WWE: Looking at the bigger picture

It’s a fascinating time to be a wrestling fan once again. After two years, there is something interesting happening in the WWE, as there is a paradigm shift in the biggest global entertainment organization. Other than the Summer of Punk angle and the returns of The Undertaker, there hasn’t been much to talk about in the past two years. This summer provided us with two situations; the feud of the summer between CM Punk and Paul Heyman, and the angle of the summer between Daniel Bryan and the corporation. With the same repetitive storylines being played out in the WWE, this has brought a new breath of life, something the WWE and the fans direly needed.

Before I say anything else, I’ll let this sink in: Two of the biggest fan favourites in the past decade, two “indy darlings” who were told they’d never make it in the big organizations, are the number one and two faces in the WWE. If not anything, just the fact and CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are currently the hottest superstars in the WWE should get the fans excited.

After clamouring for nearly eight years, the WWE fans now have an alternative between Cena and Punk/Bryan. Now that we’ve cleared that up, let us move on to the subject that is being discussed in the wrestling world today. Are Punk and Bryan being booked correctly? Punk just lost another match which included Heyman, and Bryan once again couldn’t hold on to the title for more than 24 hours.

I am an old-school fan. I like feuds being played out in their entirety. Like a movie where the hero gets his hands on the devious villain after a long chase, I like to see the babyface give his everything to finally get his hands on the proverbial Excalibur of professional wrestling. That implies to both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.

At the Night of Champions, I didn’t want either of the two to win their respective matches, just because it isn’t the right time yet. Daniel Bryan’s victory needs to be something special, something memorable, while CM Punk finally getting his hands on Heyman should be a big deal. It should be like the Andre-Hogan confrontation; down the line when Punk finally gets his hands on Heyman after months of struggle, it’ll be a huge deal, and that’s the route WWE has taken.

Coming to the second biggest sensation, Daniel Bryan has earned his spot as the biggest star in the company today. Bryan, for what it’s worth, has found a way to do what the Cenas and Rocks couldn’t do. He has made the fans invest in him, and get behind him in the underdog story. Daniel Bryan isn’t just the best wrestler in the world today, but he has found a way to become the biggest wrestling personality in the world! After wrestling in high school gyms and sleeping in his car, Daniel Bryan has finally reached the pinnacle of this great industry, and he deserves every good thing that is coming his way. But now comes the question – has he already reached his saturation point? Has he realized his maximum potential? The answer is no.

In the entertainment industry, there is a saying that you need to make the fans beg for more. Don’t give them the half pie, make them wait and finally deliver the goods when they can’t hold back anymore. Daniel Bryan isn’t your everyday case; for the first time after fifteen years, Daniel Bryan has achieved the “common man underdog story” that only Steve Austin achieved. I am not comparing Austin with Bryan; they are two very different characters, and have different ways of triggering the emotions of the fans. But Daniel Bryan, for whatever reason, has captivated the fans with his underdog persona. Giving him the title now would be great; it’ll be a success story. But WWE needs an inspirational story to be written, and Bryan needs to wait a bit longer for that to happen.

I, for one, have been enjoying the build-up, as it is teasing the fans about what is to come in the near future. Like all the great feuds in the past, WWE is taking its time to build the rivalries and the eventual blow off match, which will make for an interesting period in the WWE. After seeing the negative reaction about Punk and Bryan, I had to give a piece of my mind about why this can only be a good thing. In WWE, like in everything else, you always look at the bigger picture. Why should we be contended with “good” if we can get better? And that is exactly what WWE is doing.