I treat Meltzer with the same level of trust i treat any other dirtsheet writer. Which would be to take what he says with a pinch of salt and a shot of tequila.
You should treat his word with a hell of a lot more respect than that, because he's almost never wrong. As someone who's been reading the Observer and listening to Figure Four radio for quite a few years now, I can count on one hand the amount of times Meltzer has been wrong about something and still have fingers left-over. He's not a "dirtsheet" writer like these guys like Nick Pagliano are, he's a genuine journalist with better sources and more connections than any other writer in the business.
I'm really getting tired of people shitting on Meltzer when the man is the single most reliable source of information in the wrestling industry and has been for about 20 years now.
Really? I'm fairly sure I can name a few stupider ones. Luckily you're not saying it's the stupidest. However, this is one that may be ******ed from a booking perspective, but from a buisness perspective it's not stupid at all. Allegedly it was losing Mattel, or losing Danielson. Mattel is worth more than AmDrag. I'm sorry X, they just are.
Honestly I haven't heard shit about Mattel being involved in this. What does Mattel have to do with this? This is news to me man, why would Mattel cut all ties with the WWE over this? I don't buy that for one second. I doubt the Mattel execs even
watch Raw.
Hardly. FOr a start the angle was allegedly a vehicle for Barrett (who was the de facto leader) who is apparently going to feud with Cena over the WWE title. Danielson getting a rub too is gravy. It'll do fine without him, and then when this has blown over, he can feud with an authority figure who (kayfabe) fired him.
It absolutely is dead. The entire angle was going to be focused on Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan because those were the only two guys the WWE felt were ready to carry an angle like this with
maybe a third guy like Justin Gabriel getting a rub as well. Everyone else was just part of the background for those two. Notice the entire beat down focused on Daniel's beatdown of Cena?
Without Daniel, all we're left with is Wade Barrett and a group of nobodies. The angle is already dead in the water. Who are we supposed to take seriously in that group? Michael Tarver? Heath Slater?
Without Bryan, the angle is worthless.
Who outside of the IWC took Bryan seriously before last week? He had won exactly two matches, and one of them was over Santino Marella. And Barrett's the one who should be getting taken seriously, given that he's the head honcho and will be fighting over the WWE title soon.
Huh? Bryan was BY FAR the most over person on the NXT roster Remix. I'm not even sure how that's arguable. He's consistently been given by far the most camera time (atleast twice that of Wade Barrett), he was over as a face before this whole NXT heel turn, and the guy beat The Miz clean in a matter of minutes, something we haven't seen since what, Cena last summer? Not to mention the match with Batista on Raw a few weeks back where Bryan stretched Batista out all over the ring and almost beat one of the biggest stars in the industry in a solid match. Bryan was BY FAR the biggest "threat" there Remix. If it wasn't for his British accent I actually doubt Barrett would have even made it this far, that and Jericho are literally the only reasons the guy hasn't been a flop.
Bryan was CLEARLY going to be the star out of that group Remix. He was the original intended winner for season one incase you've forgotten. Wade will be squashed in a title match and spend the next five years in the midcard most likely, whereas Bryan could have been atleast on the level of someone like a Kofi Kingston or Christian by year's end.
They were focussing on him because he was the one actually doing sometihng worth focussing on. If Heath Slater had been throttling Justin Roberts, the camera would have focused on him and he'd have gotten his future endevours.
And why do you think he was chosen to do those things Remix, instead of Barrett, the "leader"? Because he was obviously going to be the guy to get the breakout push from this. Like they might as well have written in giant letters on Bryan's forehead "I'M GETTING PUSHED" it was so obvious.
No it isn't. It's lost a bit of steam, but it's not a tragic loss that can't be overcome.
It's lost all of it's steam in one week man. It doesn't help that the WWE did absolutely nothing to advance the storyline on NXT or Smackdown this week, but now with Bryan, the only person that was actually over and ready for this kind of push is gone, the angle is dead in the water. You really think Wade Barrett alone can carry this angle? I don't. And the rest of the NXT guys won't because they're so green RVD might mistake them for a bag of weed and try to smoke them.
Who would you rather lose X, A corporate sponsor who makes the company millions of dollars; or Bryan Danielson, the second or third most over rookie of the NXT bunch who, while tallented is not a million dollar draw (yet). Not to mention that he'll be back before too long anyway (possibly before it's over, though that's being insanely optimistic).
1) Where is this Mattel stuff coming from? First I've heard of it honestly, though I haven't been online much the last few days.
2) Bryan was by far the most over person on NXT. How you could even pretend otherwise is a bit strange.
Because Danielson was the only star of the bunch, right? It's not like Barrett isn't getting one hell of a push through this angle, or David Otunga won't be a star after he learns to wrestle, right?
It won't matter, because without Bryan, the angle is dead. David Otunga, a star? Why? Because he fucks a celebrity? I'd put more stock in Zach Ryder as a future WWE champion before David Otunga Remix, the guy is atrocious inside of the ring and the only reason he's even made it this far is because of who he's sleeping with.
Danielson was by far the most talented of the NXT guys. The WWE had solid gold in it's hand, and they threw it out.
