra viewers by the competition.
This week’s Dynamite is 3 out of 5.
Come argue with me and Luke about that in our livestream review today by subscribing
to the WrestleTalk Podcast channel.
Tell them what’s coming up Luke.
Click the video on the right for mine and Luke’s full Dynamite podcast review!
And is WWE punishing Charlotte Flair backstage over Andrade’s release?
Click the video on the right to find out what’s been going on behind the scenes.
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I’ve been Mr Davis, Jam that Jam.