There was no other way to finish this match than a distraction that required Daniel Bryan to leave. It doesn’t exist. You can’t have either guy look like he isn’t the best in the world — it’s the World Heavyweight Champion and a former two-time/currently uncrowned WWE champion in a match together — and you can’t have John Cena appear to distract Del Rio because they want to make you pay to see John Cena AND that would involve him in The Authority story line, which is something NOBODY wants. Booking yourself into a corner, then using pre-established traits of the principals to push the story forward may feel icky, but it’s about as necessary as it gets from a narrative perspective.
***
How TNA not only couldn’t do anything with Dustin Rhodes and didn’t try to pick him up as just “Dustin” during his time away from the E is one of the great mysteries in wrestling (to me). Dustin Rhodes is one of the ten most talented workers ever, and is — like most guys with his skill set — at least close to his prime in the ring. Anyone who watched him during his last time with the company knew he could work, and this run he’s been on is the type of stuff that makes me cry into my pillow at the idea that he was never given a major title run.
Not only was this a match people pay to see, this was one they tell their friends to go out of their way to watch. The idea that they gave us a title change like this for free tells you all you need to know about whether we are in a golden era of wrestling. This was as engaging, entertaining and well-worked a match as you will ever see, and even had a beautiful “second to last episode of a Venture Bros. season” vibe, where the boys/the Guild and Brock/Sphinx are on their way to the same place to try make something magical to happen. That the place where something magical might happen is Miami for a PPV shouldn’t take away from the in-the-moment excitement that this match gave you. Matches like this one, and moments like Big Show in the crowd doing the “Yes!” chant while the entire arena LOSES THEIR SHIT are why I watch wrestling and why I plan on spending most of my life trying to get other people to watch it. So, as always, thanks for this, WWE. And especially the Rhodes Boys and the guys in the Shield. Roman Reigns is The Hammer, and everyone else is just a nail.
