Despite the fact that that many within WWE still think Daniel Bryan’s release is a work and part of an angle, all indications are that he has indeed been released.
For those who haven’t been following the story, Bryan was released after a (still unknown) powerful figure complained that Bryan’s conduct during the NXT invasion on RAW went beyond what the company allows on television. Bryan choked ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie and spit on John Cena, which WWE management considered grounds for releasing him.
WWE officials have told everyone in the company about Bryan’s release – from executives to the marketing department. Bryan is already seeking work on the independent scene. The final decision to release Bryan was made early Friday and he was informed shortly before WWE announced it on the company website.
WWE gave Bryan the impression that they would work together in the future, but for now – he’s a casualty of company politics.
Danielson’s last match with WWE was on Wednesday night at the FCW event in Florida where he took part in a continuation of the NXT invasion.
Obviously the invasion angle will be hurt now with his departure as he was considered the most well-rounded star of the group.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s WWE release this week.
“I was surprised to get up Saturday morning and to read that Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson had been released from WWE,” wrote Ross. “I am not sure of the exact circumstances and until that information is confirmed it’s hard to make any definitive comments. Bryan is a talented wrestler who is not going to have any trouble finding work. His in ring style is unique, the young man has certainly paid his ‘dues,’ what ever that means now days, and he’s arguably the most talked about performer on NXT.”
Ross acknowledges that Daniel Bryan is in a unique position to capitalize on the strong push he’s had in recent weeks, culminating with him laying out WWE champion John Cena in his final WWE appearance.
“Certainly Bryan leaves WWE with momentum and with more fans knowing his name than at any point in his career,” Ross said. “Plus, who is to say that Bryan will never return to WWE? There may be a great deal more to this matter than any of us know or, honestly, need to know at this time.”
(Credit to F4Wonline.com for some of the info used in this report)
People in WWE, including the creative team, were told that Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) was fired for choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie during the NXT invasion angle on RAW this past Monday.
The shot was edited from replays of the angle and was described as being too violent for what WWE allows on it’s programming.
There’s talk that a very powerful person (either in WWE or from the USA Network) complained to WWE officials about the angle, claiming that Bryan’s choking of Justin Roberts was way too extreme for the children who may have been watching.
The feeling within the WWE locker room is that Daniel Bryan is being uused as a scapegoat. WWE apparently does want to bring him back once the whole thing blows over.
For what it’s worth, Danielson has been described as having a great attitude backstage and “the type of person you would want your locker room filled with.”
WWE made the following announcement on their official website late Friday night:
“WWE has come to terms on the release of NXT first season rookie Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) as of today June 11, 2010. We wish Daniel Bryan the best in all future endeavors.”
After checking with our sources in WWE, it appears the release of Daniel Bryan is legit. WWE executives Donna Goldsmith and Michelle Wilson were informed of Daniel Bryan’s release before the news was made public.
While it’s still possible that this is part of a storyline and this could be another example of WWE’s new initiative feature more realistic elements in their storytelling, the fact that WWE executives were informed of the release first leads us to believe it’s legit.
On Tuesday’s NXT Season 2 premiere show, we saw the debut of a new female ring announcer – developmental diva Jamie Keyes. We’ve done some research and have some more information regarding the lovely Ms. Keyes.
Jamie Keyes’ real name is Brittany Beede and she’s a model from Sarasota, Florida. She recently opened a Twitter page at Twitter.com/realjamiekeyes.
Keyes worked briefly with TNA last year, accompanying Kevin Nash to the ring at December’s Final Resolution pay-per-view.
She was also set to work with women’s wrestling promotion Wrestleicious and recently filmed some promo footage for them, but received a call from WWE last month and the rest is history.
Credit to reader Shannon Sylvia and Wrestling News World for this live report from Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown! tapings from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay, Florida:
WWE SmackDown (Airing Friday)
* SmackDown opens with a recap of The Undertaker being found in a vegetative state where Kane vows there will be vengeance. Rey Mysterio is then shown winning last week’s Battle Royal match for Undertaker’s vacant spot at WWE’s upcoming Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.
* Big Show will take on CM Punk while Jack Swagger will take on Rey Mysterio. Fatal 4-Way participants compete with Mysterio and Swagger kicking off this week’s edition of SmackDown.
* Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger
Rey comes out and talks about last week’s show where he won the SmackDown battle royal and says it’ll be his World Title. He’s cut off by Jack Swagger’s music. Swagger comes out and tells Rey to capitalize on the misfortune of The Undertaker. He then mocks Mysterio where he says he was winning in. Lots of 619 chants. Rey thinks all that education went to a waste and says he’s proud of his heritage. CM Punks comes out with SES and says “Malcom X got JFK in 1963” and this time he fell victim to the Season One NXT rookies. Punk then talks about how he’ll be a four time straightedge World Heavyweight Champion.
Rey Mysterio tells CM Punk that he is daring to take his mask off after Punk had his head shaved. Big Show comes out and says he will take care of business where he’ll beat three competitors and walk out the World Champion. Big Show then mocks Punk by saying he looks good bald. He can’t help but wonder if Kane’s responsible for Undertaker’s demise. When Kane finds out who did it someone will end up in Taker’s casket. Kane says it could be four people that did it and promises their will be vengeance.
Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger finally begins with a few back and forth moves. Swagger holds Rey to the ground until Rey rolls out of it and hits a move that sends Jack flying from the ring. Swagger smashes Mysterio into the turnbuckle. Rey hits a 619 and a frog-splash for a two-count. Rey is shocked. The two go at each other with Rey hitting a few moves until he tosses Jack back into the ring. Rey gets thrown out of the ring as Swagger stands tall until; he goes out of the ring and beats him up. Swagger goes for a submission move but Rey fights back until Swagger hits a clothesline for a nearfall. Swagger tries for a suplex off of the turnbuckle for a nearfall but ultimately gets heat from the fans. Rey makes a comeback and gets the win after reversing the gutwrench powerbomb into a 619.
After the match Swagger attacks Rey until Kane comes out and takes both of them out.
* Layla w/Michelle McCool & Kaval b. Tiffany w/Kelly Kelly
Lay-Cool came out and tell the crowd to be quiet and said they are there to get a famous flawless makeover. Michelle McCool starts teaching Kaval a lesson. The match was fairly short with Michelle distracting the referee. Layla got the win after a sloppy neckbreaker.
* Christian b. Dolph Ziggler
Vickie Guerrero comes out and introduces Dolph Ziggler after Christian came out to the ring. The match starts with Vickie watching. Dolph dominates the first part of the match even hitting a stunner on Christian. Christian eventually gains control over the match and gets the win with a rollup pinfall. After the match Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer make a statement. Dolph then puts Christian in a sleeperhold and then he walks out with Vickie.
* Kane is shown looking over the casket with dead roses on top. He says that his soul is empty and he will lead vengeance into hell.
* Drew MacIntyre comes out and demands that Teddy Long comes out. Long comes out and Drew tells him to watch what happened to him last week on Raw. He says that Matt Hardy is suspended from all WWE programming. Drew then gets in Teddy’s face. Kofi Kingston comes out and says he earned the Intercontinental Championship like a man. Kofi and Drew exchange blows until Kofi finally takes him out.
* Teddy Long is then shown on the phone. Drew comes into his office and says next week he’ll be taking him on. If Long loses, he’ll be fired according to Mr. McMahon.
* Big Show b. CM Punk w/SES via DQ
CM Punk and Big Show start out doing their boxing moves. Punk then goes for a kick and climbs until Show dares him to give him a KO punch. Show tries to rip off Punk’s mask followed by some chops. Show goes for the chokeslam and once again tries to remove Punk’s mask. SES and a ‘hooded’ individual come in the ring and take out Big Show. Kane comes out and cleans house. He takes Big Show out with a chokeslam. This ends this week’s edition of SmackDown.
Dark Match Main Event
– Big Show & Rey Mysterio beat Jack Swagger & CM Punk w/SES in a dark steel cage main event match.
Last month, Carlos Colon, father of former WWE superstar Carlito, made headlines when he stated that Carlito had a problem with prescription pain pills and left WWE after refusing to enter rehab.
TNA founder Jeff Jarrett was interviewed this week by Fanhouse.com to promote Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what Jarrett said about:
His Role in TNA: “I have zero to do with that (creative). It’s a breath of fresh air for myself because it’s a consuming job. At times, it completely consumes your life where it’s almost like you can’t see the forest through the trees. It not only takes up a lot of time but it takes up, I guess you could say, a lot of mental space.”
Being Engaged to Karen Angle & His relationship with Kurt Angle: “Me and Kurt are good and that’s a private matter and I’ll definitely leave it at that. I don’t discuss things like that. But it’s a very good, thriving relationship.”
– WWE Champion John Cena has posted his first message on Twitter since the brutal beatdown he suffered at the hands of the NXT rookies at the end of RAW. Cena wrote:
“CeNation. Sorry for delay. Checked out fine. Mild concussion and some back and hip trouble, but I am in 1 piece. Thank u for your concern.”
– The fan voting at Monday’s Viewer’s Choice RAW was legitimate. While the writing of Monday’s show did push fans to vote for particular people, they had plans in place for each scenario in the fan voting didn’t go as the company hoped for.
– WWE’s website had 12.4 million unique visitors for the month of April. The WWE Shop website averaged 633 orders per day and shipped 277,000 DVDs for the month, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
-There is a new movement in WWE’s overall booking philosophy to feature more realistic programming and to push younger, smaller stars. The NXT invasion on RAW and the recent storyline with Daniel Bryan vs. Michael Cole are examples of angles that are “out of the norm” for WWE.
WWE also knows that stars like The Undertaker, Triple H, Edge, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and Big Show won’t be around forever. Some of today’s top young talents (The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan, Kaval) are smaller than the current breed of main eventers and the company realizes that the smaller guys need to be portrayed well. Evan Bourne in particular is in line for a big push and has the endorsement of John Cena, but it remains to be seen how committed WWE is to the push.
– As we reported earlier this week, the reaction backstage after the NXT invasion on RAW was very positive. The angle was kept a secret from almost everyone in the company and wasn’t even listed on the show’s script.
– Following the NXT invasion on RAW, there are plans for John Cena to feud with Wade Barrett for the WWE championship this summer. The match could headline a summer pay-per-view and would be another example of WWE shooting another young star to the top in a feud with John Cena, ala Sheamus.
– Speaking of John Cena, he is still scheduled to appear at this week’s live WWE events, but WWE will likely want to sell the beatdown he suffered on RAW – so he may not wrestle this week.
– Tuesday’s WWE NXT Season 2 premiere did a 1.07 cable rating with 1,529,000 viewers. Viewersihp was up 8% compared to last week’s Season 1 finale.
– WWE creative is currently happy with the Michelle McCool – Layla tag team, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While some saw them as a “Beautiful People” knockoff at first, Lay Cool is seen as a hot act with a lot of potential.
The NXT Invasion storyline continued at last night’s WWE developmental show in Florida.
The main event was scheduled to be The Miz and Daniel Bryan vs. Christian and Heath Slater – but that match never happened. The Miz’s music played before the match but nobody came out. Christian came out next and talked about what happened on RAW, then called out Heath Slater. Slater talked about how everything started off fine between them – but then Christian wouldn’t give him the answers so they lost the competition.
Daniel Bryan then ran out and attacked Christian from behind. The Miz came down next and helped Christian fight off the NXT rookies. Miz grabbed a microphone and proposed that they switch partners – and instead have a Pros vs. Rookies match. Miz and Christian worked as babyfaces during the match.
As Miz and Christian were about to hit their finishing moves on the Rookies, the rest of the NXT Season 1 Rookies rushed the ring and beat down Miz and Christian
As we saw on RAW, the Rookies destroyed the ringside area and tore down the FCW ring -Â before Bryan kicked Miz in the head and Slater hit the Killswitch on Christian. The Rookies left with the Pros laid out.
The NXT Invasion angle looks like it’s here to stay. Considering the strong feedback we got here on the site and the overall buzz in the industry this week, WWE has finally gone back to basics with a captivating wrestling angle that might just keep fans tuned in this summer.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon showed up at WWE’s television tapings this past week with two black eyes and a cut over one eye that went to his forehead, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Nobody seemed to know what happened. Everyone was talking about it privately, but as you can imagine, nobody wanted to be overheard speculating about how Vince got so banged up.
Vince never addressed the situation publicly and if he did tell anybody what happened – they’re not talking about it.
Our source says it looked like Vince got into a fight or car accident. Most figured he was in an accident, because if it were a fight, it would be hard to keep that quiet.
Reader Gary C from Springfield, MO (SEScoops member “GCMissouri”) sent in this report:
Conservative pundit Ann Coulter wrote in her weekly column that she hoped that Sarah Palin would endorse McMahon’s Republican Primary opponent Bob Simmons because otherwise the Republicans would be “kissing the possibility of a major upset in Connecticut goodbye.”
Coulter described Linda as a “professional wrestling impresario” and expressed disappointment that those who attended the GOP caucus in CT last month endorsed Linda due only to the fact that “offered to spend up to $50 million of her own money on the campaign.” Coulter said that “any half-wit knows” that people in CT would not vote for her.
Coulter outlined in 19 of 20 instances where a candidate said they would spend a great deal of their own money… those candidates did not win. She argued that if McMahon is nominated that Republicans would blow a big opportunity for them to pickup a U.S. Senate seat vs. the Democrat candidate Richard Blumenthal, who was strongly criticized for recently lying about his Vietnam War service last month.
Coulter is an influential conservative writer and commentator that is quite popular among Republican voters at the grassroots level and Tea-Party members, so this cannot be good news for Linda.
– The Undertaker underwent surgery this past week on his damaged orbital bone. As we reported earlier this week, the Undertaker is expected to be off television until SummerSlam. When he returns, there are plans for a program with World Heavyweight champion Jack Swagger – a sign that Swagger’s title is safe for now.
– Attendance figures are in for WWE’s recent European tour are in and the numbers are not good. This tour averaged 6,600 paid fans per show while last year’s tour averaged 8,100 paid fans per show – a decline of 18.5%. Considering the fact that WWE has relied on the strength of its international business when business has been down in the United States, this is something to be concerned about.
– Chris Jericho’s new gig as a game show host for ABC network’s “Downfall” show has been a major topic of discussion backstage in WWE for the past 2 weeks. The company was unable to talk Jericho out of doing the show. Jericho is under contract with WWE until this Fall and his new gig has caused many to fear he’ll get others in the entertainment business that would cause him to take another hiatus from WWE.
— WGN America will be airing a baseball game on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 7 p.m. (ET), so WWE Superstars is being bumped to 10 p.m. (ET), head-to-head with hour two of TNA iMPACT!. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Beth Phoenix, who is currently out with a torn ACL, said on Twitter that she was backstage at last night’s SmackDown taping in Tampa, Florida. She wrote: “In attendance at Smackdown taping in Tampa for a great opportunity that I’m so thrilled about! Its an emotional visit.So hard to not work”
— Kofi Kingston and MVP will be appearing at the Toys “R” Us located in New York City on Saturday, June 19th at 1:30 p.m. The first 400 customers to purchase $50 worth of Mattel’s WWE merchandise will receive a ticket to the signing. Fans must purchase said merchandise through the Personal Shopping department on Level 3 of the Times Square store. Kingston and MVP will only be autographing their respective Mattel action figures or a provided WWE trading card.
Video game website Gamespot.com recently met with THQ and got a first look at the all-new WWE All Stars game. WWE All Stars will be a “larger than life” arcade-style game featuring the superstars of today as well as legends from past eras. The characters in WWE All Stars are super-sized and look like action figures. The game is more fast-paced than the other WWE video games and is being described as a hybrid of a wrestling game and a fighting game.
Button combos will play a big part of the player’s offense and a “juggle system” will let you string together multiple slams and throws in a row. During these juggle combos, the game uses slow motion technology. In the gameplay footage shown (which you can see below), The Rock’s People’s Elbow has him jumping high into the air as does the Rock Bottom, with lots of visual effects to emphasize the move.
WWE All Stars is set to be released in early 2011 and is being developed by THQ San Diego, which also worked on the TNA iMPACT game.
The video below contains an interview with one of the developers from THQ and some gameplay footage of a match between John Cena and The Rock.
Video game website Gamespot.com recently sat down with THQ and got a first look at WWE’s SmackDown vs. RAW 2011 video game, set to be released this Fall. Here are some of the new features in this year’s game, followed by a video of Gamespot’s interview with THQ and some gameplay footage.
– The game will feature a new physics system that will make all objects look more realistic. The TLC match especially will be enhanced. For example, instead of just crashing through a table, the table might break in different ways than you’re used to. Ladders will also bend and break depending on where they are impacted.
– You will also be able to lean the ladders up on the ring and in the corners, among other places.
– New effects with a steel chair will let you throw the chair at your opponent.
– You will be be able to have as many as six tables in a match
— The working title for WWE’s upcoming DVD set on Chris Jericho is The Best At What I Do. The DVD set will feature three discs and is scheduled for release on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
— Big Show and Rey Mysterio beat CM Punk and Jack Swagger in a Steel Cage Match following tonight’s SmackDown television taping in Tampa, Florida. During one point in the match, Mysterio dived off of Show’s shoulders.
— WWE developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling had a stand promoting itself and their “American Dream” tour this summer at tonight’s SmackDown television taping in the St. Pete Times Forum.
– Monday’s three-hour Viewer’s Choice episode of WWE RAW drew a 3.1 cable rating. The show did a 3.3 rating for two final hours, RAW’s usual timeslot.
– The dark match prior to Tuesday’s NXT and SmackDown tapings saw JTG defeat Dos Caras.
– The new WWE NXT ring announcer is developmental Diva Jamie Keyes.
– WWE has announced that the new season of NXT on SyFy will last 12 weeks. The first fan vote will take place in 3 weeks and the first Rookie elimination will take place in 6 weeks. Fans will be able to vote for the next “breakout WWE Superstar” on the WWE website. The other votes will come from the NXT Pros.
– In an interview with The Wrestler, multi-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus comments on the possibility of a wrestling comeback. She said:
“I always want to do something that is challenging and impactful, no matter what I do … Absolutely, I’d go back—but only if I could do something that makes a difference.”
She also comments on today’s Divas, the “next Trish,” her legacy, being inspired by The Rock, and more. You can read excerpts from the interview here.
– Matches scheduled to take place on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America are as follows:
* Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim
* Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust vs. Zack Ryder and Primo
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
The NXT Invasion On RAW: “The NXT wrestlers collective assault on all that is WWE including wrestlers, announcers, the ring announcer, time keeper, security, etc was a complete shocker. Raw’s ending from Miami was one of the best conclusions of any Raw episode in years. This incident was completely out of the blue and poses many more questions than answers which is the life’s blood of producing episodic TV. The follow up to this matter certainly has my interest and I am more than curious to see where this NXT issue goes. I can only assume that it will be addressed tonight in some form on the 2nd season premier of NXT on Syfy.”
Saturday’s UFC 115 PPV: “It’s hard to pick a winner in Saturday’s UFC PPV in Vancouver in the Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin main event which is another reason that UFC PPV’s are so much fun to watch. I’m an ‘Iceman’ fan but one always wonders how much fuel is left in the tank of a veteran like Liddell. We know that Chuck’s passion and his will to compete will always be in place but are his physical skills still in tact to win an other UFC main event? Insiders speculate that Franklin is nearing the end of his run and that he has confided in some folks that he’s about ready to call it a career. That’s merely hearsay as far as I know but it certainly adds to the intrigue of this fight. It’s arguable that both Liddell and Franklin won’t be fighting that much longer as neither athlete strikes me as the type of fighter that will allow themselves to stay too long. There is no way that the judges will influence Liddell vs. Franklin Saturday night from where I sit. Vancouver is a great city, one of my favorite places to visit from my days of weekly, WWE travel, but their politicos seem to be having a knee jerk reaction to UFC/MMA regarding what I’ve read as being ridiculous requirements for insurance, etc. It’s too bad that uneducated politicians often times perceive UFC to be something that it isn’t and that these decisions then adversely affect the fans who live in the community. I can assure you that the many businesses in Vancouver will covet the UFC being in town this week.”
The Undertaker’s New DVD Set: “The Undertaker’s ‘Deadliest Matches’ is out today on DVD and is a really fun DVD to watch. It covers the true evolution of the Undertaker persona through multiple eras and with a wide variety of opponents and unique matches. I enjoyed it and think that it’s a must have for all Undertaker fans. It certainly brought back plenty of fun memories for me as a broadcaster.”
– WWE officials are reportedly upset with Chris Jericho over his new role as the host of a new game show on the ABC network. Apparently WWE told Jericho last week that they wanted him to back out of the show, but Jericho would not back down talked them into letting him take the gig.
– Evan Bourne’s recent push came about after John Cena went to Vince McMahon and basically told him that the company was dropping the ball by not fully getting behind Bourne. Another reason behind Bourne’s push is that with Daniel Bryan and Kaval being brought up to the main roster, WWE wants to condition fans to accept smaller superstars as viable main eventers.
– WWE’s on air talent was told not to mention UFC on last night’s RAW that featured UFC star Rampage Jackson as one of the guest hosts. The Bella Twins did a skit backstage where Jackson was simply referred to as an MMA fighter with no mention of the company he works for.
– As noted earlier, Mark Feuerstein of USA Network’s Royal Pains will be the special guest host of next week’s RAW. SmackDown Superstar the Big Show will be hosting with Feuerstein next week. Show will be appearing on an upcoming episode of Royal Pains and in the upcoming WWE Studios film Knucklehead.
Credit to f4wonline for some of the info used in this report
On Monday’s RAW, WWE began a major storyline featuring the NXT season 1 Rookies.
The angle began when Wade Barrett appeared on the ramp during the show’s main event between John Cena and CM Punk.
As Barrett made his way to the ring, his fellow Season 1 Rookies – Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel – all appeared from the crowd and surrounded the ring. Each of them wore a black armband with a yellow “N” on them.
The Rookies proceeded to destroy everything in sight – including John Cena, the Straight Edge Society, the WWE announcers and ringside crew members, the announcer’s table and the ring. According to live reports sent in from fans who were at the show in Miami, the crowd was very into the angle and the NXT crew had a ton of heat. Many compared the invasion to the early nWo back in WCW in the late 1990s.
After the NXT Season 1 rookies returned backstage, they received a lot of praise for WWE management for the way the angle played out. According to f4wonline.com, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Michael Hayes are really liking the recent NXT angles the Michael Cole vs. Daniel Bryan feud, the NXT Season Finale episode and last night’s invasion.
The fact that Michael Cole was the only WWE crew member to escape the NXT beatdown could be a sign that he’s part of the storyline, as there has been talk of moving turning Cole heel.
Expect tonight’s WWE NXT Season 2 premiere to feature fallout from last night’s angle. There’s also been talk of Season 1’s rookies being featured regularly on Season 2.