Ask 411 Wrestling: Did WWE Sideline Daniel Bryan to Get Reigns Over?

Welcome guys, gals, and gender non-binary pals, to Ask 411 Wrestling.

This week, we’ve got a bit of a smaller column in terms of the number of questions answered, but that’s because one of the q’s we’re addressing is an absolute beast of a research project. So, if you like those, then stick around to the end and you’ll be rewarded. If you don’t like them, then come back next week, because I’m not doing two of these back-to-back.

If you’d like to ask a question that just might be printed in that column next week, feel free to shoot an e-mail to [email protected].

And away we go . . .

King Crimson wants to talk conspiracy theories:

Do you think it is possible WWE intentionally kept Daniel Bryan from being cleared because they saw how quickly he propelled as the “top babyface” of the company and that is not what they were looking for? Was it to help get Roman Reigns over?

In short: No.

Long answer: On a technical level, I suppose that anything is possible, but aside from fans speculating that Vince McMahon will do anything to get us to all love Roman Reigns, there is absolutely no evidence to support such a theory.

One of the main reasons that I don’t even begin to believe this one is Daniel Bryan himself. If you look at the interviews that he was doing during the time that he was on the shelf, he was remarkably candid for a WWE employee. He talked in depth about his medical condition and the testing that he was undergoing, he talked about the possibility of leaving the company to wrestle elsewhere if they wouldn’t clear him, and he talked about the fact that he didn’t particularly care for his role as Smackdown general manager. It was pretty clear that he didn’t give the slightest care about offending somebody and he was going to tell it like it was. As such, I strongly suspect that, if Bryan felt like anybody was keeping him out of the ring for reasons other than his own physical well-being, he probably would have just come out and said it.

HBK’s Smile is taking us old school . . . quite a bit further old school than we usually go in this column:

At what point did the AWA Title begin to earn credibility as a legitimate World Championship?

In terms of public perception, what was the peak of the AWA and it’s World Title?

While it lingered on for 7-8 years after losing Hulk Hogan, would keeping Hogan around as a long-term and/or multitime champion have really improved the AWA’s long-term future if there was no other real change in presentation, promotion, booking philosophies, and the like?

As the AWA died and Larry Zbyszko was about to return to WCW, commentators referred to him as AWA World Champion, yet when he appeared, I don’t remember him showing up with the belt or any further reference to him as AWA Champ. Was he not allowed to bring the belt with him? Was there a change in the legal status of the AWA which no longer allowed WCW to refer to him that way? Why was he not booked in a title vs title match against Sting or Ric Flair? Adding the AWA lineage to the WCW title could have only helped and could have happened at a TV taping or high-profile house show, and I doubt he would have balked at doing such a high-profile job.

This is all fairly subjective, but I would say that the AWA World Heavyweight Championship first started to pick up its momentum in 1977, when Nick Bockwinkel was the champion for the entire year. Previously, the title had been defended almost exclusively in a small handful of Midwestern and plains states, but ’77 saw a dramatic increase in the number of championship defenses and expansion into new territories like Texas, Arizona, and Hawaii in addition to further exposure in Japan, which had started in 1970.

From 1977, the promotion’s scope only continued to get bigger. In 1978, the AWA Title crept into the south, with defenses in Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The Carolinas were added into the mix in 1979. Hulk Hogan first started challenging for the championship in 1981, and the expansion of the company really remained pretty flat during his time in the main event scene. After he left, the belt did start spending a lot more time in Japan, and the first regular title defenses on the east coast occurred in 1985, with matches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, DC all occurring that year.

In terms of the title being recognized, ’85 may well have been the peak – even though it is post-Hogan – because that is when it was being defended in the greatest variety of U.S. states and Canadian provinces, in addition to continued defenses in Japan.

Regarding Hogan, I really don’t think that the AWA building around him would have changed the fact that they eventually lost the wrestling war. Vince McMahon and the WWF WERE going national, whether the Hulkster was on board or not, and Vince being based out of one of the biggest media cities in the world in addition to his willingness to make business moves that no other promoter of the era would (like paying for TV time instead of having stations pay to air his shows) spelled trouble for anybody who wasn’t ready to adapt, no matter who their stars were. Heck, Ric Flair couldn’t even do it, and he’s the greatest of all time.

As to Zbyszko and his entering WCW as the unbeaten AWA Champion, the reason that they never did a title unification match is that they didn’t really have the rights to do a title unification match. The AWA, despite essentially being a dead promotion, still retained all of its intellectual property and wasn’t really sanctioning Larry Z. being promoted as their titleholder. The WCW announcers were just able to mention that he was the AWA Champ because it was a matter of fact.

Michael L. hits me up with the biggest research question that I’ve mustered up the time to address in quite a while:

Which wrestler has had the longest run of PPVs where they worked more than one match? Surprisingly, I think it might be Lex Luger, who did four in a row in late 1995 and early 1996.

I’m sort of amazed by how long it took to come up with the answer to this question, but the good news is that, when I spend a lot of time on research like this, those of you who love DATA~! are the big winners.

Let’s start with the ground rules that I set for myself when trying to find the answer for this question:

1. Pay per view results for WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA were analyzed. I don’t think that any other promotions have had traditional pay per views on a consistent basis, at least not consistently enough to include them here.

2. When it comes to TNA, I have only counted their live, monthly pay per views. I did not include the weekly PPV era, nor did I include their more recent PPVs that are tape delayed by several months.

3. Multiple fall matches, gauntlet matches, and tag team turmoil matches do NOT count as wrestling more than one match on the same pay per view, as they’re typically considered one unified bout.

4. Hardcore Title changes under 24/7 rules do not count as separate matches. Money in the Bank cash-ins do count as separate matches. Why treat them differently when they are in some ways similar? It just felt right.

With all that said, let’s answer the answer.

It turns out that Michael’s prediction was correct. Lex Luger holds the record for wrestling twice or more on consecutive pay per views. His streak began at Halloween Havoc 1995, when he wrestled Meng and Randy Savage in separate singles matches. The next month at World War 3, he faced Savage again, in addition to participating in the event’s titular three-ring battle royale. At Starrcade 1995, he participated in the show’s World Cup of Wrestling, competing as part of Team WCW against Team New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Masahiro Chono. After that, he went on to wrestle in a triangle match against Ric Flair and Sting to determine the next challenger for Randy Savage’s WCW Title. Starrcade was in December 1995, and WCW did not have a pay per view in January 1996. Thus, the fourth and final match in Luger’s run comes in February ’96, where he had two tag team matches with Sting, the first against Harlem Heat and the second against the Road Warriors.

Interestingly, Sting and Randy Savage have streaks of wrestling multiple matches on three straight pay per views, and they both overlap with Luger’s streak. Sting wrestled Ric Flair and in the battle royale at World War 3 1995, then he faced Kensuke Sasaki in one match and Ric Flair and Luger in another at Starrcade ’95, and finally, as mentioned above, he was Luger’s partner at Superbrawl VI. Savage faced both Zodiac (Brutus Beefcake/Ed Leslie) and Luger at Halloween Havoc ’95, followed by the battle royale and the match against Luger at World War 3. Finally, he had matches against Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Ric Flair at Starrcade ’95.

Those are the only men who I found who wrestled multiple matches on three successive PPVs. There is a small handful of men who had multiple matches on two back-to-back events, and they are: Bret Hart (King of the Ring and Summerslam 1993); Ric Flair (World War 3 and Starrcade 1995); Dolph Ziggler (Vengeance and Survivor Series 2011); The Big Show (TLC 2011 and Royal Rumble 2012); and Billy Kidman (World War 3 and Starrcade 1998).

And, because I had to go through over thirty years’ worth of pay per view data trying to figure out who has wrestled multiple matches on shows, I figured that I might as well present you with this listing of every wrestler who has ever wrestled multiple matches on pay per view on at least four different occasions. As you’ll see, Sting leads the pack, having done it nine times, while Luger and Scott Steiner have each done it seven times.

Sting
1. Starrcade 1989: vs. Lex Luger; vs. Great Muta; vs. Ric Flair
2. Starrcade 1991: w/ Abdullah the Butcher vs. Bobby Eaton & Brian Pillman; Battle Royale
3. Starrcade 1992: w/ Steve Williams vs. Jushin Liger & Erik Watts; vs. Vader; Battle Royale
4. Battle Bowl: w/ Jerry Sags vs. Ron Simmons & Keith Cole; Battle Royale
5. World War 3 1995: vs. Ric Flair; Battle Royale
6. Starrcade 1995: vs. Kensuke Sasaki; vs. Ric Flair & Lex Luger
7. Superbrawl VI: w/ Lex Luger vs. Harlem Heat; w/ Lex Luger vs. Road Warriors
8. Halloween Havoc 1999: vs. Hulk Hogan; vs. Goldberg
9. Spring Stampede 2000: vs. Booker T; vs. Vampiro; vs. Scott Steiner

Lex Luger
1. Starrcade 1989: vs. Sting; vs. Ric Flair; vs. Great Muta
2. Starrcade 1991: w/ Arn Anderson vs. Tom Zenk & Terry Taylor; Battle Royale
3. Halloween Havoc 1995: vs. Meng; vs. Randy Savage
4. World War 3 1995: vs. Randy Savage; Battle Royale
5. Starrcade 1995: vs. Masa Chono; vs. Ric Flair & Sting
6. Superbrawl VI: w/ Sting vs. Harlem Heat; w/ Sting vs. Road Warriors
7. Spring Stampede 2000: w/ Ric Flair vs. Harris Twins & Mamalukes; w/ Ric Flair vs. Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell

Scott Steiner
1. Great American Bash 1989: Battle Royale; w/ Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotunda & Kevin Sullivan
2. Starrcade 1989: w/ Rick Steiner vs. Doom; w/ Rick Steiner Road Warriors; w/ Rick Steiner vs. Samoan Savage & Fatu
3. Starrcade 1990: w/ Rick Steiner vs. Sgt. Krueger & Col. DeKlerk; w/ Rick Steiner vs. Konnan & Rey Misterio Sr.; w/ Rick Steiner vs. Great Muta & Mr. Saito
4. Starrcade 1991: w/ Firebreaker Chip vs. Brad Armstrong & Johnny B. Badd; Battle Royale
5. World War 3 1998: w/ Rick Steiner vs. Steven Regal & Dave Taylor; Battle Royale
6. Halloween Havoc 1998: w/ Giant vs. Rick Steiner; vs. Rick Steiner
7. Spring Stampede 2000: vs. The Wall; vs. Mike Awesome; vs. Sting

Bret Hart
1. King of the Ring 1993: vs. Razor Ramon; vs. Mr. Perfect; vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
2. Summerslam 1993: vs. Doink; vs. Jerry Lawler
3. Royal Rumble 1994: w/ Owen Hart vs. Quebecers; Royal Rumble Match
4. Wrestlemania X: vs. Owen Hart; vs. Yokozuna
5. In Your House #1: vs. Hakushi; vs. Jerry Lawler
6. Mayhem 1999: vs. Sting; vs. Chris Benoit

Chris Jericho
1. World War 3 1996: vs. Nick Patrick; Battle Royale
2. World War 3 1998: vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.; Battle Royale
3. Royal Rumble 2000: vs. Chyna & Bob Holly; Royal Rumble Match
4. Vengeance 2001: vs. The Rock; vs. Steve Austin
5. Unforgiven 2008: vs. Shawn Michaels; World Title Scramble Match
6. The Bash 2009: vs. Rey Mysterio; w/ Edge vs. The Colons & Legacy

Rick Steiner
1. Great American Bash 1989: Battle Royale; w/ Scott Steiner vs. Mike Rotunda & Kevin Sullivan
2. Starrcade 1989: w/ Scott Steiner vs. Doom; w/ Scott Steiner vs. Road Warriors; w/ Scott Steiner vs. Samoan Savage & Fatu
3. Starrcade 1990: w/ Scott Steiner vs. Sgt. Krueger & Col. DeKlerk; w/ Scott Steiner vs. Konnan & Rey Misterio Sr.; w/ Scott Steiner vs. Great Muta & Mr. Saito
4. Slamboree 1996: w/ The Bootyman vs. Craig Pittman & Scott Steiner; w/ The Bootyman vs. Diamond Dallas Page & The Barbarian
5. World War 3 1997: w/ Scott Steiner vs. Steven Regal & Dave Taylor; Battle Royale
6. Halloween Havoc 1998: vs. Scott Steienr & The Giant; vs. Scott Steiner

Goldust/Dustin Rhodes
1. Starrcade 1991: w/ Ricky Morton vs. El Gigante & Larry Zbyszko; Battle Royale
2. Starrcade 1992: w/ Vader vs. Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian; Battle Royale
3. Battle Bowl: w/ King Kong vs. Awesome Kong & Equalizer; Battle Royale
4. Royal Rumble 1997: vs. Triple H; Royal Rumble Match
5. Royal Rumble 1998: vs. Goldust; Royal Rumble Match

Vader
1. Starrcade 1991: w/ Mr. Hughes vs. The Nightstalker & Rick Steiner; Battle Royale
2. Starrcade 1992: w/ Dustin Rhodes vs. Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian; vs. Sting; Battle Royale
3. Battle Bowl: w/ Catus Jack vs. Stevie Ray & Charlie Norris; Battle Royale
4. Royal Rumble 1997: vs. Undertaker; Royal Rumble Match
5. Royal Rumble 1998: vs. Goldust; Royal Rumble Match

Kurt Angle
1. King of the Ring 2000: vs. Chris Jericho; vs. Crash Holly; vs. Rikishi
2. King of the Ring 2001: vs. Christian; vs. Edge; vs. Shane McMahon
3. Armageddon 2004: vs. Santa Claus; w/ Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs. Big Show
4. Royal Rumble 2005: vs. JBL & Big Show; Royal Rumble Match
5. No Surrender 2007: w/Sting vs. Ron Killings & Pacman Jones; vs. Jay Lethal; vs. Abyss

Jeff Hardy
1. Bound for Glory 2005: vs. Rhino, Sabu, & Abyss; Gauntlet Match
2. Royal Rumble 2007: w/ Matt Hardy vs. MNM; Royal Rumble Match
3. Extreme Rules 2009: vs. Edge; vs. CM Punk (MITB cash-in)
4. Turning Point 2011: vs. Jeff Jarrett (x2)
5. No Surrender 2012: vs. Samoa Joe; vs. Bully Ray

Randy Savage
1. The Wrestling Classic: vs. Ivan Putski; vs. Ricky Steamboat; vs. Dynamite Kid; vs. Junkyard Dog
2. Wrestlemania IV: vs. Butch Reed; vs. Greg Valentine; vs. One Man Gang; vs. Ted DiBiase
3. Halloween Havoc 1995: vs. Zodiac; vs. Lex Luger
4. World War 3 1995: vs. Lex Luger; Battle Royale
5. Starrcade 1995: vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan; vs. Ric Flair

Steve Austin
1. Starrcade 1991: w/ Rick Rude vs. Big Josh & Van Hammer; Battle Royale
2. Battle Bowl: w/ Ric Flair vs. Maxx Payne & Too Cold Scorpio; Battle Royale
3. King of the Ring 1996: vs. Marc Mero; vs. Jake Roberts
4. Survivor Series 1997: vs. Big Boss Man; vs. Mick Foley
5. Vengeance 2001: vs. Kurt Angle; vs. Chris Jericho

Chris Benoit
1. World War 3 1995: vs. Kensuke Sasaki; Battle Royale
2. Superbrawl IX: w/ Dean Malenko vs. Barry Windham & Curt Hennig (x2)
3. Mayhem 1999: vs. Jeff Jarrett; vs. Bret Hart
4. Judgment Day 2001: vs. Kurt Angle; w/ Chris Jericho in Tag Team Turmoil
5. Bad Blood 2004: w/ Edge vs. La Resistance; vs. Kane

Ric Flair
1. Starrcade 1989: vs. Great Muta; vs. Lex Luger; vs. Sting
2. Battle Bowl: w/ Steve Austin vs. Maxx Payne & Too Cold Scorpio; Battle Royale
3. World War 3 1995: vs. Sting; Battle Royale
4. Starrcade 1995: vs. Sting & Lex Luger; vs. Randy Savage
5. Spring Stampede 2000: w/ Lex Luger vs. Mamalukes & Harris Twins; w/ Lex Luger vs. Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell

Farooq/Ron Simmons
1. Starrcade 1989: w/ Butch Reed vs. Steiner Brothers; w/ Butch Reed vs. Road Warriors; w/ Butch Reed vs. Samoan Savage & Fatu
2. Starrcade 1991: w/ Tommy Rich vs. Steve Armstrong & PN News; Battle Royale
3. Royal Rumble 1997: vs. Ahmed Johnson; Royal Rumble Match
4. Royal Rumble 2000: w/ Bradhsaw vs. New Age Outlaws; Royal Rumble Match

Ken Shamrock
1. Royal Rumble 1998: vs. The Rock; Royal Rumble Match
2. King of the Ring 1998: vs. Jeff Jarrett; vs. The Rock
3. Survivor Series 1998: vs. Goldust; vs. The Rock
4. Royal Rumble 1999: vs. Billy Gunn; Royal Rumble Match

Big Boss Man/Big Bubba Rogers
1. World War 3 1995: vs. Jim Duggan; vs. Battle Royale
2. Slamboree 1996: w/ Stevie Ray vs. Ice Train & Scott Norton; Battle Royale
3. Survivor Series 1998: vs. The Rock; vs. Steve Austin
4. Royal Rumble 1999: vs. Road Dogg; Royal Rumble Match

Road Dogg
1. King of the Ring 1995: vs. Bob Holly; vs. Savio Vega
2. Royal Rumble 1999: vs. Big Boss Man; Royal Rumble Match
3. King of the Ring 1999: vs. Chyna; vs. X-Pac
4. Royal Rumble 2000: w/ Billy Gunn vs. Acolytes; Royal Rumble Match

Billy Gunn
1. Royal Rumble 1999: vs. Ken Shamrock; Royal Rumble Match
2. King of the Ring 1999: vs. Ken Shamrock; vs. Kane; vs. X-Pac
3. Royal Rumlbe 2000: w/ Road Dogg vs. Acolytes; Royal Rumble Match
4. Hard Justice 2005: w/ Monty Brown vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Ron Killings; Gauntlet Match

Edge
1. King of the Ring 2001: vs. Rhyno; vs. Kurt Angle
2. Royal Rumble 2005: vs. Shawn Michaels; Royal Rumble Match
3. New Year’s Revolution 2006: vs. Ric Flair; vs. John Cena (MITB Cash-In)
4. No Way Out 2009: Elimination Chamber Match (x2)

Dolph Ziggler
1. Royal Rumble 2011: vs. Edge; Royal Rumble Match
2. Vengeance 2011: w/ Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne; vs. Zack Ryder
3. Survivor Series 2011: vs. John Morrison; Survivor Series Elimination Match
4. Royal Rumble 2012: vs. CM Punk; Royal Rumble Match

The Big Show
1. World War 3 1996: vs. Jeff Jarrett; Battle Royale
2. Survivor Series 1999: Survivor Series Elimination Match; vs. Triple H & The Rock
3. TLC 2011: vs. Mark Henry; vs. Daniel Bryan (MITB cash-in)
4. Royal Rumble 2012: vs. Daniel Bryan & Mark Henry; Royal Rumble Match

Seth Rollins
1. Wrestlemania XXXI: vs. Randy Orton; vs. Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns
2. Night of Champions 2015: vs. John Cena; vs. Sting
3. Money in the Bank 2016: vs. Roman Reigns; vs. Dean Ambrose (MITB cash-in)
4. Royal Rumble 2018: w/ Jason Jordan vs. Sheamus & Cesaro; Royal Rumble Match

Razor Ramon/Scott Hall
1. King of the Ring 1994: vs. Bam Bam Bigelow; vs. IRS; vs. Owen Hart
2. In Your House #4: w/ 1-2-3 Kid vs. Smoking Gunns; vs. Dean Douglas
3. World War 3 1996: w/ Kevin Nash vs. Faces of Fear; Battle Royale
4. Superbrawl IX: w/ Kevin Nash vs. Konnan & Rey Misterio; vs. Roddy Piper

Great Muta
1. Starrcade 1989: vs. Ric Flair; vs. Sting; vs. Lex Luger
2. Starrcade 1990: w/ Mr. Saito vs. Jack Victory & Rip Morgan; w/ Mr. Saito vs. Victor Zangiev & Salman Hashimikov; w/ Mr. Saito vs. Steiner Brothers
3. Starrcade 1992: w/ Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman & Too Cold Scorpio; vs. Masahiro Chono; Battle Royale
4. New Blood Rising: vs. Ernest Miller; w/ Vampiro vs. Kronik

Bubba Ray Dudley
1. Hardcore Heaven 1999: w/ D-Von Dudley vs. Spike Dudley & Balls Mahoney; vs. Taz
2. Sacrifice 2008: w/ D-Von Dudley vs. Sting & James Storm; w/ D-Von Dudley vs. Christian & Rhino; w/ D-Von Dudley vs. Homicide & Hernandez
3. No Surrender 2011: vs. James Storm; vs. Bobby Roode
4. No Surrender 2012: vs. James Storm; vs. Jeff Hardy

That’s a lot of overworked wrestlers.

And that’s also an overworked columnist. I’ll see you again in seven days, and you can always feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]