RAW tonight

[kjh]

Yeah, John Cena, as per WWE's orders, uses Twitter as his fictional wrestling character would use it, to sell his WWE storylines as being real. Dave made fun a few days ago about Cena pretending to have a mild concussion and then when realizing it would be against WWE's Wellness policy to work this weekend's house shows as he was scheduled to do so, then having to pretend that he underwent an impact testing program and was cleared to wrestle by his doctors.

 

Given his earlier cryptic cranky news update, maybe Dave knows more than he can officially let on?

[sek69]

I think it's funny that Dave seems to be going all-in with "it's a work" almost entirely based on the idea that Cena's too much of a suckup to be posting those tweets without being told to. I mean, he may be 100% spot on when it's all said and done, but he's coming off as someone who really wants to believe he's right rather than someone who knows he's right.

[Sean Liska]

I think he just knows how much of a company man Cena is and can't fathom him speaking out against a Vince decision publicly.

[rovert]

Guess Meltzer and Cena in their own way are/were tired of people hounding them.

 

If this was a Cena would have given a more kayfabe, vengenful response about Danielson IMO instead he just sounds bummed about the circumstances and his angle being cut off at the knees.

[smkelly]

So, what exactly, got Danielson fired? Him choking Roberts with the tie was a scripted spot, I'm sure of it. I doubt Danielson would go into business for himself like that...and if he did, why pick a ring announcer? Nevertheless, if this isn't a work (which I think is a work) and Danielson was fired for choking Roberts, wouldn't he have grounds for a lawsuit? I mean, he was following a scripted and ordered spot from the agents, followed it, and was subsequently fired for it. Something isn't right here if it's real.

 

Like Will said though, wrestling is about choking motherfuckers. Plenty have done it before him, and many will surely follow. Who knows, maybe Danielson got wrapped up in the moment and legitimately injured or choked for real. But hey, Triple H was allowed to potato the hell out of JR. Just sayin'.

[Strummer]

go to wwe.com and look at the Father's Day ad down the page

[sek69]

So, what exactly, got Danielson fired? Him choking Roberts with the tie was a scripted spot, I'm sure of it. I doubt Danielson would go into business for himself like that...and if he did, why pick a ring announcer? Nevertheless, if this isn't a work (which I think is a work) and Danielson was fired for choking Roberts, wouldn't he have grounds for a lawsuit? I mean, he was following a scripted and ordered spot from the agents, followed it, and was subsequently fired for it. Something isn't right here if it's real.

 

Like Will said though, wrestling is about choking motherfuckers. Plenty have done it before him, and many will surely follow. Who knows, maybe Danielson got wrapped up in the moment and legitimately injured or choked for real. But hey, Triple H was allowed to potato the hell out of JR. Just sayin'.

 

He got fired because someone they have a fat contract with (probably Mattel) saw it and complained. It was viewed as an act kids could imitate and they have to stay PG.

[sek69]

Also my biggest point of contention with the whole "it's a work" thing is that for it to be a work, people on the business side of the company would need to have been worked too. Only when you deal with the business side, it stops being a work and starts becoming "lying to people". They have legitimate business people on that side of things, not old carnies who are always trying to wizork the mizarks.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

If it is a work, obviously they are trying to work me and everyone in their company.

 

But what is the purpose?

 

And if it was, why would they have Cena basically ruin their plan?

 

And why would Danielson be fired when they can't even produce evidence anyone got mad?

 

Why would Danielson be talking with promoters to get dates while at the same time Cena is undercutting his cred.

 

In the end, what is the value of working everyone? This business is littered with companies like TNA who worked the boys on angles, made no money, and they get the satisfaction that the MMA community bought their Tara vs. Kim Couture thing for like five minutes before they figured it out, and exactly what good did it do anyone to spend the money for Couture, film it in a way that made it look like it was accidental filming, make them both swear it's real, not tell the people in the ring in the match it was going to happen. In the end, who was worked? The people spending extra money for no return and going through all this effort?

 

Pillman did and the only guy who made any money out of it was Pillman for 3 weeks on a 900 line, and I guess when he worked the guys he was working with to get a real release to "work the office people" and then used it to play both sides against the other.

[smkelly]

So, what exactly, got Danielson fired? Him choking Roberts with the tie was a scripted spot, I'm sure of it. I doubt Danielson would go into business for himself like that...and if he did, why pick a ring announcer? Nevertheless, if this isn't a work (which I think is a work) and Danielson was fired for choking Roberts, wouldn't he have grounds for a lawsuit? I mean, he was following a scripted and ordered spot from the agents, followed it, and was subsequently fired for it. Something isn't right here if it's real.

 

Like Will said though, wrestling is about choking motherfuckers. Plenty have done it before him, and many will surely follow. Who knows, maybe Danielson got wrapped up in the moment and legitimately injured or choked for real. But hey, Triple H was allowed to potato the hell out of JR. Just sayin'.

 

He got fired because someone they have a fat contract with (probably Mattel) saw it and complained. It was viewed as an act kids could imitate and they have to stay PG.

 

Everything they do can be imitated. How many children have died from inflicting pro moves to their friends or siblings in the last ten years?

So, if that's the case, a sponsor being unhappy, and this isn't a work, and in turns out to be a legit firing, then Danielson would have room to file a lawsuit then?

[kjh]

Who says the business higher ups Dave's been speaking to haven't been working him? It's not out of the question, as Donna Goldsmith and Michelle Wilson are experts of corporate doublespeak, artfully selling the WWE company line no matter how ridiculous or unfactual. I mean if I believed WWE directors and their official press releases Floyd Mayweather was paid $20 million to participate at WrestleMania and Donald Trump bought Monday Night Raw from Vince McMahon!

[rovert]

Kind of a side question on the "Saturday morning" WWE shows are "Dont try this at home" bumpers aired? Over in the UK & Ireland those have evolved from "Dont try this at home" to "Dont try this at home or school" to I think now "Dont try this at home or school or anywhere." I wonder how legally that all progressed.

[Dan]

Who says the business higher ups Dave's been speaking to haven't been working him? It's not out of the question, as Donna Goldsmith and Michelle Wilson are experts of corporate doublespeak, artfully selling the WWE company line no matter how ridiculous or unfactual. I mean if I believed WWE directors and their official press releases Floyd Mayweather was paid $20 million to participate at WrestleMania and Donald Trump bought Monday Night Raw from Vince McMahon!

Yeah, the way Dave talks about the non-worker execs is funny. As if only 'workers' have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge. Last I checked, lying, deception, and total bullshit have been part of the business world since the beginning of time. 'Caveat emptor,' as those old dudes in togas used to say.

[KrisZ]

The latest from Meltz

 

Regarding the Bryan Danielson situation, it's best to assume it's a work. May not be, but work or shoot, the way it was handled at this point makes no sense. If they went to the extent they did to make it an elaborate work, why give it away two days later as opposed to waiting for the moment on TV? If he really was fired, by this point there would be an explanation as to who exactly complained. With the inability to pinpoint it, the story starts to make less sense. If there was a rule violation, it wasn't something to be fired over and why was it shot because even if he didn't know, the director should. It may just be WWE trying to get its characters over on Twitter, given the doctrine for the guys to all get accounts.

[Jingus]

So, what exactly, got Danielson fired? Him choking Roberts with the tie was a scripted spot, I'm sure of it. I doubt Danielson would go into business for himself like that...and if he did, why pick a ring announcer? Nevertheless, if this isn't a work (which I think is a work) and Danielson was fired for choking Roberts, wouldn't he have grounds for a lawsuit? I mean, he was following a scripted and ordered spot from the agents, followed it, and was subsequently fired for it. Something isn't right here if it's real.

As previously mentioned, the entire angle was technically unscripted. It wasn't written down on the television format, so that it couldn't possibly leak before it happened. So there might not be any paper trail at all even if he was indeed told to go choke the guy.

 

If this is indeed real, then just firing Danielson does make sense from WWE's corporate point of view. I imagine it could've gone something like this?

 

Mattel: Hey, what the fuck was the deal with the attempted strangling on Raw last night? You're not supposed to do stuff like that!

WWE: Yeah, we're so sorry, won't happen again.

M: Did you tell that wrestler to go out and perform that hideous act, thus breaking the terms of our licensing agreement regarding what's acceptable for us to sponsor?

W: Uh... no, not at all! He did that all by himself. (And please, call them "sports entertainers" or "WWE superstars".)

M: Well if he did it by himself, how can you be sure he won't do something like that again? We're not going to pay money to a client which can't maintain reasonable control of its own employees.

W: Yeah, sure, we'll wish him the best in his future endeavours right away.

M: ...what?

W: I mean, he's fired, you'll never have to worry about him again and your brand name is perfectly safe with our perfectly micromanaged programming.

[rovert]

The latest from Meltz

 

Regarding the Bryan Danielson situation, it's best to assume it's a work. May not be, but work or shoot, the way it was handled at this point makes no sense. If they went to the extent they did to make it an elaborate work, why give it away two days later as opposed to waiting for the moment on TV? If he really was fired, by this point there would be an explanation as to who exactly complained. With the inability to pinpoint it, the story starts to make less sense. If there was a rule violation, it wasn't something to be fired over and why was it shot because even if he didn't know, the director should. It may just be WWE trying to get its characters over on Twitter, given the doctrine for the guys to all get accounts.

Im more interested in Dave's phone records this weekend than Raw, seriously.

[KrisZ]

Wade Barrett just said that Daniel Bryan had remorse and won't be coming back. They don't mention fired guys on TV so take that for what it's worth.

[rovert]

Wade Barrett just said that Daniel Bryan had remorse and won't be coming back. They don't mention fired guys on TV so take that for what it's worth.

Bret was terrible in that segment. WW(BLEEP)

Wade tremondous though wasnt he?

[Guest Cobra Commander]

there was a nice transition by referring to them as "The NXT 7" (which wouldn't be all that bad a name) to mentioning that it was an 8-on-1 attack.

 

Who was the last WWE guy to go from being in the main event segment to getting fired within a week, Kennedy?

[sek69]

I hate to sound like Dave, but it seemed pretty clear that "Daniel Bryan" is gone and they're probably going to bring him back under his real name. Just the fact that they mentioned the name of someone who was endeavored (which to my knowledge they've never done), makes it seem that's the plan. If it was a shoot firing they'd have found some way to bury him on the way out without mentioning his name.

 

Maybe since they planted the seeds of him having a change of heart, he'll end up joining the WWE side and be the hero.

[Sean Liska]

I don't know how to read Barrett's comments. On one hand, they would have to acknowledge him not being around after being pushed on TV so much the past few weeks. On the other, saying that he will *never* be seen again kinda sounds like WWE trolling the internet again. And I still can't wrap my head around Cena signing a Danielson petition on his twitter if it's real. I can't remember the last time something in wrestling was so confusing.

[Guest Cobra Commander]

If Danielson is returning during the NXT 7 thing, it'd be as a good guy, saying that he was the only one not totally onboard. Then he'd hang out with Cena and Bourne and people would act like Danielson wasn't unemployed for 90 days.

 

Although there are humorous benefits to the idea of screwing with people on the internet

[Jingus]

Just the fact that they mentioned the name of someone who was endeavored (which to my knowledge they've never done), makes it seem that's the plan. If it was a shoot firing they'd have found some way to bury him on the way out without mentioning his name.

They kinda have, if you count Punk mentioning Jeff Hardy's arrest. Not exactly the same thing, admittedly. Did they have any onscreen explanation at all about why Kennedy was a main eventer one week and unemployed the next? Admittedly that wasn't the same either, since Kennedy had plenty of enemies but everyone apparently loved Danielson.

 

I still don't understand this whole "fire someone mid-week and then never mention them again" mindset. You've put plenty of time and effort into these characters; why throw that away? Why not at least have some other superstar destroy them on their way out? It would provide a double benefit: it puts over the wrestlers who still work here, and it would explain to the marks why this guy is gone instead of him just vanishing into thin air without even a token explanation.

[sek69]

I think the "WWE Universe" broke Twitter, it's been coming up with a system overload message for the last hour or so.

[MikeCampbell]

Other than the Jeff Hardy thing, the only other times I can recall someone being mentioned by name on WWE TV after they'd left the company were Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Hall in 2002, when Flair (RAW GM) made an offhand remark that Hall had been fired. Nash in 2005 during a Jericho/Christian segment where Cena and HBK had a mystery partner and Jericho commented that Nash would blow out his knee answering the phone.