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I've seen some websites cite PWInsider as reporting Daniel Bryan was returning to the ring and defending the IC title but for the life of me, I've never seen this and as an Elite subscriber, I log in 100 times a week. What's the story here?
The story here is that, sadly, once again third-party websites took things that were written, in my mind, to be pretty clear and concise and then decided to fabricate a story around what was written by changing the context when they "cut and pasted" the initial story and printed a different version elsewhere. Then, when things they printed didn't happen, guess who those reports cited? PWInsider.com, so the blame got pointed in this direction.
Let's review what was written vs. what was not: I reported Bryan would return to Raw. He did. I reported that he was booked for the PPV and the subsequent TV tapings. He, as of this writing, still is. I then wrote, "so it would appear his appearance tonight will set up his role for that PPV. Bryan missed a scheduled bout at April's Extreme Rules PPV against Bad News Barrett due to the injury."
"It would appear" was obviously speculative and I don't believe for a second that anyone who actually read the report could believe otherwise. I try to be clear and concise as much as possible in my writing. If I knew 100% what the end result was going to be, I'd have written something along the lines of "His appearance tonight will set up his role" and, if I knew what the role would be, I'd have written it. I'm not a fan of leaving things out there with cryptic statements.
Unfortunately, someone, somewhere decided this role meant Bryan was wrestling. That was stupid on their part, because nowhere in the original report, which can be read by clicking here did I ever write, much less hint that Bryan was wrestling, competing, taking bumps in a ring, etc. Again, what I wrote in that line was clearly speculative and there was nothing even close to remotely stating Bryan was wrestling and/or defending the Intercontinental championship. Being booked for a PPV doesn't mean you are wrestling on the show. Bo Dallas and Ryback appeared on Extreme Rules and didn't have a match.
So, the story that I reported Bryan was wrestling at the PPV started elsewhere, contributed incorrectly to PWInsider.com and spread across the online spectrum because so many of these outlets all mirror each other and/or the incorrect version gets shared across social media. So, the narrative then becomes "PWInsider was wrong." It wasn't.
If any of this sounds familiar, it should, as it's pretty much an exact rerun of the story from earlier in the year when other websites reported that I said I believed TNA was going out of business soon. That story was so untrue that I had to write an original article pointing out what garbage it was that was being thrown out there. It was a garbage report then and so is the alleged Bryan story that he was "wrestling, according to PWInsider.com." Each story was created by third parties taking what I actually did write and/or say completely out of context and twisted it to suit whatever story they wanted to post elsewhere.
If anyone is actually angry, that anger should be directed at outlets that incorrectly attributed things to PWInsider that were never, ever written, not PWInsider.com or myself. Everything I wrote was completely, 100%, factually true. Those other outlets cannot say that.
Seeing things such as the Bryan story spreading online is frustrating and annoying to me personally, because fans are being misled and the entities responsible simply hide behind "credit" given to others as a way to shield themselves, throwing muck onto us in the process. It's sad and unfortunately, also completely outside of our sphere of influence to control.
Plain and simple: If today WWE could have either the TNA tape library or ROH tape library to use for DVDs, the WWE Network, etc., which do you think WWE would choose/would find more valuable?
It all depends on what WWE would want the libraries for. The value of the libraries really, to me, depends on what talents' past history they want to monetize. The ROH library has Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan's bouts from that era while TNA's library doesn't have anyone that WWE would likely want to monetize currently, except Sting bouts. I am sure WWE would want both libraries though, but I sort of find myself pulling towards ROH as the best one to make some money with short term.
Does ROH have a shot at signing Team 3D? TNA recently brought back Bully Ray but only for a one shot appearance. WWE is not rushing to sign them. I think bringing them into ROH similar to Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin could be a great signing for them. The storyline could be that they have won all the tag team titles except for the ROH world tag team championships.
I could see Team 3D coming in to make some appearances, but in terms of signing them to a full-time deal? I don't believe ROH would chase them to sign such a deal. It would likely take a lot more money than ROH would want to invest in any talent at this juncture. I'd really like to see 3D vs. The Briscoes.
Your opinion on the announced Tough Enough host, trainers, and judges. Like or Dislike?
I liked everything that was announced. I felt like WWE hit on something for all the demographics of their audience. Hulk Hogan for old school fans. Chris Jericho and Lita for Attitude Era fans. Daniel Bryan and Paige for today's audience. I sincerely liked the lineup.
Why is it ROH can bring over Japanese wrestlers but DGUSA cannot?
It would be hard for DGUSA to do that, considering they aren't really running shows under that name anymore. ROH does it once a year as a special attraction. DGUSA was not doing that and without the work visas in place and scheduling that was going to work for both sides (neither of which worked out in DGUSA's favor), there's no way bringing talents in was going to work, so the DGUSA concept was dropped after a lot of time and money was spent trying to get it back on track. It's possible a few Dragon Gate talents can pop up in EVOLVE down the line but for now, DGUSA is done as a brand.
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