sek69

Was it wrongfully though? Clearly something happened to cause Mauro to leave, and at the very least JBL was being an ass about if not being the direct cause. Just because Mauro did a tweet upon his return clearly meant to squash any heat, people dogpiled on that as proof Dave was wrong or worked.

A lot has happened in the last couple years to make those type of folks feel a lot more embolded to be human sewers online.

Dave has stated for a while that the only doctor who wouldn't clear him was Maroon. Is it cynical of me to make the connection that the only doctor to not clear him has ties with the two industries most aligned with CTE and concussion lawsuits, WWE and the NFL? Maybe. However it was getting to the point of ridiculousness that seemingly every other doctor and specialist Bryan went to not only cleared him but would mention his brain function was better than most men his age, yet Dr. Maroon was still sticking his fingers in his ears all "nah nah nah I can't hear you, still not cleared". To me if you follow the chain of events it seems clear once Bryan made it clear he would leave when his deal ended to wrestle elsewhere if he wasn't cleared, it set the ball in motion. Vince knows that he would be a giant draw on the indies/Japan or whereever he wanted to go.

I think at this point it's clear that KO and Sami spinning their wheels as of late was clearly just because they were buying time for Bryan to be cleared. What I wonder is how they are going to pull off a Team Smackown Management pairing when they've spent all their time as of late antagonizing each other. Shane heel turn at WM? Attempting to turn Daniel heel would be such a hilariously WWE thing to do I almost want to see them try it.

Where did Ward end up anyway? Seems odd that someone with such a pedigree (pun not completely intended) would get lost in the shuffle.

'Member when everyone was raving about Smackdown, and it was all due to having Bullet Bob's kid in creative?? I member.

Man, how can anyone look at Daniel Bryan and not make him the greatest babyface in the history of wrestling. His retirement speech was one of the most legit heartbreaking moments, and it may have got dusty where I was seeing him so happy to announce he can continue his passion.

I just hope this leads to the oft-rumored and badly needed Bray repackage. I was half expecting him to come out of the lake as IRS Jr or something wacky.

I would think part of the deal to clear him would be to have him resign with the company long term. No way they want to heat him up as a wrestler again only to have him go elsewhere anytime soon.

I would think they did it this way was to drum up interest in Smackdown tonight. I know I'll be watching for the first time in a while.

I don't see any conceivable circumstance where Daniel Bryan would decimate Brock Lensar in a comapny where Vince has final say. Even if it's a deal where Brock's on the way out I don't see them doing anything but the usual "big guy dominates and gets cocky/slips on a banana peel and the little guy sneaks a pin" deal.

I am grateful it isn't. I can't imagine that sort of match being featured on the biggest show of the year. Yeah, we need to save that sort of thing for matches where they project worms and maggots on the canvas. (Not intending to snark at you, just WWE's kink of putting ridiculous things on a show that's already a bloated slog these days)

I don't think anyone was thinking his health was the legit reason, it's no accident this finally happened after years of a hard no after he pretty much stated he would leave when his contract ends to work indies if they didn't clear him. I personally was shocked they cleared him because the company is extremely risk adverse when it comes to anything involving concussion issues. I wouldn't be suprised if as a condition to clearing him they had him agree to not take part any future lawsuits.

They aren't even the worst part. Peter "liberals are snowflakes but I'll sue media outlets that I don't like out of existence" Thiel is the faraway winner here.

The only reason he was put on ice as a perfomer was due to his inability to deny he had a seizure years ago. With all the treatments he's done the last few years his brain is probably in better shape than most of the roster anyway.

So I'm guessing Vince and Lou had a falling out at some point? Vince is clearly getting a kick out of his antics at this point, but Lou's admitted he took advantage of being one of the guys Vince Sr promised his son would take care of and of course his run ins with Shane.

This is hilarious, either Vince got got by the Ebersols or the whole XFL relaunch was just a feint to help them land a TV deal. Occaim's Razor would suggest the former is the most likely option.

It's really a missed opportunity to not do a Network tie in for the HOF, something like "subscribe and check out the vault to see more of the HOF class". But I guess that goes against their apparent belief that no one really wants to watch anything that happened prior to the Attitude Era.

I know Piper claimed Albano and Blassie didn't like him, or at least ribbed him by putting toilet paper in his bagpipes. Other than that I can't recall what the deal was. He definitely came off as a star and was over in Hamburg It always seemed to me that they thought they were just hazing the new kid and Piper not being the kind of guy who would react well to that.

The early Thunder episodes would actually have angle advancement, but man did that show fall off a cliff fast.

I would say the Backlund/Patterson match is pretty highly regarded.

So according to Wikipedia, Shane would have been around 6 years old when these shows started airing originally. I can only guess he was was the one who designed the patch Vince and Rocca are wearing on their sport coats.

Stan Hansen with long bleach blond hair is something I will never get used to.

I mean, this show is kind of geared toward those kind of fans. It's not like fans trying to hijack a WWE show to piss off the company, this show is more or less being put on for them.

"Thanks to the fans for making their voices heard!" after this tone-deaf, totally unforced error is a pretty strong contender too. That's wording and messages you would only devise if you've grown up hearing corporate-speak and the word "yes" for your entire life. Not to mention rumors that the whole name idea was Vince's idea and he's irate over this. I'm just waiting for the new backstage interview geek to be named "Bavey Dixenspan" and have a gimmick where everyone yells at him for causing problems for the company.