Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
The obvious buzz in the wrestling world this week will revolve around what ultimately goes down with Daniel Bryan's neck surgery this Thursday. Every report I've come across today give the notion that Bryan's injury isn't all that serious, that his recovery time could be as short as him being able to return in time for Payback or as long as 8 weeks and that the feeling backstage is that WWE won't be stripping him of the title if the prognosis is a positive one.
That's not to say that Vince couldn't decide to strip him of the title at any given moment, but it strikes me as an example of some positive change that's come over WWE's booking style in the past couple of years. Five years ago, if there looked to be even the least bit of indication that ratings were dropping or gonna drop, if a wrestler didn't get exactly the sort of reaction that was hoped or suffered some sort of significant injury; Vince would've gone into panic mode, soon stripped the guy of the title and put it back on John Cena as soon as possible. For someone who looks at things from a long term perspective, Vince sometimes suffers bouts of severe impatience that lead to decisions based on kneejerk reactions. As of now, officials are waiting to see what's revealed after the surgery is performed this Thursday before making any sort of decision rather than the sort of reaction that was prevalent in years past. We saw something similar regarding CM Punk during his feud with Ryback where he sustained a knee injury. Punk was able to recover quite fast and Vince didn't run around in hysterics.
I might be wrong on this, it's just a guess, but my instincts are that Triple H has been something of a moderating influence on Vince these past few years. Maybe it's partially due to Vince getting older and genuinely mellowing out. It's hard to imagine Vince mellow, I know, but we've seen some FAR less likely things come about the past several years like Vince burying the hatchet, at least to some degree, with guys like Bret Hart, Bruno Sammartino and The Ultimate Warrior. Trips is gaining more power in the company and every report I've read seems to indicate that he doesn't sweat the small stuff the way Vince does. If a commentator says the wrong thing or whatever during a match, for instance, Trips doesn't drop a lung whereas Vince has been known to damn near start speaking in tongues.
In my eyes, it strikes me as a sign of confidence and that WWE is FAR more in touch with who fans want at the top of the mountain than they may have been 6 months ago. It's one thing if Bryan winds up having to be out for a considerable length of time,, it'd be another if they rushed to take the title off him. It would come across to a lot of people as an inglorious end to the epic storyline of Bryan combating The Authority for better than half a year that culminated in a classic WrestleMania moment. Being champion and being a pro's pro in general obviously means a great deal to Bryan given that he told officials he wanted to stay and do the angle with Kane on Raw before taking a later flight back home on the day his father died.
That's not to say that Vince couldn't decide to strip him of the title at any given moment, but it strikes me as an example of some positive change that's come over WWE's booking style in the past couple of years. Five years ago, if there looked to be even the least bit of indication that ratings were dropping or gonna drop, if a wrestler didn't get exactly the sort of reaction that was hoped or suffered some sort of significant injury; Vince would've gone into panic mode, soon stripped the guy of the title and put it back on John Cena as soon as possible. For someone who looks at things from a long term perspective, Vince sometimes suffers bouts of severe impatience that lead to decisions based on kneejerk reactions. As of now, officials are waiting to see what's revealed after the surgery is performed this Thursday before making any sort of decision rather than the sort of reaction that was prevalent in years past. We saw something similar regarding CM Punk during his feud with Ryback where he sustained a knee injury. Punk was able to recover quite fast and Vince didn't run around in hysterics.
I might be wrong on this, it's just a guess, but my instincts are that Triple H has been something of a moderating influence on Vince these past few years. Maybe it's partially due to Vince getting older and genuinely mellowing out. It's hard to imagine Vince mellow, I know, but we've seen some FAR less likely things come about the past several years like Vince burying the hatchet, at least to some degree, with guys like Bret Hart, Bruno Sammartino and The Ultimate Warrior. Trips is gaining more power in the company and every report I've read seems to indicate that he doesn't sweat the small stuff the way Vince does. If a commentator says the wrong thing or whatever during a match, for instance, Trips doesn't drop a lung whereas Vince has been known to damn near start speaking in tongues.
In my eyes, it strikes me as a sign of confidence and that WWE is FAR more in touch with who fans want at the top of the mountain than they may have been 6 months ago. It's one thing if Bryan winds up having to be out for a considerable length of time,, it'd be another if they rushed to take the title off him. It would come across to a lot of people as an inglorious end to the epic storyline of Bryan combating The Authority for better than half a year that culminated in a classic WrestleMania moment. Being champion and being a pro's pro in general obviously means a great deal to Bryan given that he told officials he wanted to stay and do the angle with Kane on Raw before taking a later flight back home on the day his father died.