Now
that Review Corner is no more, thanks to the ignorant staff at Freemantle Media
and Fetch.Fm who refuse to deal with their petulant employees who seem to think
they can mess people around and get away with whatever they like, I have been
forced to find something to replace Review Corner which will now only appear as
a special article every so often when I have something to review. The next time
Review Corner will appear on this blog, for now at least, will be the review of
the aforementioned wrestling tome in the next few months written by a reader of
this blog. I’ve been reading the final chapters and I promise that it won’t disappoint.
Until I receive a final release date for the book, I have to find something
else to fill these pages with and I think I’ve found it.
On
March 2nd, a new fortnightly article will begin entitled ‘NXT: The Review’. As
the title implies, it will document the last fortnight of NXT beginning with
the first two episodes after February 11th’s NXT Takeover event which is live
on the WWE Network. So look out for that on March 2nd as we run down in detail
every little detail of the episodes for that fortnight. After that, the article
will appear every two weeks as stated so those who don’t get WWE Network and
can’t watch NXT will get a full picture of everything going on with WWE’s
future stars. That’s next month however, so this week we’re going to look at a
recent decision made for WWE Fast Lane and what effect it could have on
WrestleMania’s main event. Also, I would like to touch upon the subject of
dangerous ground WWE are currently treading with Daniel Bryan.
Chris
Jericho has been speaking this week at length about how he’d book WrestleMania
31 and his beliefs on Daniel Bryan. I won’t go into them this week as they’ll
be the focus of our blog next week, but I will say this. Chris Jericho has put
forth an interesting idea in which Seth Rollins chases in at Fast Lane,
assuming Brock Lesnar turns up, and then Daniel Bryan battles Brock Lesnar
whilst Roman Reigns defeats Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship on the night in question. There is weight to this idea, but then
Chris Jericho mentions something which may seem good on paper but in practice
would be an epic fail if WWE ever put it into action.
In
the interview, Chris Jericho suggests that WWE turn Daniel Bryan heel and then
allow him and Brock Lesnar to go on a run together. It’s an interesting idea
which would extend Brock Lesnar’s time in WWE and stop him going back to UFC
for millions of dollars, but can you really see WWE’s fans treating Daniel
Bryan as a heel? That would mean getting rid of the ‘Yes’ chant which everyone
is so fond of and doing something with Bryan which could damage his chances of
fans loving him in the future. It’s just not a viable plot even though it would
give Bryan something else to do other than try to muscle in on someone else’s
glory.
Don’t
get me wrong, I’m glad WWE are at least attempting to re-do the wrong which
they booked for the Royal Rumble, but they must be careful now. Because whilst
everyone loves Daniel Bryan, he’s the most popular WWE star in the last ten
years, but it really is beginning to look like Bryan can no longer earn his own
title match and has to push his way in to other people’s. That isn’t good for
Bryan and could only serve to turn his fans against him, if they begin to
believe that Bryan is an opportunist who can’t stand to watch people be pushed
ahead of him. Many don’t believe this will happen thanks to Daniel Bryan’s
connection with the fans which pushed him to the main event of WrestleMania
XXX, but as wrestling fans we know different. Just look at what happened with
The Rock when he left to do something else. Fans turned on him. It took years
for them to forgive him and accept him back.
WWE
cannot afford for the same to happen with Daniel Bryan. He may not have left,
but we have a great sense of injustice as fans. If Bryan is seen to be taking
someone else’s spotlight then there’s a chance we could turn against him. Vince
McMahon may want that to prove his ridiculous point that Daniel Bryan isn’t the
wrestler that people want to see, but it will certainly see a downturn in
business and revenue if people stopped buying Daniel Bryan’s merchandise. He’s
better than a mid-card spot and more than that, more than fans turning on
Daniel Bryan they could resent WWE for doing that to him. That would be even
more catastrophic for business.
In
other WWE news, Randy Orton has finally returned to action and should be back
on the screen by the time you read this. The man who has been away filming ‘The
Condemned 2’, which will surely be another flop for WWE in the financial
department, returned to action at a live event this week. So what does this
mean for Randy Orton’s WrestleMania prospects? Well, it’s fair to assume that
Randy Orton will be inserted into a feud against The Authority on his return to
television which means he could battle Seth Rollins on the grandest stage of
them all, if Rollins doesn’t cash in before then, but more likely, Randy Orton
will lead a team of misfits including Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose
against Triple H’s squad and align with Sting to bring down The Authority once
and for all.
This
won’t be an easy or short storyline and could stretch into SummerSlam or
beyond, but at some point in time Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will fall and
the best possible storyline to come out of this would be the re-emergence of
Vince McMahon to WWE television who comes out of the woodwork to claim back his
company and recruits Orton, Sting, The Rock, Reigns and Ambrose to get back
what is his. If planned carefully, Randy Orton could be the main event star he
once was again and WWE could have another main event player ready to go in
2015. They could even make up for the Invasion debacle of fourteen years
pervious. However, if this opportunity is wasted then Randy Orton will fall
further than he ever has in the past.
I’m
sure you’ve heard the rumours by now, but just in case they passed you by,
Jonathan Coachman has been talking about a possible return to WWE nearly a
decade after he departed to become a sports news anchor. This wouldn’t be huge
news normally, but considering the state of WWE’s announce team in 2015, then
Coachman could be a welcome addition. He left as a heel after being inserted
into a storyline with Eric Bischoff and now I assume WWE fans will welcome his
return. Hell, he now has the knowledge and skill to take over from Michael Cole
as lead announcer some day. I’m sure Coachman wouldn’t half as annoying if he
marked out for everyone Vince McMahon told him to. Nothing at the moment is set
in stone, but nothing is impossible either.
Lastly
this week, I would like us all to take a moment to send our best wishes to
Diamond Dallas Page, who was hospitalized with a major health issue concerning
his throat. The usually healthy Diamond Dallas Page recently participated in
the 2015 Royal Rumble Match, but now faces a long battle ahead of him to return
to full health. I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing him a speedy and successful
recovery.
Onwards
and upwards.
