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The booking problem isn't Bryan not winning here, it's still Bryan not winning the Rumble and having the Mania main event. Any ending to Wrestlemania that isn't Daniel Bryan, WWE Champion, is wrong after the last 7 months. Not because he's the best guy in the world (he is) and not even because he's the most over guy in a decade (he is) but because that's the story they've told. Wrestlemania is where the big moment is supposed to happen. It's easy to argue they've already stretched this out way too far, and 7 months is different now than it was in 1990. I mean, this is, what, the 4th ppv to end with a screwy finish between Bryan and Orton? The only golden lining to that time is that "Wrestlemania is on the horizon." You end Mania with Bryan holding the belt. But they aren't going to do that, because... and that's where this falls apart.

I got the Bellas...but then Mark Henry chased them away. I got Daniel Bryan kicking the RAW per game show graphic. So surreal I got The Rock.

This is the cat we adopted with the money that would have gone towards a network subscription. I'm kind of kicking myself for not naming him Network.

Has Gregg become WWE Creative's EN090?

Sadly - this is no longer the world we live in and I pity the poor people who work technical support. Especially on this on - because I can just imagine the oxygen thieves calling in cutting promos on people because their stream didn't work "If you really didn't expect there to be some hiccups with the Network the first day, then I'm afraid that I've got some BAD NEWS!"

I just got logged in and now it's like that dream I had when Halle Berry, Shakira, Eva Mendes and Kate Upton are in my bed and they look at me and say, "Who is first?" and I realize I have absolutely no idea where to start.

The IWC's dream of "Daniel Bryan wins the title at the first PPV after SummerSlam and never loses it afterwards" is alive in Portland.

He should have been back at the end: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I've got some BAD NE...wait...what just happened? You know what, I think maybe I'll save this for another time. Maybe give you a little space. I mean, I do have bad news, and normally I gleefully deliver it but yeah I'm not an asshole and it's nothing that we can't get to in a few days. Hmmm. Ladies and Gentlemen, I've got a suggestion. Go home and curl up with some Häagen-Dazs and just text me when you're feeling up to talking."

After all this time, and On-line services launching and having Day 1 problems, people are still suprised that new services have problems Day 1 and usually fix themselves in a few days?

Well, can we just collectively wait for Bryan to not win the belt at WrestleMania before we complain about it? Also, did I miss the PDF of Batista's contract floating around guaranteeing him a title win at WM? Because everyone's acting like that's this official thing as opposed to something they read fourth hand that was originally reported by Dave "PS1" Meltzer.

You'll still be less gassed than Big Dave.

Dean Ambrose is like that guy from West Side Story. You know. With the jacket and the snapping. Either way, American Hero.

From the WWE Network:

Meltzer said it was even worse for the people who have a Commodore 63.

Right now, don't blame your own connections for the issues. Its most likely the WWE's problem, as anyone who knows how site launches work, this is the norm. I'm not worried about it working for WM yet, as they have over a month to tweak everything to handle the traffic, which you can't simulate, you have to go through the live launch first.

So they get in the ring and it gets shut down by Titor, who have moved on to bigger and better things.

It's like Trips made a promise to himself 10 years ago that Orton/Batista would be Main Eventing Wrestlemania 30.

Damn, they've lost Tara Ried (current day), Darius Rucker, Winona Ryder (rehab years), fat Miz, and Phoebe from the Romanian version of FRIENDS. They're basically fucked.

You forgot to add, "for the workin man!" "Swig of beer for the working man! The guy out there driving a truck, hauling freight, maybe they're out there training clients to lift those heavy-ass kettlebells. Did you know that the world of personal training is heating up? Whatever kind of work they're doing, I salute them. They're out there working they asses off to make that dollar to pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills and the last thing they want to do after a long day of earning that dollar is to go out and pay for some pussy. You don't want to have to go to some bus stop and pick up a cheap hooker. That's how you get syphilis in your eyeball! You done paid for pussy and now your eyes are all fucked up because you didn't go to CougarLife.com. That's a website where you can find experienced older women that know how to make love to a younger man. Ain't that something, Urethra? That's CougarLife.com and use promo code 'STEVE' to take advantage of their February manage-a-twat special."

Kane's current match ring gear is basically "Whatever Jim Belushi is probably wearing in his kitchen right now."

I blame the post-WM show in Jersey. These crowds are awful and the rampant bitching about every fucking little thing on Twitter has gotten really tiresome. The fans' entitlement issues have gotten rapidly out of control, it's one thing to boo or crap on stuff that stinks but the TV crowds seem to be doing it with almost everything now.

I want to believe that last night, somewhere on the road between Minneapolis and Green Bay, at a rest stop or a gas station, Sheamus and Cesaro ran into each other, had a stare down and went straight back into their uppercut war.

It was a Houston show and it was an afternoon start. Harley was late because he didn't know about the early bell time. Bock had already worked 20 minutes with Jose Lothario and he then, being a fucking super hero, came back out for the main and wrestled a 60 minute broadway with Terry Funk. I've also heard that Paul Boesch was PISSED. When Harley came back to work a date, he was booked with Wahoo McDaniel as punishment. For any mortal man, being stiffed to death by Wahoo was a punishment. For Harley it was another day at the office because Harley was fucking Harley...

I'm sorry I was mad at you last night, WWE. I love you again.

Alvarez being able to sign up with no problems is just the icing on the cake

If you think you're having trouble accessing the Network, imagine the problems Vince McMahon must be having trying to get on from the Commodore 64 in his home office.

Sadly - this is no longer the world we live in and I pity the poor people who work technical support. Especially on this on - because I can just imagine the oxygen thieves calling in cutting promos on people because their stream didn't work

It's ok, the WWE thanks us for our patience while they are dealing with high demand. This is little consolation for delaying my watching of Sid breaking his leg over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

I'd love to know what this "bad booking" of the main event actually was. 1) Was it John Cena getting taken out by The Wyatt Family? Because that rules. World beater Bray Wyatt took out Daniel Bryan and The Shield and now wants to ensure his dominance by destroying the one man everyone calls a hero. 2) Was it an injured Daniel Bryan coming into the match hurt, entering third, dominating several segments in it, getting a pinfall, kicking out of Randy Orton's finisher, getting a virtual visual fall and only losing because his former best friend-turned-corporate goon cost him the match? Because that was great, too. I guess you'd rather have Randy Orton beat Cena and Bryan cleanly? Or am I missing something. Having Daniel Bryan win on at a set-up PPV is the absolute dumbest thing in the world. That's not how it works.

Optimism is turning heel on Greggulator.

Here's a Will Smith reference you can get. Men in Black was an awesome song.

I'm sure WWE management has spent long hours discussing the very odd situation that fans sell out the arenas to tell that the main eventers are boring and killing the company. Bryan winning tonight would have been anti-climactic. I mean, he should have won it in October but we're working with what we have. What they do need to do is when he wins, after all the fuck finishes, is make it very telegraphed so the crowds KNOWS this time it's real. Have Bryan put his career on the line, or make it to where he can never get a shot if he loses.

Mmm good points. Actually, I take back what I said because I watched Tatum in The Vow and I actually liked it. I don't think I could say the same about Batista. This is so weird. I really wanted Batista to return and when he did, what we wound up with was fucking Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

Not even Clarissa can explain why WWE likes to send its fans home unhappy.

No biggie. Minneapolis is a notorious smark city... right? "Non smark city" is to WWE what "Not a big college town" was to Spinal Tap

Also, THEY REALLY CHANTED BOOTISTA

I blame the post-WM show in Jersey. These crowds are awful and the rampant bitching about every fucking little thing on Twitter has gotten really tiresome. The fans' entitlement issues have gotten rapidly out of control, it's one thing to boo or crap on stuff that stinks but the TV crowds seem to be doing it with almost everything now. Almost everything on this show deserved to be booed.

Booker T, you disappoint me. He says Hogan is here tonight, and he only has one thing to say. And it wasn't "We comin for you, nigga!" Sad face Ric Flair looks like the monster things from Nothing But Trouble

Back to writing about what happened instead of what could -- I'm rewatching Shield vs. Wyatts right now. Man, there are so many things in this that I don't remember seeing before. Case in point: Rollins dodges a charge from Bray in the corner and gets the foot up -- a great callback because Bray hit that move earlier in the match. Rollins then goes up top for a hope spot, but Bray catches him and just tosses him with a chokeslam. Bray goes to cover and Ambrose breaks up the fall and is going crazy and then Harper just flattens him with a stiff boot. Then Harper returns to the corner. That Harper/Ambrose thing is just one of those subtle touches that really brings it up a level -- these guys are tossing grenades during pinfall breakups, and any opportunity they can to hurt the other guy they'll take. Reigns also does inspired apron work when Rollins is going for a hot tag, stomping on the steps. I mean, there has been great apron work before but Reigns REALLY put it over like he would do absolutely anything to get in that match. It wasn't just a spot for the fans to clap with. It was him rallying his own man. Just intense apron work. What's also great about that Top Rope Geman thing where Rollins landed on his feet -- Bryan actually hit that on Rollins in their crazy great singles match last year, if you remember. So there's a little memory recall that adds to the believability of the potential success of the move. Reigns stuff after the hot tag was great. I loved him getting tossed to the floor but knowing Rowan was in position for the apron dropkick. He didn't even break stride. It felt like one of "the great ones see the play before it develops" moments. The big dive sequence was so awesome, too. It gets set up after Dean gets in. He dropkicks Harper down and then starts clubbing at Bray with his lunatic fringe offense. He goes back to the ring, hits something, and then to the floor to get some more of Bray. Then Harper does his dive -- and of course it works, because Ambrose went to the floor never guessing this big swamp monster would fly like that. And then Rollins, in true cocky aerialist fashion, has to top that with his flip. That leads to a little sequence between Reigns and Rowan where Reigns dodges a corner splash into a roll-up that is a terrific near fall. Then they both club each other at once, leading to a bit of a breather for the audience. But not for long. Because Rollins runs to the announcer tables and starts ripping it apart. The crowd goes nuts for this -- they wanted tables, they got tables. But at the same time, the danger of this match just got upped another level. We've seen table stuff so many times before, but this is built so well. There's a brawl to start, then it's a wrestling match but the emphasis is on showing intensity and character work as opposed to focusing on execution (but everything is executed marvelously well). Even the tag breakups are vicious. Everyone gets a showcase spot and they're all amplified -- Bray's floor senton, for example. The table-area stuff is so great. Harper does Reigns' thumb's up as Bray sets Rollins up for a powerbomb. But Dean comes out of nowhere and gets more licks in on Bray, keeping in form with him being the hothead sh*ttalker ("Oooooh, we're so scared!"). And somehow the intensity goes up ANOTHER level because they get into the crowd but don't stop swinging. It's been a while since I can remember that happening. Then they disappear out of sight. Reigns and Rowan have another showdown. Reigns wins ANOTHER exchange between them, including getting a Superman Punch for two. Harper and Rollins go at it, with Rollins swinging a television monitor -- now the violence is upped again, and when has THAT ever happened? Bray comes charging back and a winded Reigns is edging towards that exchange, allowing Rowan to club him from behind and hit his fallaway slam that sends Reigns to the floor. Rowan FINALLY won an exchange -- he took a lot of punishment all match long and survived. Bray then orders his monsters to the floor. There, they put Rollins through a table via a double chokeslam. It gets one of the loudest Holy Sh*t chants. I think I wrote earlier about this spot. We've seen so many insane table bumps over the years. Foley. New Jack. Sabu. Michaels. This was as relatively easy a table bump as one will ever take. Yet it got a historic pop. The payoff to the table bump was so worth it -- in a lesser match, it would have come a bit quicker. But they build JUST to that moment and it's great. And it's also really cool since Rollins is the one who put the table in play, let alone the big picture of The Shield getting its start in the same fashion. The camera doesn't really focus on Rollins too much. Instead, it comes to Bray overlooking the broken bones he's used to pave his empire. His look is just so cold and triumphant. This is why Bray Wyatt's the Mike Trout of wrestling, and somehow both a prospect and amazing all at once. His facial expressions just tell the story. He didn't actually participate in Rollins' destruction, but he's the responsible party. And now he can sense victory. Now comes the final act. Reigns has rolled into the ring and is on his knees with a look of a soldier walking up that hill -- he knows the odds are so against him, but he's going to fight, because that's all he knows how to do. That's one of the great things about Roman -- he can tell the story with his face. In a lesser version of this match, he'd start his comeback immediately. But instead, the Wyatts have control. Harper and Rowan hit their corner splashes. Then Harper kneels before Bray to tag him in -- Cole described it as "an offering" in his commentary, and it's so spot on. The ruler now gets to destroy. And now it's comeback time. Right when defeat is imminent, Reigns powers out of Sister Abigail. And if you'll recall, he was powering out of Cena's STF when the lamb's mask flashed and The Wyatts appeared and jumped Cena in the moment that led to all of this. Bray's face during this is so great. It's this look of fear and admiration at once. But it doesn't go right into Reigns powering out. Instead, Bray hits a few headbutts. Roman screams though and gets his Samoan Drop on the patriarch. This is also only the second direct interaction between Reigns and Bray the whole match. There was one near the beginning that got a crazy reaction. There was also a really great indirect one after Bray's floor senton. Reigns was out of his corner, on the floor, staring Bray down, who glared back, while Ambrose was in the corner in a frenzy. Harper and Rowan both attack, naturally, with Reigns getting the two of them out of the way. He hits a Superman Punch on Bray. Is this possible? This is the dude who beat four men at Survivor Series to win the match. This is the guy who just set the record of eliminations at The Royal Rumble. How many times has he been pinned or tapped out? Off the top of my mind, it's only once, and that was in an 11-on-3 match, of all things. He's waiting for the Spear and calls for it. But like we said before -- the numbers game came back to haunt Reigns. Harper runs in to take the Spear for his leader. The Shield, too, was built on sacrifice. But it was a sacrifice of friends/allies there to make a statement and deliver justice/make money. They were always a house of cards. Harper's sacrifice is out of religious devotion. Bray then hits his crossbody block and hits Sister Abigail without too much theatrics, but just the kiss of death. This match wasn't just a great, well-built and structured match. The facial acting of everyone involved in this really brought it up to a whole new level. The training center really has driven in the whole "wrestling as character" part of the game that has eluded so many people. The Shield and The Wyatts are really the first products of the new system. This isn't the end. It's the beginning.

It's going to be awesome when all the one weekers forget to bail and are locked in for six months

Somewhere Vince Russo is in a deep depression amidst stacks of "Triple X" jokes that will go unused.

LET'S GO GREGGULATOR! GREGGULATOR SUCKS! LET'S GO GREGGULATOR! GREGGULATOR SUCKS!

Boobs.

Who?

Hogan is winning the belt isn't he? FUCK YEAH!

if Batista is contractually obligated to win the title at WrestleMania... then, well, they kind of deserve to have that match shit on. Stupid WCW level decision right there.