This past Monday, we got treated to yet another helping of the Montreal Screwjob.
This time, it involved Daniel Bryan, management, and occurred almost twenty years after the first one with Bret, Shawn, and Vince. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, Daniel Bryan gets fucked again! Excuse the language.
Night of Champions was supposed to be Bryan’s moment, and what a moment it was. When Scott Armstrong tapped that canvas three times and then rang that bell, you couldn’t have asked for a louder ovation. He hoisted that belt above his head and the fans threw their arms in the air, shouting his trademark phrase. Moments like that are why I love being a wrestling fan, there is nothing like it in the world. Wrestling fans rejoiced all over the WWE Universe because someone THEY wanted to be champion finally got to do so. Cena wasn’t there to steal the spotlight, it was all about Daniel. There was a legitimate feeling that this would be his moment. Also, there was a feeling that this title reign would be significantly longer than the one that he had at Summerslam in August.
No one thought anything of the winning pinfall at the end of the match, all that they saw was their new WWE Champion. I certainly didn’t think anything of it, I didn’t even notice that it was slightly faster than his usual pace. It was so miniscule that if you didn’t sit down and analyze the footage, you probably would have missed it. Triple H was one of those people who analyzed it and saw the fast count. He, yet again, ruined Daniel’s moment in the spotlight. He came out on Raw, interrupted Daniel, and brought up the count. He showed Scott counting the winning fall during the match at Night of Champions and compared that with another match that he officiated. I hate to admit it but it did look a tad bit fast, you can’t argue with the truth (especially when it is on film).
What you can argue with is the way that the situation was handled and the events that happened after it.
Scott was brought out, footage was shown, and then he did something shocking. He implicated Bryan in the fast count. Somebody in that ring was in on it and it certainly wasn’t Daniel Bryan. Secondly, he held the WWE Championship in abeyance. What that means is it is temporarily suspended. There is no champion, there is no number one contender, there is nothing. What proof did Triple H have that Bryan was involved in any way? None! All he was going off was a little phrase uttered by a referee. It doesn’t sound like the most sound evidence to me, and I’ve watched a lot of Law & Order.
One thing that I did agree with was that the belt was not just handed over to Randy Orton to parade around with. What I hope happens is that there is a tournament of some sort leading up to the next pay-per-view, Battleground. A bracket tournament is the only thing that will be able to determine who fights for the belt, two people can’t be arbitrarily placed in a match like that. I’m not sure how it would be structured, who would be involved, but I hope it ends up with Daniel holding the title for more than twenty-four hours. I always respect anyone who steps through the ropes and puts their life on the line for my personal entertainment but that doesn’t mean that I have to like them. In my opinion, Daniel Bryan can wrestle circles around Randy Orton. Try and fight me on that, I dare you.
I don’t think I could survive another reign with Randy as champion. I really don’t think I could make it. It’s tough to get behind a champion that doesn’t deserve it and has the belt handed to him on a platter.
The other superstars in the locker room also share my sentiment as they rushed the ring at the end of Raw. It was nothing short of the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen, showing that the fans aren’t the only ones behind Daniel Bryan. Superstars stood up and made their opinion known, even if that didn’t necessarily involve the use of words. Whether that translates well this coming Raw, we’ll find that out on Monday. I’m going to throw out a wild guess and go with it not ending well for anybody. A mass firing? Suspensions? I’d like to go with no but with the WWE, you just never know.
Sqcircleblog 