wrestling / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Will Dean Ambrose Win at Fastlane?

February 12, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Tony Acero and Greg DeMarco!

  • Questions were sent out Monday.
  • Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

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    1. Daniel Bryan will never wrestle again.

    Tony Acero: FACT – With the amount of time and pressure Bryan had been giving himself to actually get back in the ring, there is no doubt in my mind that this decision to retire was made with not only a heavy heart but a lot of thought involved as well. Considering the mentality that Bryan has regarding starting a family and the speech he gave at the end of RAW, I think he has finally come to an acceptance about the end of his wrestling career. He spoke about the positives and highlighted specific moments of going out on top. To us, we perhaps will have never been satisfied with his career, since we forever wanted him as the king of the mountain. To Bryan, it appears, he sat there for a long time – wasn’t supposed to be there – and appreciated every minute of it. I doubt he’ll ever wrestle again, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

    Greg DeMarco: FACT – No more silliness—he’s done. Daniel Bryan detailed his most recent testing, the EEG test, during Monday’s Raw retirement segment. Despite all of the concussion experts that cleared him, he shouldn’t ever compete again because there is already a lasting impression on his brain. Fast forward to Tuesday’s ESPN interview with Jonathan Coachman, where Daniel Bryan details hiding seizures because he didn’t know where they were coming from, and learning that they too were a result of his concussions. This isn’t a Daniel Bryan issue. It isn’t a professional wrestling (or sports entertainment) issue. It’s a human issue. Concussion research is still in its relative infancy. Daniel Bryan was cleared by the same people who are responsible for clearing professional and college athletes. Yet there are things out there that they don’t yet consider, and Daniel Bryan is bringing that public. He now moves to the forefront in concussion awareness, and can have an even greater impact on the professional wrestling, combat fighting and sports worlds as a whole. His in-ring career may be over, but he’s only getting started.

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    2. TNA made the wrong call by releasing Awesome Kong.

    Tony Acero: FACT – I can’t speak too much on TNA’s wrong doings because there seem to be so many of them. Simply put, I’m not readily able to say with much assurance who was right and who was wrong regarding the “incident” with Kong and Reby Sky, but I will say that there does seem to be a bit of favoritism at play. Should they have released her? I really don’t think so. I have seen many issues within the work place that could have been handled differently, but basically putting an importance of one over another seems to always be the wrong way to go.

    Greg DeMarco: FACT – This is a hard one since we weren’t there and don’t even know a small fraction of the details, let alone the full story. So I am going to make some assumptions and judge someone. This is coming from someone who was (emphasis on the word “was”) a huge Reby Sky fan. Her work in Lucha Libre USA and Shine showed me she had tremendous potential and could be a WWE Diva. I had the privilege or meeting her a few years back at a LLUSA show here in Phoenix. She was amazing, awesome to my son who fell in love with Reby Sky. She was gracious, accommodating and radiant. But getting caught up with Matt Hardy changed the woman. What I described above isn’t Reby Sky today. Today Reby Sky is a useless, classless stain on the world of women’s wrestling, or more accurately women in wrestling. This once beautiful woman with a ton of potential threw it all away for Matt Hardy. Think about that for a second. Gone is that beautiful face, replaced by an over botox’ed sham. A memory is the gung-ho attitude, replaced with a Matt Hardy-esque sense of entitlement. Whenever you criticize Matt Hardy, what’s his response? “I’m rich!” AJ Lee once taught us that talent isn’t sexually transmitted. But a sense of entitlement appears to be. Reby displayed that with her reaction via Twitter, a pic of her victoriously laughing right after Awesome Kong was released. Of course, that’s been deleted. I don’t know the truth, as I already established that I wasn’t there. But my gut tells me something is fishy here, and Awesome Kong has been wronged.

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    3. Considering the issues he’s has with AAA, Rey Mysterio Jr. will be back in the WWE fold by the end of 2016.

    Tony Acero: FICTION – I think that considering the last few moments of Rey’s WWE career were relatively inconsequential, that neither party really feels like they need the other. If Rey does come back to the WWE, it won’t be this year. It may never happen, short of a WWE Hall of Fame Induction. WWE is moving more and more towards a “safer” working environment, and with the way Rey’s body is holding up, it’s hard pressed to believe that they’ll want him back, especially considering they are attempting to bring Kalisto to the forefront of the market as their number one masked wrestler. Aside from that, Rey just recently made the world aware of his Lucha Underground presence, and one would assume that this will keep him busy for the remainder of the year. Although he may have just been visiting the promotion, I also saw him at a recent PWG not too long ago. No, I think Rey is happy doing the smaller shows with less traveling and won’t be heading back to the WWE this year.

    Greg DeMarco: FICTION – I’m not saying he never comes back, but 2016 seems a little too soon. I don’t know what all is going on with AAA, but Alberto “El Patron” Del Rio left when he was literally on top of the company—he was their Mega Champion. It says a lot that he was willing to leave such a good gig in a place where he’s a legend to return to the company that allowed an employee to insult him, then sent him packing when he retaliated. Lucha Underground is still going strong, and Rey Mysterio Jr. just made his on-screen debut. He can still make a ton of money on his own. TNA is always an option for him as they are once again shelling out more money to talent. But the #1 reason why he doesn’t return in 2016? Because the next Royal Rumble isn’t until 2017.

    SWITCH!

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    4. After hearing the latest news regarding Daniel Bryan’s medical testing, WWE was not only protecting themselves, but did the right thing keeping Bryan sidelined.

    Greg DeMarco: FACT – 100% fact. Daniel Bryan needed to be protected from Daniel Bryan. He wasn’t malicious, but he was uneducated. Hell, we’re all pretty much uneducated when it comes to concussions. The man was begging for his own return, pleading his case online and obviously doing the same behind closed doors. WWE Medical Director Joseph Maroon, who happens to be a leading neurosurgeon and serves as the team neurosurgeon for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, was catching a lot of heat over Daniel Bryan being held out when plenty of doctors would clear him. Now he looks brilliant. Yes, the WWE has to protect their own interests. Yes, they are facing at least one concussion lawsuit. Yes, concussions are a hot-button topic despite the failure of the recent movie covering the issue. But the WWE is a business that likes making money, and Daniel Bryan is a proven draw. They put his safety ahead of everything else, and in doing so are likely contributing to the advancement of concussion research. So yeah, I’d say they did the right thing.

    Tony Acero: FACT – I don’t want to sit here and pat the back that is WWE, because I don’t think that they kept Bryan away from the ring for anything other than personal interest – or, at the very least, a very invested interest in anyone else buy Bryan. Still, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t do the right thing. Consider it a lucky break for keeping the man that they employ safe. What they did was trust the doctors they used, and no one else – which, admittedly, I’d do as well. They ran tests that were consistent with the amount of bodily damage that wrestlers do, which although perhaps not fully comparable to other sports, is all together the better reason to use their own specific professionals. If I hire a doctor to assure the safety of those I employ, then better believe that I am to trust him or her fully, and I think the WWE did that. We only hear what is presented out there, and what we heard is that Bryan passed numerous tests with the exception of the ones given by WWE doctors – which is to say that no other tests mattered.

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    5. Dean Ambrose will win at Fastlane, setting up Ambrose vs. Triple H, Wyatt vs. Lesnar and Reigns vs. Undertaker for WrestleMania.

    Greg DeMarco: FACT – Yes, Fact! Since Seth Rollins’ injury, I’ve maintained that Triple H vs. Roman Reigns, for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, would main event WrestleMania 32. Much like Daniel Bryan’s ascension for WM30, and Seth Rollins Money In The Bank cash-in at WM31, it just makes sense. But injuries have caused opportunity, and Braun Strowman just doesn’t cut it as The Undertaker’s opponent. Neither does Dean Ambrose. So what is the WWE to do? Much like they pull the “Sheamus Emergency Switch” when needed, now they have to pull the “Dean Ambrose Emergency Switch.” Ambrose wins at Fastlane, going to WrestleMania to defeat Triple H and win his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Roman Reigns defeats The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar likely defeats Bray Wyatt. If John Cena completes a miraculous recovery, he faces Kevin Owens (mark those words, as Owens can be slotted into a multi-man match if Cena can’t return). It’s a feeling I just can’t shake, even though conventional wisdom and “insider news” says otherwise.

    Tony Acero: FICTION – I’ve enjoyed what they’re doing with Ambrose and his interactions with Brock. Brock is a beast, and he is showing that. Ambrose can take it, and he is showing that. Still, I don’t see Ambrose being the one to go head to head with Triple H. That story has been written already, and the co-star is Roman Reigns. Ambrose, I don’t know what they’re doing with him, but he does have this bright white and gold title around his waist that probably should be defended. As for The Undertaker, in a similar vein with Wyatt, I’d say “Anyone but you, Strowman.” In all seriousness, I didn’t believe that rumor for a second, and I don’t believe it now. I don’t know who Taker will face, or if he will even be at Mania, but it will not be Reigns. Wyatt and Lesnar seems most likely when presented with these three unlikely scenarios, but I’m not even interested in that match.

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    6. Considering why she was released by TNA, her age (38) and her nagging back issues, there is no chance that WWE would sign Awesome Kong.

    Greg DeMarco: FICTION – Samoa Joe, James Storm, Austin Aries and AJ Styles have all appeared for the WWE in the past 6 months. This, above all else, tells me that ANYTHING is possible. Especially with NXT around. Now I honestly don’t think it’ll happen, because if it does it spells the end of Nia Jax. Why? Because Nia Jax is the Abyss of female wrestling. She’s terrible. If she makes it to the main roster she’ll be the Reby Sky’s Over Botox’ed face of female wrestling. But she’s Samoan and the WWE seems to like her. If you bring in Kong, you expose Jax for the fraud she is. Kong is Jax done right, and her appearing in a WWE ring would make that very apparent, very fast.

    Tony Acero: FICTION – We have seen time and time again that the WWE will sign whoever they damn well please so long as they feel it’s marketable and moneymaking. I feel kind of bad for Kong, because all signs pointed to her making a huge impact on the WWE Divas Roster. Now that the Divas Division is what it is today, she would leave an even bigger mark. Still, I think that the WWE may assume there isn’t a spot for her. The WWE has taken their own little division that could and is truly (finally) focusing on them. They have a huge female wrestler in Nia Jax that they could call up at any time (and please don’t confuse that with me feeling she is even remotely close to good at wrestling). As with most wrestlers outside of the WWE, if they don’t feel a need for them, then they won’t fill a need for them, thus not hiring them. I won’t say that there is no chance, but I will say that there is most likely no interest.