Dr. Wrestling:The Return of The Dragon

A few weeks ago, the cast of NXT season one stormed the ring on Raw and what followed was one of the most intriguing conclusions to the show in recent memory. The angle was something that people wanted to tune in to see what happened next, but the buzz around the actual angle lasted less than a week when it was reported that Daniel Bryan AKA “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson had been released from the company for choking ring announcer, Justin Roberts with a tie. Now before I discuss this situation any further, it’s important to mention that while everyone seems to have their own view on this, the one constant that is that Danielson shouldn’t have been released. From what’s been mentioned about the situation, it seems as though choking someone with a tie is against the WWE’s PG policy, which is understandable in some ways because of the events of the past few years, but for their to be claims that it was too violent is ridiculous. IT’S PRO WRESTLING! Yes, I understand that the WWE is presenting sports entertainment, but if you’re going to have a show with a wrestling ring then it shouldn’t be too surprising to see some violence during the show.

The fact that Danielson is great in the right and certainly has the talent to be on the WWE roster is nearly irrevelent here. The main thing that is disappointing in my view is that Danielson appears to be a victim of WWE’s use of the PG policy to maintain their idea of a good image of a publically traded company or to improve Linda McMahon’s odds of winning a senate seat or whatever. If you watch the footage again, you will notice that the camera didn’t cut away during the choking incident so it seems like the choking incident was only a problem after it aired on TV. As far as using choke holds, it’s not okay for Danielson to use a tie, but it’s ok for Triple H or HBK to use the cross face? It’s too violent for Danielson to use a tie, but it was ok for Triple H to break into Randy Orton’s house with a sledge hammer to build up the terrible Wrestlemania match last year. Choking with a tie? You’re fired. Assault with a deadly weapon? Wrestlemania main event. Obviously, the WWE is lacking logic for what it or isn’t too violent.

Bryan Danielson made a name for himself in the Ring Of Honor promotion so while a return is technically possible and ROH could really use the star power, I doubt it will happen. ROH has reportedly had financial problems and Dragon signed with WWE to advance his carer so it wouldn’t make too much sense for him to return to ROH. Another reason I doubt Dragon will return to ROH is that Dragon can do more for ROH as a company than ROH can do for Dragon’s career so again it wouldn’t make sense for him to return to ROH.

What is Bryan Danielson’s future? It’s possible that the WWE could resign him at some point and it would seem like a wise decision if they want to get the focus back on the NXT angle rather than a wrestler that is no longer under contract. Regardless, Danielson didn’t deserve to be released and hopefully he will be resigned by the WWE.

Until next week

That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It.