The Boston Crab has made it no secret that we are Bryan “Daniel Bryan” Danielson marks. That’s why this past Sunday all the crew here were emailing and texting each other like crazy when he made his triumphant return to the WWE at Summerslam as the 7th man on team WWE. Seeing him strap on a modified crossface and doing a suicide dive out of the ring, hanging with some of the WWE’s biggest names and doing a better job against NXT than most of them; well Jerry Lawler said it best when he said Daniel Bryan was a star that night.
The pop Bryan received was out of this world, as it was the last person to be expected making his way to the ring. Bryan has more independent dates to wrap up with, all the way into September, so we ruled him out as the 7th member of team WWE. As we have stated in the Podcast, that was the only thing stopping him in our minds, since there is no way Vince would let his future headline act risk injury on the independent scene. But thankfully Vince proved us wrong.
We couldn’t be happier for Bryan. He gets to live his dream of being a major act in the WWE and wrestle for millions of fans across the globe. It was the next logical step for his wrestling career since he has done everything there is to do on the independent scene and made a huge name for himself in Japan. Not many gaijin can say they won a major belt in Japan, but Bryan in an ex-GHC Lightweight Champion. While we are happy for him, it seems that a lot of fans of the independent scene are doing what they do best; complain and claim ownership.
Since he appeared again for the WWE, fans having been calling Bryan a “sell-out” and declared that he is being selfish for going back to the WWE. Pardon the pun, but this is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. To bad-mouth a wrestler for moving onto bigger things and declare that he is abandoning them sounds even more selfish that what many fans are claiming Bryan is doing.
It seems that whenever any talent, no matter who they are, signs with the WWE, the bush-league fans will automatically turn on them and say that they are abandoning the smaller companies and could bring about the downfall of groups like ROH and PWG. Tyler Black is currently getting bad mouthed left right and centre since he signed with the WWE a few weeks ago, meaning he’ll have to leave ROH where he is the current world champion. There are even groups planning to boo the hell out of him when he makes his final appearances. “How dare he leave us, this will put the company other more strain” seems to be the main complaint from fans.
Yes. How dare he. How dare he take the chance to perform in front of millions of fans across the globe. How dare he follow the dream of most American wrestlers who hope to perform on the grandest stage of them all. How dare he make more money during a recession than he would if he stayed on the independent scene.
Seems stupid when it’s spelled out like that doesn’t it?
The fact is the independent scene is so vast and full of talent that no matter who leaves it, there will always be another name to fill the void. And chances are that name will also one day get the phone call to the WWE. The process will begin again and companies like ROH will still survive. The sooner a lot of the fans realise this and learn to be happy for those who get the call the better.
And for those who still believe that the big names on the independent scene leaving for the WWE is still a bad thing and they should never do it, we pose a question. Which is better? To watch Bryan, Tyler, Punk, Kaval or Bourne put on another match in a tiny hall that while critically acclaimed makes them little money and puts their bodies at major risk, or to watch their careers grow and see them at Wrestlemania and be able to share in an amazing moment with a wrestler you have watched grow?
Seán Reid
