Fallacy!

I don't mind Bryan getting beat down. I mean, there are 30-plus RAW's until Wrestlemania XX (if that's where all this is leading), so he's gonna have to have some weeks like this. I do, however, have a problem with him being booked to look like a complete idiot. Why should I not expect him to be Stone Cold 2013? I mean fuck, everything about this angle is a carbon copy of 1997. So yes, I do expect Daniel Bryan to come out and raise hell like Austin did. I don't expect him to voluntarily leave the arena unless its in handcuffs and if he happens to do so, I sure as hell expect him to come back and outsmart the bad guys. For him to walk out without incident, then come back and walk into a 7-on-1 fight that he had no chance of winning is completely fucking stupid. Jesus, at least try to sneak attack them. The idea that after everything that happened at Summerslam and the opening of RAW, that Bryan is just standing back in gorilla waiting for HHH to call for his music and summon him out, is mind-numbingly stupid.

Yeah, WWE needs another heel stable like I need a hole in my head. I think a "two-man power trip" type thing would work much better.

Bryan's merch seems to be selling pretty well if you sort by "best sellers" on WWE Shop's website. Small thing I loved at the end of Bryan-Cena was how Cena was up and kind of groggily arguing with HHH after the pinfall. I think it added a little "realism" to it because it reminded me of something you see at the end of a UFC fight. Yes, the knee was devastating looking, but in reality it's not something that should knock Cena out cold for 5 minutes like you often see with WWE finishers. That ending was kind of like, Cena did get knocked the fuck out, but then awoke and was like "Whoa, what happened? I didn't lose. Why is he celebrating, re-start the match!"

The one thing I'll say about HHH as a heel is his lack of really being able to make anyone sympathize with the plight of his babyface opponent. Basically because he goes for the jugular and dissects everything about his opponent that legitimately doesn't work. Stuff that fans watching probably realize, but don't really ever give much thought to. Yes, Booker T is black and there's never really been a black champion. Yes, John Cena can't "wrestle" (I believe the "you can't wrestle!" shtick started with the HHH/Cena WM 22 promos, but I could be wrong). Yes, CM Punk is "skinnyfat". Honestly, I can't think of any feud outside of his last two with the Undertaker that haven't been filled with HHH making shoot-ish comments left and right to make his opponent look like shit. I guess that's really my only concern with a HHH-Bryan feud. I'd like to see Bryan built up as this underdog champ who has been wronged, but when HHH gets on a live mic God only knows what he'll pull out of his sleeve.

Yeah, and look how successful that was. Oh for fuck's sake, they're potentially creating someone who overtakes Cena. If Daniel Bryan eventually goes over HHH and Orton, he's set until retirement. DB withstood one of the most embarrassing WM losses ever to get to this point. I'm sure he won't be hindered by whatever nonsense brought HHH and Orton together. Besides, the easiest explanation is shit changes. It's been years since HHH and Orton had their feud or since Orton punted the McMahons. Orton was originally someone HHH backed as part of the future of the WWE. Its pro wrestling. Is it not at all possible that Orton, HHH, and the McMahons couldn't have hashed their problems out? Calm down. Who said anything about hindering Bryan? All I said was I'm interested to see HHH's reasoning for backing Orton. Sure, it's possible. But kayfabe-wise, seems unlikely. HHH just spent a year risking life and limb to protect his family from Brock Lesnar, so for him to turn and join up with a guy who terrorized his loved ones 10 times worse than Brock ever did seems strange. But as you pointed out, WWE has had so much success with these logic-bending turns in the past, I'm sure they know what they're doing.

I'm loving this about Bryan's run. In an era where nearly every WWE main event follows the exact same formula, you can literally never tell how a Daniel Bryan match is going to end. It could be a submission, a small package, a flying head butt, or something completely out of the fucking blue like a flying knee.

Yeah, and look how successful that was.

^True, that is a decent way to go with it. In any case, I hope Orton doesn't revert back to suit-wearing Evolution HHH/Flair wannabe. He was at his best as a lone wolf psycho punting everyone in his sight (sans his Parkinsons-esque twitches).

I'll be curious to hear Triple H's reasoning for choosing Orton as his corporate champion (and I'm sure I won't have to wait long. Odds are RAW opens with a 20-minute promo from Hunter.) Logically, there's no sound kayfabe reason for Triple H to back Orton. How do you argue that a guy with two wellness violations who punted your father-in-law and brother-in-law, and RKO'd your wife is the ideal choice to be the face of your company?

Bizarre. Yeah, I must be nuts. Can't wait for the post-SS RAW fallout. It's going to be about something that HHH screwed up in the match. Now Bryan, the guy he defended this whole time will question his allegiance. Will there be a live performance review? A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM THE BOARD?!

I'm so glad WWE added Triple H as guest ref for Cena-Bryan. I was getting so excited for that match that I was actually considering shelling out the money to order the PPV. Triple H's addition assures that I will be more than content watching a decent-to-shitty stream online.

I'm so tired of the McMahon saga version 10.6 or whatever we're on now. Vince especially has just been awful. Every segment he's been involved in he just comes off as so flippant and too cool for it all. I don't know how anyone is supposed to watch Vince treat the whole segment like it's a joke, then believe that he really would be that distraught if the Summerslam outcome wasn't to his liking.

Imagine you're a 20-something who started watching as a pre-teen/young teen during the Attitude/nWo era. You turn on RAW and see an aged Vince McMahon, doing the exact same shtick he did 15 years ago, with a guy who looks like something Stone Cold Steve Austin would have shit out after a few too many Steveweisers. Why would you keep watching? Or if you are an ex-fan, and your friend tells you to tune in and check out CM Punk or Daniel Bryan. You watch and go "Oh ok, that's pretty cool", but the next segment is two fat guys dancing to funk music. Of course you're going to tune out and not tune back in. Sure, you might DVR and catch CM Punk's segment next week or check it out on YouTube or something, but the WWE has just lost that you as a regular viewer. And eventually, when that hot CM Punk angle devolves into whether or not Kevin Nash sent a text message to someone, you're going to tune out completely. That's why it's smart for WWE to market to kids. I understand the hate for the PG Era in the sense that as adults who lived through the edgy Attitude stuff, it all seems so tame and safe, but marketing to kids is the smartest possible business move for the WWE. Kids have nothing else to do. They are going to plop down in front of the TV every Monday, buy the action figures, buy the shirts, buy the PPVs. Teens and young adults are too unpredictable nowadays because there's too much to do. The second you produce a segment that doesn't interest them you've lost them. They'll be on their phones, on their tablets, online in general on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Or they'll just switch to one of the other 200 channels on their TV and never tune back. Plus, even if you get teens and young adults to buy into your product, they're so technologically savvy that there's no way to really measure how many are watching. It's so easy to stream, download via torrent or just catch RAW on YouTube the next day. Trying to pinpoint the loss of fans to one specific thing will drive you nuts. It's an enormous amount of small things that combine to create that effect.