The V2 Wrestling Podcast 16th July - TNA: Bully, Gail and Magnus, WWE: MITB, Bryan' Push? and Sandow, Celebrities in Wrestling

http://v2journal.com/17/post/2013/07/the-v2-wrestling-podcast-16th-july.html



Good Evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another edition of the V2 Wrestling Podcast.

We have quite the packed show for you tonight, with all five of our regular contributors in attendance and raring to argue over all your wrestling needs.

Is Daniel Bryan getting a true push? Is Sandow the right MITB winner? Are TNA planning a title change? Is the Bound For Glory Series working?

We start off, as ever, with Hero's Headlines, before moving swiftly on to TNA.

Adam unsurprisingly returns to the show brimming with TNA positivity. We talk Bully Ray, Sabin, Aries, Magnus and the Bound for Glory Series, as well as discussing with enthusiasm the current strength within the ranks of the Knockouts.

We then move on to WWE, and sparks fly! Daniel Bryan is not getting pushed properly according to one of our panel, and we get to some debating! 

Its then Money in the Bank breakdown and how the WWE has booked stories to flow from it. Summerslam already looks a packed show and we have only had one Raw!

Finally, we end on a quick discussion of celebrities in Wrestling.

Good show as always guys, Keep it up
Took me a while to listen as my phone kept restarting each part from the beginning randomly.

I do sort of agree with Gav about Daniel Bryan that it is a strange push. But is well over so might not matter.

NOO!!! I did not expect/want the first person to reply to agree (even in part) with Gav about Bryan....he's going to be unbearable now.

Yes yes yes!

Just think, if Bryan had been pushed properly, the first thing in your mind to reply would have been his catchphrase. Wait a minute...

That completely sums it up for me. You're giving the company credit for something that got over with the fans on its own. WWE just put it on a t-shirt once it got popular.

Its pretty irrelevant if his push is being done "properly". He is one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster and is going to be in the main event of Summer Slam for the WWE title.

Its like when the WWE made this massive move for Steve Austin, engineering his popularity instead of letting it naturally explode.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Its like when the WWE made this massive move for Steve Austin, engineering his popularity instead of letting it naturally explode.

Is that the same Steve Austin who was initially given the moniker of The Ringmaster and had Ted Dibiase as his manager because the company thought he couldn't cut his own promos? Presumably you give WWE credit for coming up with the Austin 3:16 catchphrase as well?

Oh, so if it didnt work once then its no support ever? Its the same Steve Austin who got big support that WWE pushed and capitalised on. On the back of what many could say was a catchphrase.

Not that I want to get into an argument of wrestling history, mainly because I wont win and thats no fun, but surely there are many examples of people getting over organically before WWE then cashed in.

I've already stated my opinions and I stick to them completely. I believe that WWE is bemused by Bryan's popularity as he does not fit their idea of what a wrestling star looks like.

They're taking advantage of his popularity, and fair play to them for that, but I don't think Vince McMahon is overjoyed about that popularity the way he would be if Ryback, or others who fit the WWE prototype, were as beloved by the fans.

He'd have to do something extremely special for the company to embrace him as their biggest star, from a long-term standpoint, even if he's the most popular - and arguably the most talented - wrestler in the company.

The yardstick is pretty different if we're talking about being given a push or being nurtured to be the next face of WWE. I will completely agree that he isnt being groomed, as it yet seems, for the latter, but I dont see many that have for a long time to be honest

I know that's not the discussion, it was just a comment to finish off my point.

If you push someone, that means you talk about how great they are, accentuate their positives, and you make it clear that person is a big deal and worth watching.

It's always been the case with every push of every star that ever drew money.

WWE scripted Daniel Bryan to talk about how he looks like a hobbit. Nobody was thinking that; the fans just wanted to enjoy his act.

They had him get all obsessed with being the weak link. Nobody thought he was the weak link until WWE told them to.

They make the point time and time again that the owner and promoter doesn't rate him (and please no Austin comparisons. That was completely different).

Could you imagine Hulk Hogan cutting a promo in the 80s saying 'I might be lacking technical ability but you shouldn't doubt me'? No, because it didn't help anyone to acknowledge Hogan's lack of technical ability.

Or The Rock in the 90s saying 'I might have always been the one that got pinned in Nation of Domination matches, but I'm not the weak link'? No.

WWE simply didn't need to mention Bryan's drawbacks, because the fans love him exactly the way he is.

And when he finally got his WWE title shot, the message was clear to me: 'you chose him, not us'.

Id say that we have discussed Daniel Bryan before this recent moment and have discussed both his size and look being a factor. Its also blooming logical, his popularity has grown because of his look too and it is a very noticeable difference, it plays to just how good he is that this guy, not clean cut and smaller than the big guns of WWE, is so damn good that it doesnt matter. 

Its probably a good time to bring up Austin again. Kayfabe would suggest Vince never wanted Austin to win titles. Vince is being painted as the bad guy in this, and thus him not supporting Bryan on screen is necessary.

Sometimes, you point out weaknesses to show how easily they have been overcome. Its also unfair because to compare him to Hogan or Rock. Personally, I'd say its better to point out how someone overcame being pinned in a tag team, rather than ignoring it. I also dont think you can compare it to Hogan's clear weakness cos he is a completely different kind of character. "Look how bad he wrestles" is quite killer to a person being liked as a wrestler, "look how funny he looks" is quite a lot different, especially when its something everyone notices.

Equally, the weak link storyline is one in which he was consistently talked up as not the weak link and got to categorically show he wasnt, with clean wins and prominence on the show. It was rather different to many tag team splits as they got to still have some respect for each other rather than a flat feud, and then he got to go over Orton too, and clean and with a submission and at the end of the show. 

Its also all logical. He hasnt just gone from the character he was to someone completely different, he is being noted for the man he was for a year or so and how he is moving up, rather than just shaving his face and making him a new guy. 

Again, he is getting endorsed by Cena picking him. Cena is the ultimate babyface in the company, by showing he wanted Daniel Bryan because of how good he is, Cena is basically telling the fans that love him that they should embrace Bryan. One, hes been pushed into the position where there was no other choice, WWE have made Daniel Bryan the big deal of Raw for a month or so. The fans were behind, but nowhere near as much beforehand.

It also ignores the commentary has done nothing but make Daniel Bryan out to be the best wrestler they have. I dont think there is a wrestler in the company so enthused over by the commentary team. Even creative are letting him be a face against Cena. The growing popularity of Ryback wasnt even allowed that! 

And the Austin comparisons were merely of how pushes start organically, to counter the YES YES YES put a tshirt on it comment!

I do get your point, but I feel like you're ignoring 100 others to make a negative.

I think a comparison to a Rock or a Hogan is an unfair comparison, both guys that clearly the plans were there whilst I agree I'd say with Daniel Bryan it's more akin to a Mick Foley, they realise he's hugely over by his own accord and want to make the most of it. He doesn't fit the mold as to what a WWE champ should in Vince's eyes should look like but that does not mean that they realise how over he is and want to make the most of it.

I just got a phonecall from WWE so I am clearly the most highly placed member of the podcast

Was the call from Titan Towers informing you that the police have been informed about finding your DNA in Big Es dressing room?

You dont get in Big E, Big E gets in you

So was I right then?

About what? I'm gonna guess "no" without even knowing what you mean