The Postgame: 9-9-13

YES! ....and No.

“Here’s the thing they don’t understand: there is satisfaction in the struggle," Daniel Bryan said in the opening segment, hosted by a SyFy show-promoting Edge. "Because I know no matter how many times Randy Orton attacks me from behind, no matter how many times The Shield triple powerbombs me, no matter how many knockout punches I eat from giants, and no matter how many times Triple H tries to hold me down, I will beat Randy Orton, I will regain the title, and I will be the WWE champion! YES!”





It was another excellent promo in a summer full of them from Bryan, and elegance of the "satisfaction in the struggle" line in particular crystallized not only his motivation, but why it's OK that this isn't quite like Austin v. McMahon:

Because Daniel Bryan isn't Stone Cold. And Triple H isn't Vince McMahon. Austin and Vince were cartoon characters. Yes, Austin was portrayed as the "everyman," and Vince was playing off his real-life owner status. But Austin wasn't an everyman. He was John McClane or Jack Bauer with a Texas twang. And while Vince was playing the role of himself, it was obviously a highly caricatured version of it. As I've said before, Bryan and Triple H are playing believable versions of themselves that exist on that thin line that separates real from "real."

So it worked for Bryan to get beaten down on seven straight shows. Look at your own reaction, you jaded, snarky smark! You were getting legitimately upset that they were ending every show with Bryan getting screwed over and beaten down. When was the last time they've been able to establish this level of heel heat with no ironic, detached cheering from the meta section of the fanbase? It's nuclear. Bryan is, at worst, equally as over as Punk. And you could easily argue it's much bigger than that, that these are the biggest, purely visceral face reactions since Austin and Rock's heyday.

But...is a long-term, slow burn to an epic Bryan/HHH match at Wrestlemania XXX going to make for must-see, monthly PPVs? On the show where they did more to establish Orton as a viably dominant heel champion than at any other point in the last month- as opposed to merely Triple H's avatar- it happened to be the show in which Bryan needed to get a modicum of momentum back. Frankly, it would have been interesting to see Bryan never get the upper hand, and still get screwed at Night of Champions.

Now it seems highly telegraphed that Bryan, with his momentum back heading into the big show, will again get screwed. (With nowhere else to put this, let's make the perfunctory but necessary note that Bryan/Ambrose was, as you'd expect, very good, probably somewhere in the ***1/4-ish range; however, something was clearly and rightfully left on the table for when they inevitably have a one-on-one PPV match, much like the Punk/Bryan TV affairs of 2012.) And, if this is going to be as slow of a burn, as long of a con, as it looks like...shouldn't he?

It makes for a terrific long-term storyline if it ends with the heels getting their comeuppance. (Though we're all aware that for whatever reason- and the reason doesn't matter, because you're going to choose whatever reason fits the narrative you want for the polarizing figure that is Paul Levesque- that the heel getting his comeuppance isn't a guarantee in a Triple H storyline).

But it's unclear, despite Bryan's brilliance and Orton turning in the best work of his career, if it's going to make for must-see pay per view on a monthly basis.

From Killer to Kitsch

The Punk/Heyman/Axel storyline....I'm enjoying watching it, I guess is the best I can say? What started out as a vicious blood feud that Axel's involvement as Heyman's heavy was deemed as tolerable has devolved into kitschy, campy silliness. 

It seems like it's a necessary development, because Axel has been exposed as woefully unready for this level. One almost wishes this was the time that Punk could have taken off, instead of earlier in the year, savaged by Brock Lesnar's brutal Summerslam beating in their all-time classic. In the meantime, maybe they could have taken actual steps to get Axel ready on a personal performance level- and establish him more on a storyline level- to do this part of the story at a time closer to Lesnar's return to build to a Wrestlemania rematch.

As it stands, it seems like there's too much time and not enough important things that can happen in this story between now and Lesnar's return. While it's rare to have this much long-term focus in what are normally lean fall months, I'm fearful they'll get restless without enough compelling television to bridge the long gaps between now and what could be an epic Wrestlemania buildup in both of their top storylines. 

Is Depth Overrated? 

Sorry, it isn't college basketball season yet. That's when I make the argument against the importance of depth. (Which isn't to say you can't run a team off the floor with the right kind of depth, but few teams recruit enough really good players to do that. And I digress, fully aware how few of you probably give a shit about college basketball.) In professional wrestling? Yeah, it kind of is. 

Having a huge storyline establishing a guy who hits the trifecta of being massively over with everyone/IWC darling/elite worker as your tippy-top guy is terrific. Using big (no pun intended) players like Big Show and midding players like the Rhodes brothers to supplement it is smart. Having a storyline with your other top babyface that exists in its own world separate from the other goings-on is also shrewd, giving us something else that matters in an exhausting three-hour show. (I know I'm reviewing it, but sorry, the fast-forward button is still getting used. Those who do the tedious labor of detailing every last segment are doing saintly work, but that'll never be me. It's three fucking hours. I'm not pretending every segment deserves our time, or our thoughts.) 

But while it's given Show, Rhodes and The Shield a purpose and an important spot on the card, it's leaving players like Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Ryback, Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam toiling in garbage minutes. Regardless of what your opinion may be on any of these peformers individually, there is no doubt that they've seen diminished roles in recent weeks as the focus has been on a huge, star-making storyline. We aren't getting an opportunity to find out if Bray Wyatt can work. And it's early; he has time. But that was a lot of buildup to simply let them kind of exist, and grow into their own in time. Dolph Ziggler was almost as on fire as a new, main event babyface as Daniel Bryan a few months ago, and now he's jobbing nearly clean to Wyatt in nothing matches. 

Meanwhile, I almost forgot Del Rio and RVD were having a title match on Sunday. We spent their buildup seeing ADR beat R-Truth for what seems like the 85th time (in reality, I don't even remember if they've wrestled each other at all; what's important is it SEEMS like we've pointlessly seen it that many times) and RVD's momentum-building into NoC consist of being fodder for the furthering of Ryback's bully character. Is there no one RVD couldn't have gotten a win over going into the PPV? Is there no one expendable for Ryback to have shoved around? Couldn't we have gotten a heated, pull-apart brawl between Del Rio and Van Dam to even pretend like they want us to care about that match? Listen, whoever's buying this show is doing so for Orton/Bryan and maybe to see if Punk tears Heyman apart, but at least pretend there's something else you want us to part with our money over. 

You've Still Got It

Now, THAT'S building some heel heat. Hats off to Goldust for putting his working boots on to the tune of a legitimately great TV match with Randy Orton. It accomplished multiple goals: it put the focus back on Randy Orton as a killer heel- even subtly alluding to his Legend Killer past without anyone saying a word about it- heading into the PPV, it built even more heat for the new Corporation, it gave us our requisite good, long match to kill a chunk of these interminable three hours, and it also built heat for a fascinating sub-story with Cody Rhodes. Even if it's left too many guys with too little of import to do, if the McMahons and HHH take a personal involvement in a story you know it's going to get their full attention.

There are plenty of semi-legends who are still spry enough to fill the roles that Edge and Goldust filled this week: give us someone for Randy Orton to destroy, someone for Triple H to step on verbally who doesn't need to worry about getting heat back. This is where we could have used a Kevin Nash fall cameo. This is where Mick Foley's supposed real life heat with Levesque could play out on the meta level. This- as Edge referred to- is a spot for Chris Jericho's next comeback to have some meaning. 

So we head into a traditionally lifeless September show with one more major storyline worth caring about than we usually have this time of year, but little certainty that it will manifest itself in a show anyone actually needs to see. 

See you next week on the Postgame.