Bryan Injury Update

It seems there is bad news on the comeback trail for Daniel Bryan. Reports suggest Bryan will miss the Royal Rumble, although thankfully he should be fit for WrestleMania.

How low down the card may Bryan be forced to be at Mania now it seems he'll be viewing it as his comeback PPV?

Last I heard he was considered leaving the business and was looking at borrowing money from Cena to buy a B&B

I have heard that he's essentially putting off the second surgery and trying to recover because the second surgery, "Tommy" something will essentially mean he can never wrestle again. For me, if he is fit only in time for Wrestlemania, I would have him return on the night, keep it a big secret and have him return at some point would be huge and give a real Wrestlemania moment.

Wrestling is a weird business. During Punk's run on the top you couldnt see the product without him. Then Bryan has his focus and it seemed like he'd be there for ages. Now neither are there but the focus shifts so quickly. If at this point last year someone had told me there'd be no more Punk or Bryan on WWE then I'd probably have given up there and then.

I would love Rhodes and Ziggler to be given goes at filling his smaller, underdog slot.

I see what you're saying but do you think the WWE is a better place without Punk and Bryan? I think its a far poorer product on the whole, I love Rollins and Ambrose but I loved them this time last year anyway

Yeah, I actually think this is the worst WWE has been for a while. Since Night of Champions Raw has been awful. I said that if Cena beat Brock I would have stopped watching, but he didn't, but he may as well have done because Brock Lesnar has gone indefinitely. He's shoehorned himself into an entertaining feud. 

I don't like Ambrose or Rollins enough to save the show for me.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Wrestling is a weird business. During Punk's run on the top you couldnt see the product without him. Then Bryan has his focus and it seemed like he'd be there for ages. Now neither are there but the focus shifts so quickly. If at this point last year someone had told me there'd be no more Punk or Bryan on WWE then I'd probably have given up there and then.

I would love Rhodes and Ziggler to be given goes at filling his smaller, underdog slot.

And miss out on Stardust - this is a shocking idea Wilko and we have Brie as the head of the YES movement now so no need to move another wrestler into this spot

Real shame for Bryan and for wrestling fans in general.

I agree that WWE is at it's worst in years. Ambrose and Rollins are not ready to be the main attractions yet and Cena is still Cena.

They also seem to be ignoring the WWE title which I don't think is helping. I know Brock is not on TV but really they should shoehorn the WWE title in somewhere or somehow. Have a number 1 contender tournament or something. Neither does it help that the last we seen of Brock, he was 1 second for posssible defeat and was kerb-stomped.

It was also their chance to elevate the IC and US titles. They haven't bothered.

The best thing on WWE TV at the minute is Rusev IMO. He's beginning to really shine through on an otherwise boring TV show. I think it's a fairly safe bet that HIAC will be the worst drawing PPV in the albeit short WWE network era.

Kay Fabe wrote:I see what you're saying but do you think the WWE is a better place without Punk and Bryan? I think its a far poorer product on the whole, I love Rollins and Ambrose but I loved them this time last year anyway

I dont think Bryan has enough of an influence on the product for me to care. Punk is a different matter, he was talented on a legendary level.

Is it better? Not at all, but I think the three members of the Shield have filled the void pretty well.

Crimey wrote:I have heard that he's essentially putting off the second surgery and trying to recover because the second surgery, "Tommy" something will essentially mean he can never wrestle again. For me, if he is fit only in time for Wrestlemania, I would have him return on the night, keep it a big secret and have him return at some point would be huge and give a real Wrestlemania moment.

If he needs Tommy John, then that's 12 months minimum I'd imagine.

With Punk, Bryan, Regins out and Ambrose, Rollins maybe not ready to take on the top spots in the fed, heres how i'd book the headline guys moving into WM:

Now I hate to be the guy that comes into a thread and wheels out the 'turn Cena heel' card but I’m going to do it anyway...

I have thought for some time now that Brock should be the next big face, I think there is massive potential for him to go over in a big way as a face given the right opponent and turn. Having Brock as the 'I don’t take no poopie' kind of face would draw like nobody’s business, put him up against a heel Cena who turns on the fans and sides with Tripe H to beat Brock 'dirty' for the title would play perfectly for both wrestlers turns.

Brock would get the momentum and the fans behind him going up against the Authority and Cena would get the heat for turning on his beloved C nation. Now one problem of the Cena heel turn is that it has been needed and pandered for, for so long that the resulting turn may produce cheers (not what you want for your top bad guy), so by putting him up against Brock (who will get cheered) should help solve or at least appease this problem. The crowd should be so hot for Brock that Cena should get the heat and heel reaction needed for a successful turn.

These two changes could completely alter the landscape of WWE, give both characters a new fresh direction (one obviously much needed for Cena) and allow for Brock to become one of the biggest stars in history, I really believe a top face run could cement him even further as one of the GOAT's.

I know there are many factors that could and will prevent this from happening such as Brocks current schedule and contract end date looming but it’s how I’d book it.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:I see what you're saying but do you think the WWE is a better place without Punk and Bryan? I think its a far poorer product on the whole, I love Rollins and Ambrose but I loved them this time last year anyway

I dont think Bryan has enough of an influence on the product for me to care. Punk is a different matter, he was talented on a legendary level.

Is it better? Not at all, but I think the three members of the Shield have filled the void pretty well.

I suppose thats where individual opinion comes into then because Bryan was for me the best thing about WWE since the whole anger management stuff and his rise was one of the best things WWE did since thr Punk pipebomb and lead in to Money In The Bank 2011 - to me the sole cause for my interest leading into WrestleMania and what seemed like the majority was Daniel Bryan.

I'd also agree that the forner Shield members have did well but are they more entertaining now or where they more entertaining in their rivarlies with The Wyatt Family and Evolution? Again, for me, so far I'd choose their feuds as a unit against those two rivarlies, thats not to say iI've no faith in them as individuals though, they've been pushed quicker than normal due to the loss of Punk and Bryan so its become a necessity.

If he does have the Tommy John surgery, it's reported he will be advised to never wrestle again. 

Also I don't think The Shield guys have filled the void of Punk and Bryan. Punk's value is obvious but I do think people have forgotten quite quickly of how good and important Bryan was to the product before his injury. Wrestlemania 30 was his night, and he was for a long time the best part of the product, even before his main event push.

I agree with Kay Fabe that Orton/Reigns and Ambrose/Rollins feuds haven't even reached the heights of The Shield feuds.

Oh, the three split arent as good as The Shield as a whole, no doubt, but I think it would have gone bad if they'd been kept together too long. Now The Shield is still money if it returns.

I agree DB was the main interest too. Its just I don't think he'd have been able to carry it on. Thats why I agree with WWE delaying him getting the gold, I'm not sure he could carry the show talking and I think he works only as a chaser. I like him a lot, but I dont like his mic work. He was good at the comedy stuff, but it was part of the midcard and wouldnt have been something you could carry a show with

You need to remember that Bryans entry into the World title match at Mania 30 was historic, because it was the first, and will probably be the only time the fans actually influenced the event in such a way.

Im not so sure, I think theres probably a point to be made of fans taking to people before and also to the lack of matches for Bryan to even go into. Plus Batista was never going to work, regardless of Bryan

When/How did Bryan pick up his neck injury? Apologies if it seems a little out of context, just haven't kept up with the product at all this year.

AFAIK he's been wrestling hurt for a while, but they only really made a point of it after Extreme Rules.

It's such a shame for Bryan as he has a promising future in the WWE. WWE need to build their talent and not just rely on part time legends coming back for Mania. The former Shield members deserve to main event but may be being pushed too quickly due to Bryan's injury and Punk's walk out of the company. But really WWE have dropped the ball too many times before when trying to build new stars - look at the Miz, Swagger and Ziggler. The plans for NXT to make it a main brand are promising but if only WWE had taken that path 5-10 years ago maybe Bryan would have had a longer WWE career?!

I'm sure I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt about it potentially causing injury down the road...

Statto00 wrote:I'm sure I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt about it potentially causing injury down the road...

This place wasn't formed 12+ years ago...

Kay Fabe wrote:

Statto00 wrote:I'm sure I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt about it potentially causing injury down the road...

This place wasn't formed 12+ years ago...

I think I mentioned it on a podcast recently (before he was injured) how it was stupid to use when it's quite well known now to cause neck damage.

Kay Fabe wrote:

Statto00 wrote:I'm sure I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt about it potentially causing injury down the road...

This place wasn't formed 12+ years ago...

Pedant much? Ok, I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt in his current run with WWE. Happier now?

Statto00 wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:

Statto00 wrote:I'm sure I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt about it potentially causing injury down the road...

This place wasn't formed 12+ years ago...

 Pedant much? Ok,  I remember a comment or two on here when DB started using the flying headbutt in his current run with WWE. Happier now?

not really pedantic is it, I'm pointing out that Bryan has been using the diving headbutt for most of his 15 year career, to try and call some kind of prophecy on it simply because someone may or may not have decided to highlight it in the last year or so would be wholly inaccurate!

I would also be willing to bet that if the topic did take place, it would be more focused on the damage it could cause to the brain rather than the neck/back