Daniel Bryan Talks CM Punk, Possibly Wrestling Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Renaming His Finisher & More

[seabs]

To play Devil's advocate. Austin worked from 97-99 with a broken neck and spent most of that time as champion

Bryan is no where near the draw, Austin could still work matches(Bryan can't with his injuries) and WCW were at their throat. The circumstances are no where near close.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Is it worth giving Bryan the rumble? They gave him a huge wrestlemania moment and he got hurt, they gave him the IC title and he got hurt. I love DB but if he's just going to get injured as often as this can you risk him in a major story?

I think it is worth it. This is a biased opinion, of course, because I'm a huge DB fan.
But, one of the main reasons is they can't have fan outrage each year.

If they weren't going to have him win this year's Rumble, then he shouldn't have been in it in the first place.
But nah, they had to advertise him for the event two weeks in advance and get the network subscribers.
Then, come Rumble time he got eliminated in a crappy fashion. Not just him, but Ambrose and DZ, too.
Going into RR 2015, WWE had to know it was the same crowd from last year's Rumble.
So, they decided to shit on him and the end result was booing the winner, but it wasn't Roman's fault and he didn't deserve that.

But anyways, I get that they're hesitant to clear him now, because of his recent injuries, but he was prolly working hurt even when he came back at the Rumble this year. I seriously doubt he was a 100% then.
Then he 'got into trouble wrestling Luke Harper', his words and not mine, and then he got a concussion in some tag match. Can't recall if it was on RAW or SD.

Is the risk of pushing DB into major storyline worth the gain? I don't know for sure, but even when he was involved in a major storyline last year, he said he was working hurt at the time.
Right now, it's all about coming back fully recovered. If it takes another 6 months or so, then so be it.

 

[edge4ever]

Who knows?

Cena has come back from injury early what like 3 times now?

 

[edge4ever]

Bryan is no where near the draw, Austin could still work matches(Bryan can't with his injuries) and WCW were at their throat. The circumstances are no where near close.

I agree with you on the Austin point, but to StopSpot's point, he still had a broken neck and was cleared to wrestle. And, although the circumstances were different, Bryan is still a huge draw and changed the entire landscape of WrestleMania 30 just by fan pops.

Also, during that time wrestlers were on tons of drugs and the monitoring is no where near what it is today. Steroids, pain killers, you name it. This could be why Austin was able to limp along. Bryan doesn't and can't do all of those things at his disposal.

I could be completely wrong and I do see others points on this....it just seems that WWE decides to be inconsistent with these types of policies as long as it's someone they like: Cena, Austin, Triple H.

 

[edge4ever]

Well, as I believe has been pointed out, people in sports at the moment are extremely wary of messing with concussion injuries.

What we're hearing from Daniel Bryan is that a doctor in Phoenix who worked at an unspecified Super Bowl has cleared him to wrestle. However, I've done quite a few searches and haven't been able to find the name of the doctor he is referring to. So we really don't know much from that viewpoint.

You would think if Daniel was that adamant that he was okay, he would be putting forth more than just one doctor's opinion. It could just be that his doctor isn't as cautious as WWE's doctors are or he could have different criteria for what he considers 100%. The man was a doctor on the Super Bowl, so he knows football, but he may not have as much knowledge about professional wrestling as WWE's doctors do.

Personally, I don't think Daniel Bryan is trying to sneak back in or anything. But it just seems a bit odd to me that he is saying that a single unnamed doctor who he hasn't tied together with any knowledge of professional wrestling would be all WWE's doctors needed to agree to clear him.

Despite the fact that they might not see Daniel Bryan as their head guy or want him as their head guy, I find it hard to believe (especially with the weak Raw episodes of the past months) that they wouldn't want to utilize Bryan as quickly as possible. So, I tend to think WWE is likely doing what they honestly think is best.

I'm sure WWE, in some small fashion, cares about Bryan's health. My point was that, looking back at history, they're inconsistent. Sure, Bryan happened to get injured 4 months after his return (shit happens), but because of that it seems like have an alibi to keep him off the card for a while as they attempt to push others (which, I'm all for that; however, both can be done at the same time with some actual creativity at play). This just shows in Bryans past that WWE keeps trying to avoid fans wanting him at the top. It happened before Mania 30. Before Mania 31, and especially the 2015 RR. And now he gets cleared by a doctor in Phoenix who's name we can't find because, who knows, he might not want his name public and why would Bryan lie?

Any ways, it's also statements like this that make me wonder if they really give a shit: "He says he had to contact John Cena to get Vince McMahon's number and said Vince has called him twice in his life, one of which was in 2008 before an ROH show. He says he tells the story in the book" (Wrestling, INC. 2015). Bryan is no doubt one of their biggest draws and talents without question, almost on the level of Cena; yet, Vince has only called him twice and Bryan doesn't have his number. There could be other factors that play into this, but that seems kind of of messed up.

 

[seabs]

Cena has come back from injury early what like 3 times now?

No injuries are the same, bodies aren't the same either. Just because they allowed Cena doesn't mean everyone heals up the same way.

 

[edge4ever]

No injuries are the same, bodies aren't the same either. Just because they allowed Cena doesn't mean everyone heals up the same way.

Well true but Cena was cleared early than what was expected, I mean it still could've been "risky" to have him come back early. Same with Bryan.

 

[The GOAT]

I agree with you on the Austin point, but to StopSpot's point, he still had a broken neck and was cleared to wrestle. And, although the circumstances were different, Bryan is still a huge draw and changed the entire landscape of WrestleMania 30 just by fan pops.

I like Bryan, but I don't think I would honestly even call him a 'huge draw.' The fans at the live shows love him, but he doesn't really bring in droves of new fans, nor does he cause any significant number of fans to tune out when he isn't there.

And as awesome as it would be to see Bryan win the Rumble and be the one to finally pry the championship from Rollin's hands, he shouldn't be getting that kind of push until he can prove he can last more than three or four months without getting injured again.

 

[edge4ever]

I like Bryan, but I don't think I would honestly even call him a 'huge draw.' The fans at the live shows love him, but he doesn't really bring in droves of new fans, nor does he cause any significant number of fans to tune out when he isn't there.

And as awesome as it would be to see Bryan win the Rumble and be the one to finally pry the championship from Rollin's hands, he shouldn't be getting that kind of push until he can prove he can last more than three or four months without getting injured again.

WWE Analysis: Is Daniel Bryan A Weaker Live Event Draw Than John Cena?

Although it's true that he's not in the realm of Cena, he still is second. According to the numbers. I think his injuries prob cost him a lot of the growth he could've had. Right when he peaked, he got injured. Twice.

If they truly believe Bryan is this much of a risk at all... Then honestly they might as well just never let him step foot in the ring again. I don't like the idea that because he happened to get injured in a close time frame to when he was injured before that now all the sudden he has to show than he can hang for months and be fine. Shit happens. Out of his control really. I'm not saying that when he comes back, he has to be handed a silver platter. But he is a big draw no matter how you slice it and he's a main eventer, clearly. Brining him back and just putting him on mid card and saying "we gotta make sure you're fine..." Seems kind of silly.

How long does he have to wait? Who decides and why? I would lay my life down that if Cena happened to get injured twice within a short amount of time, when he returned, he would be pushed to the main event scene without question.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I'm sure WWE, in some small fashion, cares about Bryan's health. My point was that, looking back at history, they're inconsistent. Sure, Bryan happened to get injured 4 months after his return (shit happens), but because of that it seems like have an alibi to keep him off the card for a while as they attempt to push others (which, I'm all for that; however, both can be done at the same time with some actual creativity at play). This just shows in Bryans past that WWE keeps trying to avoid fans wanting him at the top. It happened before Mania 30. Before Mania 31, and especially the 2015 RR. And now he gets cleared by a doctor in Phoenix who's name we can't find because, who knows, he might not want his name public and why would Bryan lie?

Any ways, it's also statements like this that make me wonder if they really give a shit: "He says he had to contact John Cena to get Vince McMahon's number and said Vince has called him twice in his life, one of which was in 2008 before an ROH show. He says he tells the story in the book" (Wrestling, INC. 2015). Bryan is no doubt one of their biggest draws and talents without question, almost on the level of Cena; yet, Vince has only called him twice and Bryan doesn't have his number. There could be other factors that play into this, but that seems kind of of messed up.

Well I would personally think a doctor who didn't want to be known wouldn't accept a high profile job such as working for the Super Bowl. But I wasn't insinuating that Bryan was making it up or anything. It was actually just random thoughts I was throwing out there. Just that it seemed odd to me because with these sports injuries you tend to always hear who the doctors are. My actual insinuation was the slight possibility that this is being set up by Bryan and WWE to make his return that much more surprising. I can't say I really believe that either, just that it's a possibility.

I've not been considering Daniel Bryan to be injury prone like others have. A neck injury and a concussion are not related at all.

Honestly this time I concede that I really don't have any idea what is going on but whatever it is, he is one of my favorite wrestlers and I eagerly await his return.

 

[The GOAT]

WWE Analysis: Is Daniel Bryan A Weaker Live Event Draw Than John Cena?

Although it's true that he's not in the realm of Cena, he still is second. According to the numbers. I think his injuries prob cost him a lot of the growth he could've had. Right when he peaked, he got injured. Twice.

If they truly believe Bryan is this much of a risk at all... Then honestly they might as well just never let him step foot in the ring again. I don't like the idea that because he happened to get injured in a close time frame to when he was injured before that now all the sudden he has to show than he can hang for months and be fine. Shit happens. Out of his control really. I'm not saying that when he comes back, he has to be handed a silver platter. But he is a big draw no matter how you slice it and he's a main eventer, clearly. Brining him back and just putting him on mid card and saying "we gotta make sure you're fine..." Seems kind of silly.

How long does he have to wait? Who decides and why? I would lay my life down that if Cena happened to get injured twice within a short amount of time, when he returned, he would be pushed to the main event scene without question.

Link won't work for me.

I've seen his numbers before though and I've seen numbers for other superstars (Punk, Reigns, etc.) that have headlined tours separate from John Cena before as well and they almost always average out about the same number of people. All it really insinuates is that a certain number of people will show up to a house show no matter what, but that Cena is still the only one who actually moves the needle in a large way when he's on the card.

I'm not hatin' on Bryan, just telling it like it is.