Yes He Can!

The idea that Batista isn’t a major star in the company’s history is type of revisionist history that makes us hate the internet: If literally nothing else happened for his return, the attention that Alberto del Rio is getting from this one-sided feud with The Animal is more than he’s received in his entire tenure with the company. And unlike DWAYNE or even BARAK LESNAR, Batista is coming back — if he can stay healthy — for a legitimate run that will actually serve a purpose in getting new talent over AND cementing his legacy, whatever it ends up being.

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*** WARNING YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A WRESTLING NERD DISCUSSION ZONE*** PLEASE KEEP EYES AND EARS INSIDE OF KAYFABE AT ALL TIMES *** To say Daniel Bryan is the most over person in the company is like saying that WWE is the most popular wrestling promotion in the United States: it’s so much the truth that saying it almost undercuts its validity.

BUT, even with that, last night was special. The crowd has made it clear that not only do they want to root for him, they are almost physically compelled to do so. There was no point during either match where the crowd thought for even a second about booing Daniel Bryan, despite actively loving his opponent, the Usos. They saved their vitriol for when Bryan allowed himself to be controlled by Wyatt and  even then, that was simply of their very strong feelings towards Bryan and the almost pathological fear that anything that takes him away from his path to the promised line. As MR. Brandon Stroud put it so eloquently, “Daniel Bryan” has been pushed as this very specific character for literally as long as he’s been in the company — seriously, since his first match — and that has begun to see more and more like long-term planning than as a way to bury perhaps the definitive worker  of his generation.

For all that people say about the McMahons, the WWE Network announcement highlighted a truth about them and the company they’ve built: they love taking risks. They, like the performers they pay, are willing to leap into the relative unknown if they think it  will make them money. And, after nights like last night, anyone that doesn’t think that Daniel Bryan is worth his weight in gold, or that the company isn’t FULLY AWARE OF THIS is missing the whole point. *** YOU ARE EXITING A WRESTLING NERD DISCUSSION ZONE*** ENJOY YOUR COMPLIMENTARY SONIC MILKSHAKE ON YOUR WAY OUT***

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