Crown Jewel - 11/2/18 from null, null

[Go2Sleep]

Where does this show rank on WWE's all-time lowest moments?

Good on Bryan for keeping his dignity here.

[odessasteps]

32 minutes ago, Go2Sleep said:

Where does this show rank on WWE's all-time lowest moments?

I refer again  back to the Sgt Slaughter genie boots promo, where he equated winning the world title with the invasion of Kuwait.

[Casey]

So according to Meltzer, Daniel Bryan made the decision not to go back to Saudi Arabia after the Greatest Royal Rumble (and not after the Khashoggi murder like was widely speculated). The way he describes it, Bryan knew little about Saudi Arabia before that event but was in particular sickened at their treatment of homosexuals and not allowing Sami Zayn to perform at the event. He asked to lose to The Miz at the Super Showdown, but he obviously didn't get his wish on that one.

[The Natural]

 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

I'd love it if their way of saving face turned out to be Brock having a 50/50 match with Becky Lynch. Or even if it was just Becky under a mask pretending to be a guy. That would also work.

[Michael Sweetser]

3 hours ago, Casey said:

So according to Meltzer, Daniel Bryan made the decision not to go back to Saudi Arabia after the Greatest Royal Rumble (and not after the Khashoggi murder like was widely speculated). The way he describes it, Bryan knew little about Saudi Arabia before that event but was in particular sickened at their treatment of homosexuals and not allowing Sami Zayn to perform at the event. He asked to lose to The Miz at the Super Showdown, but he obviously didn't get his wish on that one.

I've already seen people on Reddit slamming Bryan for not being aware of Saudi.  People do not understand how opaque the wrestling bubble can be when you're actually inside it.  I fell prey to it for a long time before my wife pulled me out of it kicking and screaming, and I don't ever want to go back inside.  It's like the Nexus from Star Trek: Generations (and not like the Nexus that Cena ruined)

[Matt D]

1 minute ago, Michael Sweetser said:

I've already seen people on Reddit slamming Bryan for not being aware of Saudi.  People do not understand how opaque the wrestling bubble can be when you're actually inside it.  I fell prey to it for a long time before my wife pulled me out of it kicking and screaming, and I don't ever want to go back inside.  It's like the Nexus from Star Trek: Generations (and not like the Nexus that Cena ruined)

I'm not weighing in, but I can at least understand where the dissonance would come from as Bryan's has talked at length, in sort of patronizing ways, about how Paul Farmer was the important Farmer brother and what was really important in life, etc. I think that there's a not unreasonable expectation for Bryan to be more socially aware than the average wrestler of, I don't know, what's going on in Yemen?  And therefore disappointed with him when he's not. It probably has more to do with people's perceptions than with Bryan himself, but those perceptions did come from somewhere.

[hammerva]

First of all it is too early in the morning to see an extreme closeup face of Shawn Michaels.  Thanks youtube.

Yeah not only did wrestlers not really understand the situation in Saudi Arabia I doubt a decent percentage of America did.  Out of sight and out of mind for a lot of people.  Also the propaganda was pretty convincing if you don't actually follow the situation closely.  So I give Bryan a pass.   In a wrestling sense, I am now curious if they thought of the stupid 5 minute match with a fluke small package before or after Bryan told them the Miz should win.

[Michael Sweetser]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

I'm not weighing in, but I can at least understand where the dissonance would come from as Bryan's has talked at length, in sort of patronizing ways, about how Paul Farmer was the important Farmer brother and what was really important in life, etc. I think that there's a not unreasonable expectation for Bryan to be more socially aware than the average wrestler of, I don't know, what's going on in Yemen?  And therefore disappointed with him when he's not. It probably has more to do with people's perceptions than with Bryan himself, but those perceptions did come from somewhere.

I'm definitely not saying it's not a disappointment; I'm just saying I understand the process of how it can happen.  Hyperfocus is good for what you're interested in, and bad for everything else.

[odessasteps]

DB is the guy who was going to give up wrestling to join the Peace Corps, right? And didn’t own a TV? 

I can relate in a way, in that I generally try to eschew lots of contemporary popular culture and often now run across “mega celebrities” or high profile sports people of whom I’ve never heard or only heard of in passing. 

[RIPPA]

 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Dude, you left out the best one:

 

 

[John from Cincinnati]

 

[RIPPA]

If you need a man to do a job in front of the Saudi prince - Rusev is your guy

[ChesterCopperpot]

Poor guy - buried again in Saudi Arabia 

[Swift]

Better than being buried in a consulate's garden in Istanbul though.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

1 hour ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

 

How nice of Smackdown's "creative" team to remember Nakamura is on their show.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I know everyone here wanted to know how Orton felt about all this.  

 

[The Great ML]

I think the biggest takeaway from that is, Randy only has five kids?

[Brian Fowler]

That's less than one per wife

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Randy should be ok with all that time he spent in Middle East as a marine.

...oh wait

[Nice Guy Eddie]

47 minutes ago, The Great ML said:

I think the biggest takeaway from that is, Randy only has five kids?

Did he roofie his wife for all of them?

[The Natural]

BBC Radio 5 Live's just done a piece on WWE Crown Jewel.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Brock should have a Suplex City shirt for the show with either Parts Unknown or Null as the city.

Better yet, Damien Demento's hometown, the Outer Reaches of Your Mind.

[The Natural]