wrestling / Columns
Daniel Bryan’s Bittersweet Goodbye
I guess wrestling broke me this week. I write this article every seven days with the express purpose of praising all the things that I feel need praising, but this week was different. I really had no choice but to take a more somber tone this time around. But then again, how could I not discuss Daniel Bryan’s retirement and be a little sad?
Perhaps I was a little too sad. I wrote about Bryan twice, offering a not-so-emo addendum a few days afterward. In addition to two entries about that farewell, I also tried to offer up some positivity regarding promising ratings and attendance figures for a few companies not owned by a McMahon. Also, I applauded the current state of the NXT Women’s division, specifically the recent offerings by Carmella. By the end though, I turned things sad again regarding a few individuals that could use some extra thoughts and prayers.
Let’s get to this week with a forced smile and our Yes! hand gestures high in the sky, however dejected we might feel about letting go…
I Don’t Want It To Be The End
I was one of the people that held out hope that Daniel Bryan was simply fooling us all. I hoped that this guy who I had enjoyed so much still had another decade or more ahead of him. Maybe was just beginning a huge media frenzy with his Twitter announcement of a retirement? This Mark Henry-style swerve could’ve set up a WrestleMania match and the the fun of the Yes! movement could’ve picked up right where it left off.
That’s not what happened, of course. Daniel Bryan bid his farewell, giving us all one final moment to properly appreciate him. When he thanked the Washington crowd for the ovation he received prior to WrestleMania XXX when his dad made a final trip to see his son before he passed, it became a teary-eyed moment. The entire night was amazing and will not be forgotten.
To personalize this telling of Daniel Bryan’s farewell, I wish to thank the man for closure that I definitely did not deserve. As noted in the past, I checked out of professional wrestling in the late 2000s and did not return until Bryan was in the midst of his Team Hell No phase. I was a fairweather fan for most of his career, especially the WWE portion of it.
I do feel honored that I jumped back into WWE as he was putting on amazing weekly 6-man tag matches alongside Kane and whomever else they could round up to do battle versus The Shield. It was especially easy at that point to get sucked back into this business because I knew a hot tag to Daniel Bryan was coming every Monday night. But still, I checked out during much of his career and felt like I just fast forwarded to the climax of the final few chapters. Is it appropriate to feel like I should be fully a part of his farewell? Was this as emotional for everyone else as it was for me or are they even more sad because they’ve seen the entirety of his career?
No matter if it was appropriate or even if I truly was feeling what everyone else was feeling, I felt something important. What I felt was a sad feeling for how much of an in-ring career that I wanted to still be in waiting for the guy. Also, I was experiencing a happy feeling because it seems like he’s stopping wrestling before even more damage could be done to his brain…and it seems like he can still go on to become a dad and/or become a farmer and/or do whatever else it is that he might still want to do with the rest of his life.
Daniel Bryan’s retirement is terrible and great at the exact same time. It’s a moment that I’ll never forget and did not deserve, and I thank him for that.
Again, But Now A Little Less Whiny
I have the luxury of not submitting this opinion piece until later in the week to 411. I had time to think and wanted to add a little to my initial Daniel Bryan farewell thoughts. I’ve heard about how much he’s suffered through multiple concussions throughout his career and I’m glad he’s walking away at this point. He’s given so much and can still have life outside of wrestling. I’m glad he gets that and I hope it’s fulfilling.
During the middle bulk of his career, it’s true that I wasn’t watching. I’ve missed plenty. The beauty of the current era of technology is that most of Bryan’s career is very well-documented. I have scores of unwatched classics that I can go back and watch for my very first time. That’s pretty cool to think about.
In the previous section, I was thankful for the small parts of his career near the beginning and at the end that I was able to experience as it happened. Adding to that, I’m thankful for several years of material that are waiting for me to devour. If I can every get my small children to like wrestling (no luck so far), I hope they’ll want to go back and see a few years of Bryan in Ring of Honor that I need to catch up on.
Yay For The Little Guys
Time to move on from Bryan because I want to give some kudos to a couple of the other shows that are out there.
A couple of the smaller weeklies, TNA Impact and Lucha Underground, had good weeks. I don’t remark much on Lucha Underground usually because I stay consistently a week behind on watching it. However, the reports I’ve heard are that they’ve scored their highest rating yet this past week. I’ve been spoiled on a pretty sweet .gif of King Cuerno falling backwards with a ladder through a table so I’m stoked about getting caught up.
For TNA, they’ve taken their show abroad for their annual trek overseas, which is always refreshing. Their talent performed in front of a packed house (I’ve heard numbers between 3,000 to 5,000 attendees) who looked appreciative of what they were watching. that always makes the viewing experience at home much more palatable. I’m not sure the ratings for TNA but the full arena was nice.
Who’s the number 2 promotion in America? TNA has better ratings but Lucha Underground has the critical acclaim. Ring of Honor is in the mix as well, offering a consistently good product. Sure, nobody’s making a run for WWE’s place as top dog but there’s plenty of content being offered. It seems like they’re all generally trying their best to step up their game, too. It’s a good time to be a wrestling fan.
Carmella Can Be A Star
When three out of the four Horsewomen of NXT graduated to the main roster last summer, I was worried. Bayley was fantastic as the face of that division but who were her supporting competitors? It seemed like a very thin division as Bayley held it down while new depth could be established. It didn’t take long at all for us to get to a point where there was so much to like about the division again.
Asuka seems like the next wrestler in line to carry the coveted NXT Women’s Championship and I hope she gets her chance. Nia Jax still has work to go in the ring and I wouldn’t complain if someone rethought her outfit choice, but I do think she’s coming along. Nia’s gal pal Eva Marie may be less than satisfactory in the ring but she’s an absolute heat magnet. Alexa Bliss is also a potential star in the waiting who understands her villainous character well. Even Emma, who’s benefited huge since pairing with “The Total Diva’ Dana Brooke, feels like she’s got plenty of life left in her.
Then there’s one wrestler who put on a fantastic match this past week for the title and that’s Carmella. Her character always worked as the female third to Enzo & Cass, but she’s apparently got the skills to go bell to bell as well. I’m not sure that I would’ve guessed her match to be so good, but it was. When the Queen of Staten Island performed back to back suicide dives against Bayley, she had the crowd popping huge. Bayley finally scored the win in a finish that was very back and forth.
Carmella is very likable. She’s also shown that she has heart in the ring. Perhaps I was blind for not seeing all of this before, but her potential is mighty.
One Thing To Complain About
My complaint has got to be Vince McMahon’s treatment of big Titus this week. He meant nothing malicious by grabbing the boss-man’s arm and received a 90 day suspension for it. The last that I’ve heard was that his suspension was reduced to 60 days but that still means he’ll miss WrestleMania. Talk about an overreaction.
Final Ramblings And Plugs
In addition to Daniel Bryan’s career being cut short, several other figures in the wrestling world have been hit with some major setbacks. The most notable is Bret Hart, who’s battling cancer. Another fairly well-known figure but on this side of the wrestling community who’s been dealt a rough blow is Jason Solomon, host of the popular Solomonster Sounds Off podcast. He revealed this week on his show that he’s been recently diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. I don’t personally know Hart or Solomon but I’m a fan who feels for them. Adding to this, my former editor at TJRWrestling.com as well as my inspiration at giving writing a try in the first place, John Canton, buried his father this past week. If you’re the praying type then there’s no shortage of people to remember to lift up. It’s been a rough week.
I make it my goal for this weekly piece to be all about the good in wrestling but this has just been a downer recently. I guess it’s not so bad because there’s so much to care about, which is sort of a silver lining. Still, I’m looking forward to getting back to a week where I can write several hundred words about the latest Heath Slater antics with his Social Outcast buddies again.
Before you leave, make sure you give me a follow on Twitter @MitchNickelson. And if you haven’t gotten enough of me and desperately need some more, by all means listen to the weekly podcast that I do with my wife. It’s called Wrestling Date Night and you can either subscribe to us on whatever app you listen to podcasts on or you can simply press the Play button on the embedded player below…
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