YES: A look at what went wrong and its ramifications
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, May 12th, 2012 at 10:44 AM (4562 Views)
Earlier in the year I made a blog entry about my most anticipated match of the year, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus at Wrestlemania 28. I talked all about what happened the year before, how disappointed I had become with the WWE over it, and how it was so clear that they were going to set things right and give these two fantastic wrestlers a chance to wow the crowd at home and in the arena. Then it happened. The bell rang, Sheamus kicked Daniel Bryan in the face, and it was over. In 18 seconds.
This match opened the show and absolutely killed both the crowd and me. How could they do this twice now. How fucking stupid are these people? When will I get the match I've wanted for two years now? That was the match I paid to see at Wrestlemania 28. Above CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho, above The Rock vs. John Cena, I wanted to see Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus. Two hours after that match I was still semi numb and very pissed off about it, and I wasn't the only one.
Throughout the show you could hear people chanting Daniel Bryan and YES, his catchphrase. The YES chants became so popular that the night after, despite not appearing on the show, there were YES chants in the arena almost at all times. Even when Brock Lesnar returned, shocking the world, there were still YES chants permeating. The fans had sent a message, they were not pleased.
Meanwhile, on Smackdown with Daniel Bryan and Sheamus still feuding with each other, things were looking quite strange. Smackdown is taped on Tuesday and aired on Friday in the US, as opposed to Raw which is live every Monday. This gives the WWE time to properly edit things and present the product the way they want it. But something went horribly wrong the first Friday after Wrestlemania.
When Flight of the Valkyries hit and Daniel Bryan walked himself to ringside, it was very obvious to all but the blind that the crowd were going crazy for him. You could visibly see everyone point with him and scream YES along with him. Only, you couldn't hear it. Instead there were piped in boos. And when Sheamus came out later in the show, they "turned on the hairdryer" despite several people in the audience clearly booing him.
Then, on Monday, they both came out on Raw, and the same thing happened. Only this time, they couldn't edit it out. This time the YESes and the boos were in full effect. But then on Smackdown it didn't stop them that very week from applying the hairdryer and muting the cheers. However, the WWE seems to have taken notice.
At Extreme Rules two weeks ago, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan finally had the match that I wanted them to have. In a 2/3 falls bout, Sheamus emerged victorious in what was arguably the match of the night. And now they have moved both of these men away from each other, so that Sheamus no longer gets saddled with the heat from the disastrous 18 seconds at Wrestlemania.
I hope that the WWE truly has learned from this, but I fear that their absurd joke of 18 seconds was only the beginning. It almost seems like next year Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan will happen again, but this time it will be 9 seconds. Or bumped off the card again. Or put on youtube as a preshow. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but as the old adage says "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I won't be fooled again WWE.