One tribal chant later and millions of fans buying into the idea of “Fear the Beard” and all of the sudden, the WWE was hitting the breaks on what they wanted to do in the first place.
How dare the diminutive wrestler, who could be better than an Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit before his career is over, take over the WWE Universe and more importantly – and this is why the plug was pulled on the angle in my opinion) – prove that smaller wrestlers need love, too.
How could a guy who is measured at 5’10 and abrely 200 pounds soaking wet create all the hoopla and the hysteria out of being wrestling’s form of one of the famed “Beatles?”
How could the WWE not see all of this coming at them as the road to SummerSlam took twists and turns and Bryan still gathered momentum? Who in the company blew the call on this one?
Most importantly, how could Bryan – with his odd look, average mic skills (at the time) and technical-first approach to the business, get over on a veteran like Randy Orton, who (and to steal this one from Ric Flair) have a silver spoon shoved so far up his mouth, it might have come out his ear?
Ricky Morton could not get over on Ric Flair, Yokozuma could not get over on Hulk Hogan and Bryan was not supposed to get over on Orton.
But it happened.
And to make matters worse, he spit in the face of the company that made him a star. But this time, Triple H played the role of Vince McMahon. Bryan played the role of Steve Austin and others have filled in the gaps to make it look like Degeneration X and the Attitude Era has been reborn in current WWE characters like The Shield, Kane and in some ways Tamina (as Chyna).
For the current generation of WWE fans who weren’t born yet or too young to remember the Attitude Era, this is the angle they will remember. For those of us who remember the slick version of the old scene, we all know you can never (in my best Chris Jericho voice) EVER duplicate success like that in the early 1990s. If Triple H and his cast of cronies thought it was possible, a steady dose of crow is headed his way.
The lines drawn between the current COO and his father-in-law are so overwhelming that the lines cannot be blurred.
The WWE now has to deal with the Bryan situation and decide if the challenge is worth it. Daniel Bryan sure thinks it’s worth it, and the fans who flock to see how now over any other wrestler prove it day by day.
While Triple H tried to help the situation, all he did was make it worse.
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