wrestling / Columns

Truths & Lies: Daniel Bryan, Fabulous Moolah, Ultimate Deletion, More

March 21, 2018 | Posted by Justin Watry

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan In Less Than A Minute” and October 2016’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Backstory

Time to bust out the Truths & Lies theme again! Always a big hit with readers…

Truths & Lies

TRUTH: WWE was right to change the women’s battle royal name at WrestleMania 34.

Okay, first let’s get to an email from Sim:

“How you doing? Still following your articles on 411mania, and Nodq. Keep up the good work!

I just wanted to throw in my two cents on the debate that is going around which is primarily based on Fabulous Moolah having a battle royal named after her despite some questionable moments in her life (to put it lightly).

WWE highlighted Indira Gandhi on RAW for their Women’s Month despite acts of genocide and quite frankly, condemnable actions during her time in office.

There are many things she did as Prime Minister (I won’t go into detail here but if you wish to know more then I would be happy to send a more detailed email) of India that led to thousands of people being killed, raped and looted. People are still suffering from the aftermath of it all yet WWE is celebrating her.

Many comments on the tribute video WWE posted on YouTube share my sentiments yet it is par for the course for a company that celebrates many dubious characters (while shunning people like Hogan and Chyna).

On a personal note, I have family that were directly affected during Gandhi’s reign of terror. WWE and wrestling is my favourite outlet. I put wrestling on when I need a break from the daily grind so it would tick me off more than your average Joe to see WWE (most likely, unknowingly) celebrate a woman that has spread hate to such a degree people are still attempting to recover from it 3 decades later.

Just wanted to know your POV on this whole thing. WWE does have a track record of being fast and loose with history to suit their motives so is this another thing for everyone to sort of shrug their shoulders and move on from?

Lots to unravel here. I will do my best to hit each point.

1. Yes, WWE and fans will shrug their shoulders and quickly move on. We already have seen it in the past week. The Fabulous Moolah name was removed from Mania, executives spun it in their own narrative, and everybody is back to focusing on complaining about the rest of the card. The page has been turned in abrupt fashion, as usual.

2. I will openly admit to NOT knowing about any of that stuff. Ignorance on my part, as I have written about in the past. I don’t even have television channels at my place or watch news of any kind. My assumption is somebody within WWE does know their history and just either doesn’t care or won’t speak up. Unless a sponsor gets involved!

3. About mentioning Hulk Hogan – he will be back. At some point. I was fine with the company distancing themselves from him when the controversy hit the news. They were absolutely right to ‘fire’ him. Like always though, time heals all wounds. As for Chyna, WWE is 100% correct in their treatment of her. They still talk about her achievements, still talk about her popularity, still feature her in video packages, etc. That never changed. Honoring her or putting a spotlight on her as if she is some amazing person…um, no. This goes way beyond her adult film career, so save me the tired excuse. It is NOT about that. She has done so many horrible things in her life, some reported and some not. When Triple H talks about a Google search for Chyna, it takes all of five seconds to know what he referring to.

4. Alright to WWE changing the name of the battle royal. Here are my two cents. WWE made the right decision. I mean it was actually Snicker’s decision but whatever. Money is money, right? My main hang up is that the same company is also honoring homophobic, racist, sexist and overall bigot Ultimate Warrior every year with an ‘award’ that stands for courage and bravery. Much less in New Orleans this year – Warrior also made some lovely comments about Hurricane Katrina victims. What a great man, huh?Talk about a Google search, yikes! I really didn’t think WWE would care to change the name after the initial backlash. If they didn’t care about the Warrior Award, why would it matter here? In the end, they caved due to sponsor pressure. Can’t fault them…but it still doesn’t add up.

5. That very same Hall of Fame has Sunny (before her REAL bad stuff so it somewhat gets a pass), Stone Cold Steve Austin (no explanation needed), Mike Tyson (well known past there), and others. Then we see their friendly relationship with Floyd Mayweather at every turn. Last year, I wrote a column called “Our Favorites Are Guilty Too.” Basically, I listed a bunch of supposed favorites and pointed out that they are not so perfect like their fanbase will claim. These claims about Fabulous Moolah are NOT new. Fans knew about it, as did most within WWE. Yet, they had her on screen for decades as champion and prominently showcased multiple times. Yet, NOW her past mattered. Now…in March 2018 it mattered. Not the other 50,000 times WWE could have put a foot door. Um, thanks Snickers? I think.

LIE: Ronda Rousey is doing a terrible job thus far in WWE.

Ronda Rousey is doing an amazing job, and it was a treat to see her live in Milwaukee two weeks ago. Little exclusive: I knew she was in town before the show had a quick bite to eat. Good restaurant too – they missed out on some free publicity by keeping it under wraps though. There’s your scoop of the week folks. Yay for bad food puns.

For everybody that is ripping on her, I suggest heading over to BodySlam.net where I have written about her progress each week and how it is only getting better and better. By the time WrestleMania 34 arrives, it will absolutely be ROWDY!

Just as a teaser to my new column (on another website), can we talk about how great that promo was on Raw? Awesome, awesome stuff. Top notch stuff from the production crew. They always nail it. I’ve re-watched it multiple times already. You can’t help but be caught up in her story when it comes to her UFC defeats. Remember this is the woman who cut off all contact with media after her first UFC loss and even stopped an interview with ESPN this past January when the subject came up. Incredible. One last plug: I write about all of this on BodySlam.net and really am enjoying the story WWE is telling.

TRUTH: Braun Strowman will have his “WrestleMania Moment.”

Again, to the inbox!

“Ned: WWE has to find a way to get Braun Stroman into the main event for WrestleMania. Roman Reigns has been in the main event for the past 3 years and hasn’t delivered. Yes the match in WrestleMania 31 was good but that had more to do with Brock and Rollins. The fans don’t care about Reigns. He’s already had his shot to run with the title and it wasn’t memorable. He has the same amount of moves as Hulk Hogan. Hogan for all his flaws did a much better job of selling. Give Stroman his WrestleMania moment.”

Well, you can forget about all of that main event junk. That isn’t happening. As I outlined before, Braun Strowman was never getting that spot. Why do you think he fought Brock Lesnar in September? Or was in the Royal Rumble triple threat Universal Championship match? It wasn’t because third times the charm. It was because he was the filler between getting to Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. That was teased the night after WM33 and was just sidetracked to Braun to keep The Big Dog out of The Beast’s way until now.

As for him getting a patented “WrestleMania Moment” in New Orleans, he will. People often rant and rave about what main events the pay-per-view that they forget a whole ton of moments and highlights are NOT what closes the show. Right now, think of your personal favorite moments from past Manias. Favorite matches, favorite segments, favorite whatever. I guarantee you a lot of those occurred well before the main event. I love the idea of Braun Strowman crushing The Bar and winning the tag team titles all by himself. That is a moment right there. It puts him over as being a monster, gets him gold and is sure to include a few powerful moves that can be aired over and over in future videos.

Of course, WWE is demanding that Braun find a partner. My prime suspect is Samoa Joe to form a super team only to implode and feud after WM34. Elias? Eh, kinda done with that story line. James Ellsworth? Please no. Curt Hawkins? Ugh, it would end his winless streak but only further drags down Mr. Get These Hands. The dude is money and should be done wasting time in comedy segments. That big main event run of his is coming soon…it just wasn’t meant for WrestleMania 34.

LIE: The Ultimate Deletion match on Raw sucked.

Full disclosure: I didn’t care for BROKEN Matt Hardy, nor have I cared for WOKEN Matt Hardy. I’ve made that very clear.

My thoughts on The Ultimate Deletion are pretty much the same as they were before Monday night.

It was fine. Nothing spectacular. Nothing outrageous. Nothing I will care to re-watch again in a week. Just the typical wackiness expected from the Hardy clan and something for Bray Wyatt to do (and eventually lose). I did make two notes though during Raw. First was that the entire first hour went by without a single mention of The Ultimate Deletion. Not one mention. Go back and watch the first hour. There was nothing. Make of that what you will. Second is that Michael Cole basically threw his hands in the air clearing WWE of the cluster beforehand by apologizing. Obviously directed by Vince McMahon in the headset. I don’t have much of a problem with that. To me, it was just the fact that the company knows a lot of people were going to bash the main event…and some would feel the opposite.

All three hours of RAW stayed above three million viewers, so that is considered a victory. Yeah, the third hour dipped, but it always does.

Where Bray goes from here is anybody’s guess. Where Matt goes from here is anybody’s guess. Where JEFF goes from here is…yep, anybody’s guess. Stay tuned I suppose.

TRUTH/LIE: Daniel Bryan being cleared to compete is the story of the year.

I am writing this Tuesday afternoon, so the breaking news is still fresh. Having not seen Smackdown LIVE yet, a lot if still to be sorted out.

For now, this is exciting news and something that definitely caught me off guard. Shocking to say the least. We all know the story by now. WWE made him ineligible to wrestle back in 2016, so he retired reluctantly. Since doing so, he has stuck around in non-wrestling roles but also made it clear of his intentions to return to the squared circle. WWE medical said one thing. Other doctors said another. There was a stalemate, not helped by the fact that Bryan openly said he has lied to WWE in the past about his health.

In the end, we have arrived 25 months later to this moment. Every reputable doctor in the world is on the same page and with an expiring contract six months away and WrestleMania 34 in a few weeks, it was now or never. Either D-Bry was coming back or he was out the door. I am happy for him but make no mistake, I am absolutely worried. One wrong kick. One stupid headbutt. One mistimed flying cross body or top rope move. A part-time schedule seems like the best option, and doing something with Shane McMahon/Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens at WM34 is the safest route. That feud has been building to a payoff for six months now, so it also makes the most logical sense.

New Orleans, get ready for YestleMania II…