Tanahashi vs. Okada from 5/4 was given a *****1/2 rating. So, accordingly, 5 out of the 6 greatest matches in wrestling history have apparantly happened since the beginning of 2017.

Oh jeez, Daniel Bryan is not just another guy. They do need to come up with a real path for him and good opponents, yes, but fans will never let him become just another guy.

I'll add that in the same issue, just before saying this, he had a news item about trying to draw a house in Toronto on the idea that it's Daniel Bryan's return after three years. I didn't realize they did that with their guys in the middle.

Tanahashi vs. Okada from 5/4 was given a *****1/2 rating. So, accordingly, 5 out of the 6 greatest matches in wrestling history have apparantly happened since the beginning of 2017.

 

I'm not steamed about it or anything but that seems very silly to me.

Yeah, not steamed, but why doesn't he just raise his standards and give less matches *****? He's the one who always argues that these norms shift.

I've personally never cared much for Meltz ratings, but I think its a given he will give any big New Japan match with endless big move 2.9 kick outs *****+.

 

I'm just happy this is a place where his opinion and ratings are just seen as that and aren't taken as the gospel truth and everyone here carries their own opinion and aren't afraid to express what they like or dislike.

Pretty sure Dave is just trolling with his ratings now. It was only a matter of time until he became absorbed in his Twitter Dave gimmick that it started bleeding into Newsletter Dave.

Oh jeez, Daniel Bryan is not just another guy. They do need to come up with a real path for him and good opponents, yes, but fans will never let him become just another guy.

And also, he’s not going anywhere.

Oh jeez, Daniel Bryan is not just another guy. They do need to come up with a real path for him and good opponents, yes, but fans will never let him become just another guy.

 

There's this tangible sense of danger with him wrestling, but there's also this idea that we're cheating something too, in watching, that we're getting something we're not supposed to have. It all feels like it's running on borrowed time and like any match you watch could be the last. Maybe in two years that feeling will be gone, but for now, he'll simply can't be just another guy because no one else on the roster feels anything like that. WWE's created a world where no match ever feels important.

 

Every Daniel Bryan match feels important right now.

Daniel Bryan is like the wrestling version of Final Destination, and every match you're waiting for fate to get their revenge. I don't even know if he's doing it on purpose, but when he does his top rope dropkick where he lands on his back he stays still for a moment before doing his kip up. Every time he's done it since his return I think for a second he got his bell rung from doing the move.

I'm with you on that point, but I choose to believe Bryan's just a smart enough worker that he's leaning into that fear & concern from his fans.

I have no question that Bryan does that on purpose. But I don't like that he keeps doing that dropkick, he's scaled back on everything but that spot. Austin was begging him to stop doing it when he had neck surgery.

I'll add that in the same issue, just before saying this, he had a news item about trying to draw a house in Toronto on the idea that it's Daniel Bryan's return after three years. I didn't realize they did that with their guys in the middle.

That they have faith Bryan can carry a sack of shit like Cass, shows their faith in Bryan as a draw. They could only book a top guy this bad.

 

Oh jeez, Daniel Bryan is not just another guy. They do need to come up with a real path for him and good opponents, yes, but fans will never let him become just another guy.

 

There's this tangible sense of danger with him wrestling, but there's also this idea that we're cheating something too, in watching, that we're getting something we're not supposed to have. It all feels like it's running on borrowed time and like any match you watch could be the last. Maybe in two years that feeling will be gone, but for now, he'll simply can't be just another guy because no one else on the roster feels anything like that. WWE's created a world where no match ever feels important.

 

Every Daniel Bryan match feels important right now.

 

 

This reminds me a bit of when Shawn first came back in 2002 and the feeling I had when he was wrestling pretty sporadically up to I'd say post Mania against Jericho in 03. Of course he then would become a regular performer for years and years to come after, but for the first 9 months or so after the HHH match at Summerslam 02, you did think that he only had a small handful of matches left in him.

When WWE sees wrestlers as bulletproof, they start treating them that way. It's why Jericho lost all the time. Hell, it's why Flair was booked the way he was for so long too. And it's true that they will always be stars, but that booking will always keep them away from the tippety top, or in Flair's case, it eventually catches up. He went from being the biggest drawing NWA champ ever to the lowest drawing one in less than half a decade with that mindset.

I'll also add that Cena loses constantly now and means far less than he should. I think they see him the same way and to an extent he is bulletproof, but he should still mean more now when he shows up. Rock might be the only guy that can lose infinitely without losing any aura.

I've personally never cared much for Meltz ratings, but I think its a given he will give any big New Japan match with endless big move 2.9 kick outs *****+.

 

As amusing as it may be for people to offer authoritative comments on matches they haven't seen, let the record reflect that Okada/Tanahashi did not contain a single big move 2.9 kick out.

 

As for Bryan, Dave on Twitter said that his Google profile has declined significantly since Wrestlemania, so WWE's master plan to keep him strong clearly isn't working. Since post-comeback HBK was brought up, the contrast between the two is instructive. Shawn was never the top guy, but he was heavily protected both in who he worked with and in wins and losses. It was over a year into his comeback before he had a PPV match that wasn't for the world championship or against a former world champion. And he almost never lost clean, let alone on TV. When he did job, he usually got his win back shortly afterward.

 

I've personally never cared much for Meltz ratings, but I think its a given he will give any big New Japan match with endless big move 2.9 kick outs *****+.

 

As amusing as it may be for people to offer authoritative comments on matches they haven't seen, let the record reflect that Okada/Tanahashi did not contain a single big move 2.9 kick out.

 

Indeed.

 

And it was a MOTYC in my book. I would give it ****1/2 (which is the requisite for MOTYC to me) if I was still in the snowflakes kinda mood.

As amusing as it may be for people to offer authoritative comments on matches they haven't seen, let the record reflect that Okada/Tanahashi did not contain a single big move 2.9 kick out.

It was a generalization about the majority of the big New Japan main events (which I thought was kinda obvious), so let the record reflect I was not specifically speaking about the aforementioned match.

I may actually end up watching that thing.

 

I've personally never cared much for Meltz ratings, but I think its a given he will give any big New Japan match with endless big move 2.9 kick outs *****+.

 

As amusing as it may be for people to offer authoritative comments on matches they haven't seen, let the record reflect that Okada/Tanahashi did not contain a single big move 2.9 kick out.

 

As for Bryan, Dave on Twitter said that his Google profile has declined significantly since Wrestlemania, so WWE's master plan to keep him strong clearly isn't working. Since post-comeback HBK was brought up, the contrast between the two is instructive. Shawn was never the top guy, but he was heavily protected both in who he worked with and in wins and losses. It was over a year into his comeback before he had a PPV match that wasn't for the world championship or against a former world champion. And he almost never lost clean, let alone on TV. When he did job, he usually got his win back shortly afterward.

 

 

It was the peak season for wrestling and he had just returned to great fanfare after a three-year absence. It makes sense that there would be some decline. I'm not defending WWE's use of him, more pointing out that he's always going to be at a high level, whether he's booked there or not. Even the opening match he's in will be a big match on the show because he's in it.

I should clarify -- they should be booking Bryan as a real headliner who only loses on rare occasions when it makes sense. I don't think they're booking him to his full potential. But he's never going to be Heath Slater. I don't know if those saying WWE isn't doing much with him are arguing that or not.

I think the point Dave was trying to make today was that Bryan had a lot of momentum pre mania. His return legit moved ticket sales and his google profile was significant but WWE has stalled his momentum since and now he's going back down to Earth. Pretty sure it's basically "strike while the iron is hot"

 

that taking time to tell the underdog story again is risky because his numbers will go down the longer they wait. Then they can say "hey look he isn't drawing like we had hoped" Self fulfilling prophecy.

 

I don't necessarily agree with all that at the moment but that's the point he's trying to make I think

The two things that they don't seem to understand, admittedly:

 

- He got over in spite of how he was booked, not because of it

- He's not the "ultimate underdog" -- it's just not his character

I think they are just incompetent when it comes to maintaining momentum. Look how fast they killed the Hardys.