The Piledriver Report: Welcome Sting, Welcome Back Bryan

Before I begin this week’s article, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and good luck during their Black Friday shopping expeditions.
FINALLY

This past Sunday night, at the WWE’s Survivor Series pay per view, Sting finally made his long awaited WWE debut. Ever since World Championship Wrestling closed its doors in early 2001, Sting to the WWE rumors always surfaced every year or two. In the fans’ eyes, the closest that Sting came to signing with the WWE was before WrestleMania XXVII. The WWE began to air cryptic vignettes that many fans believed was the WWE teasing a Sting vs. Undertaker WrestleMania match up. The funny thing is that out of all of the times that the WWE and Sting tried to come to a deal, the months before WrestleMania XXVII was not one of those times. The fans built it all up in their minds.

Fast forward to the end of 2013, and the WWE was negotiating to bring Sting into the fold yet again. This time the plan was for him to wrestle, not at the upcoming WrestleMania XXX, but at the following year’s WrestleMania XXXI. Over the last several months, Sting has appeared in a WWE Network special on the Ultimate Warrior. He signed on to appear in the WWE2K15 video game. Plus, the WWE has been selling Sting merchandise on their website. Despite the joint co-operation between the WWE and Sting, there were no reports regarding Sting finally signed a performance contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. That was about to change.

In the days leading up to the Survivor Series, there were several rumors circulating that Sting would finally make his debut in the WWE. When the lights flickered and his music played through the P.A. system, Sting was about to enter a WWE ring for the first time ever. My first thought as Sting made his way to the ring, I said, “Thirteen years too late, but this is still really cool.” To see Sting in the WWE, after all of these years of being the lone WCW guy to never cross over to the WWF/E, was surreal. However, all I could think of is what could have been. Instead of an over 50 year old Steve Borden coming to the WWE for a few matches over the length of the contract, we could have had so much more. If Sting signed with the WWE at any point over the last thirteen years, and wrestled even the same schedule that he worked for TNA, the fans could have witnessed several dream matches/feuds. Matches with the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Triple H, Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista, and CM Punk are just some of the match-ups that we could have witnessed. Instead, we’ll probably get a match against just Triple H, and maybe the Undertaker. Despite wishing for more, I’ll take what I can get. Sting in the WWE. Better late than never.

WELCOME BACK

While it was great to finally see Sting in a WWE ring at the Survivor Series, it was even better to see Daniel Bryan on RAW the following night. Since Daniel Bryan has been out of action due to his injury, the most camera time that we have seen of Bryan is on “Total Divas.” Whereas, Roman Reigns has appeared on WWE television twice in the short time that he has been out of action. I always felt that the WWE needed to keep Daniel Bryan on television in some capacity. Before he left due to his surgery, Daniel Bryan was arguably the hottest act in the company. I understand that Bryan wasn’t the WWE’s choice to be a top guy, but since the company decided to give him a shot with the ball, they should have kept his name alive during his absence, and had him appear in some form every few weeks.

At the end of RAW, the anonymous RAW General Manager made his return. This was disappointing, as I had hoped that Daniel Bryan would be back as the new authority figure. This would have made perfect since from a storyline standpoint. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have claimed for over a year that Bryan was a B plus player. Now, that B plus player took over their power position. Unfortunately, it looks like the WWE is either going back to the anonymous GM or a different GM each week until a decision is made on who should take over.

On the bright side, Daniel Bryan showed up on the week’s SmackDown! as well. SPOILER ALERT: In an interview on SmackDown!, Bryan was asked if he would be back soon, and he responded by shouting, “YES! YES! YES!” Sure, the “Yes” chant is his catch phrase. However, I’m hoping that this means that he will be back soon. Throughout everything that I have read in the past, it was mentioned that Bryan may need a second surgery. I always thought that he should get that surgery sooner than later. I felt that the sooner he received the surgery, the better the chance was that he would be back for WrestleMania XXXI. While I have not heard any news that the rest helped heal Bryan’s injury, and he regained all of his strength back, I feel more confident in Daniel returning to the WWE than I have in a long time.

The reason why I feel more confident is because I believe that if Bryan wasn’t returning soon, or didn’t know exactly when he would be returning, I don’t believe the WWE would have asked him that question. I think the WWE would have avoided the topic altogether. After all, why would you want to get the fan’s hopes up for a false proclamation? The Road to WrestleMania will begin in a few short weeks. Hopefully, Daniel Bryan will be driving down that road.