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BRYAN WANTING ONE LAST MATCH, CHANGING MITB, OTT AND RATINGS AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2017-07-04 10:00:00

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On Monday you answered a question regarding Daniel Bryan potentially returning to wrestle, and how it is basically a bad idea. And I do agree. But, I think the hardest thing for him to accept, is he didn’t have a chance to have one last match, such as how Edge had one last WM match, knowing it might be it. I am not asking if you think WWE should allow him that one match. But…. Do you think if he had the opportunity to have that one last match (the Miz actually would have been the best option since he is, as Bryan said, almost too safe of a worker), it would be enough to get it out of his system, and let him be at peace with retirement? I am thinking like how Charles Barkley was determined to play one more game, and not have his career end on a knee injury?

I can’t speak for him but like you mentioned, a lot of athletes have career ending injuries.  The difference here is that Bryan’s was a brain injury so it’s not the same as blowing out a knee.  With the knee, if it’s wrecked you lose speed, agility, power etc and the injury makes your decision for you.  It’s different for Bryan because as his concussion improved, he returned to normal.  But, much like with Edge, the problem is in what could happen in the future.  It’s just not a chance I think he should take.

Do you think they should sometimes have MITB winners fail to cash in?  I'm not necessarily saying it should be the current MITB winners, but they always play up how the winner is basically guaranteed to win the championship when cashing in.  And then it always happens time after time.  They should treat it more as a title opportunity, not a guaranteed title win.  Yes they can cash in at very opportune times, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to book a scenario where the MITB winner fails to win their cash in attempt.

Here is the problem.  Like you said, it’s pretty much a guaranteed win so if someone loses, unless they book a great scenario it will make that talent look bad.  If they do want to do it, it would need to be someone like Carmella.  Say just as she is about to win, Becky Lynch shows up and lays her out to get Carmella back for what James Ellsworth did on Smackdown last week.  But it would have to be a good angle to keep the talent strong.  What I would really like to see is that they take the “any time” rule out.  I would like the person to have to give notice of at least a day.

When someone who at one time was signed with the WWE, but isn't currently, wants to visit backstage during a RAW taping, do they need to call ahead and get permission or can they just show up and walk around to say hi as long as they stay out of camera range during anything they do backstage?

They are always best to call PR or Talent relations and clear it before showing up if they aren’t a top, or near top, name.  Sure Steve Austin can have no problem but last week the former Victoria was told she couldn’t get backstage according to a tweet she posted.  If it’s me, I do the call ahead.

Did Finn Balor pee in Vince McMahon's corn flakes or something? Seriously though, what's the deal with his complete lack of a push?

He came back at a time when they had other plans for the Universal Title.  They haven’t killed him since he has come back so I am not worried yet.

Was it by design that Lavar Ball's segment on RAW happened at the exact same time that the NBA awards show was starting?  Or is it just a coincidence?

I can’t honestly say but I don’t think any NBA fan would have had to turn on Raw to watch Ball’s tired act.  Many people that follow hoops are already sick of the guy.

Listening to you and Mike discuss the ratings on the no name show and I have to wonder.  With things like PlayStation vue and sling existing, how does that impact the ratings? How do you think it will impact things going forward?

We mentioned that this week on the show.  They definitely have an affect because they don’t figure into the ratings.  As more people cut the cord, it will definitely become more of an issue.  I would think that Sling and Vue know what is being watched and recorded since they are an OTT Network.  I don’t know that they will ever release that information to the public however.  But, in theory one would think they would tell their partners, like USA, what is being watched on the service so those partners can use that information when forming bids for programs like Raw.

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