Daniel Bryan has made WWE news ever since his climax, retirement, and return to the company. Fox Sports reported on this WWE News calling it “bizarre.” And it is, but it’s also funny. Recently, Daniel Bryan let it be known that WWE made a mockumentary of his failed return at Wrestlemania 32 , but the company chose not to release it. Bryan petitioned his Twitter followers to pressure WWE to release the footage, and on September 30, they tweeted out all three parts.
Watch Part 1 of Daniel Bryan’s “Documentary,” #DanielBryanVsTheBear . @WWEDanielBryan pic.twitter.com/n456dItvuh
— WWE (@WWE) September 30, 2016
“Do you know how much heart it takes to defeat a BEAR??!!” – @WWEDanielBryan
Watch Part 2 of #DanielBryanVsTheBear . pic.twitter.com/CG9FEQsGUJ
— WWE (@WWE) September 30, 2016
“This is going to be ME and the BEAR … TO THE DEATH!” – @WWEDanielBryan
Watch the conclusion of #DanielBryanVsTheBear . pic.twitter.com/WxPhAC6M1U
— WWE (@WWE) September 30, 2016
As Wrestle Zone reported, Daniel Bryan made further WWE news by criticizing the amount of time Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon take up on WWE’s Raw .
“Daniel Bryan appeared on Smackdown Live tonight and was asked by Renee Young about his lack of TV time on tonight’s show. Bryan had offered the following response: ‘Shane and I have a very different philosophy from Mick and Stephanie McMahon, we don’t need to make ourselves out there all the time. Tonight we didn’t really need to be out there, the action itself was awesome.’”
Daniel Bryan may be right, McMahon and Foley might spend too much time on TV which takes away from their mystique a bit. The problem is, Bryan is being very hypocritical with his criticism. Aside from the most recent episode of Smackdown Live , Bryan and Shane McMahon often start the show, are featured in backstage segments that don’t further any storylines, and are the center of the show.
So Bryan’s statement of them not needing be “out there all the time” is a very new concept. Furthermore, Smackdown Live is only two hours; Raw is three hours and they have more time to fill, which justifies the amount of time Foley and Stephanie spend on TV. The McMahon name is also synonymous with WWE programming, especially with their flagship show.
Vince McMahon was a WWE commentator for over a decade and was a staple to their programming. And Raw exploded throughout pop culture when two things happened: The NWO debuted on WCW’s Nitro which launched the Monday Night War, and Vince McMahon feuded with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Vince McMahon was the top heel of the company during that time, and he was as much as a star as any wrestler on the roster. But the McMahon legacy on Raw doesn’t end there.
Vince McMahon stepped down from being the heel-leader on the Raw , and Stephanie McMahon and Triple H filled that position. Ironically, this eventually paved the way for Daniel Bryan’s rise to fame. If Stephanie hadn’t spent so much time on their program cutting promos on Bryan, he never would have had the WWE universe behind him the way he did. In wrestling, a face is loved because a heel is hated. The more the WWE universe hates the heel, the more they love the face.
Daniel Bryan would no doubt be popular regardless of this, but the fact the audience loathed his rivals (Stephanie and Triple H) increased his popularity greatly. This is nothing new, it’s wrestling booking 101. This reporter spent over ten years in the industry, and that formula is one of the first things a wrestler is taught. Hulkamania was created in the WWE when he beat the company’s number one heel, The Iron Sheik. If Hulk Hogan had faced a superstar that was less hated he may not have reached the success he did.
In addition, Raw ratings have been lower than usual over the past couple of years. When Stephanie isn’t on TV as much, the ratings drop even more. When she was absent for a while back in 2014, the ratings plummeted; when she returned, the ratings increased. Anytime there has been an increase in ratings in recent history it can be traced back to four people: Brock Lesnar, Vince and Stephanie McMahon, and John Cena.
Smackdown ratings have gone up slightly since the brand split, but not overwhelmingly so. The numbers prove that currently, Stephanie is a bigger attraction than Daniel—bottom line.
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Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley have been staples on WWE television for two decades. Are they on TV a little too much? Probably, but so are Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. Maybe Daniel Bryan should focus on making headlines and WWE news by making silly movies, rather than throwing stones at glass houses.
[Featured Image by WWE]