I can think back to 2007, not all that long before this very date more than half a decade ago. The sudden tragic death of Chris Benoit and his family members had rocked not just the wrestling world, but the sports spectrum as well. While many pointed to “‘roid rage,” and began to blame the McMahon empire for enabling some kind of exotic drug-filled hell house, others looked elsewhere for explanations.
A Harvard-alum named Christopher Nowinski suggested that it wasn’t steroids that drove Benoit to commit the heinous crimes, but instead, multiple brain injuries that ultimately left him crippled in the head. Benoit’s immediate family and doctors took his advice at taking a look at the tissue, and revealed just that.
Over the next few years, WWE would ban chair shots to the head and take a much more serious approach to diagnosing concussions and evaluating talent before they could return from them. Though the circumstances were awful, a precedent was unfortunately needed to open eyes.
Here we are, some seven years later, and a new injury epidemic has hit not necessarily WWE, but one man in particular: The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan.
Bryan had taken off like a bullet out of a gun following the “Royal Rumble” pay-per-view, building up a fan-sustained run to the main event scene like never seen before in the history of professional wrestling. He had charisma and an infectious underdog aura that people could get behind. He had the beautiful wife that draws legitimate interest from outside the industry. And despite what seemed to be months of being held back, he eventually had the support of WWE’s upper brass.
And then he had neck surgery.
Now, Bryan is out indefinitely. And who knows if he’ll ever return for sure.
As a lifelong sports fan, I cringe anytime I hear about an injury where the neck is involved. No matter what the optimistic outlooks show, they’re never as easy as they seem. I hardly bought the initially reports of a six-to-eight week timetable for a return, no matter how minor of a surgery it supposedly was initially. Now, not only were the neck issues worse than anticipated, but his shoulder is damaged as well. Forget the fact that he may be out for the rest of the year, let’s hope he’s even able to move his upper body at that point.
Some within the industry have spoken out about Bryan getting rid of his missile dropkick from the top rope as a way to limit his neck. As many will recall, he suffered a stinger in 2013 on a live match on “Monday Night Raw,” an occurrence many believe was as a result of such. But there’s a larger issue at hand than just cutting down one move from the arsenal.
What I’m about to say will upset the IWC freaks, the self-entitled marks and the organization-chanting fanboys, but it’s a reality in my opinion. With Daniel Bryan now as the precedent, professional wrestlers and bookers must now learn to tone down the unnecessary risks of in-ring competition.
But what is wrestling without a corkscrew off a ladder or a dive off a forklift, right?
There’s a difference between a performer going out there and giving it their all to prove a point and trying to be a spot monkey. Daniel Bryan’s ability to work a crowd is like few others in the industry today when he’s between the ropes, but take a look at the differences between his earlier WWE matches and when he finally started getting over. The suicide dive through the ropes became a staple of his arsenal. It’s a move that fans could expect to see not only once in a match, but maybe even three times.
A literal head-first dive with no give to the outside.
There’s the diving headbutt, a move perhaps made famous over the last two decades by Benoit himself. It destroyed his own neck, and appears to have had the same effect on Bryan.
The former champion is one of the best ring psychologists and technicians in the world. Simply put, the flashy stuff can be left behind.
But this issue expands well beyond Bryan. More and more often now than ever, it is not only customary to see these risky moves, but moreover, expected. When was the last time a suicide dive was seen in only one match on a pay-per-view? It seems now one may see four a night, even on “Smackdown.” Big men, like Luke Harper, are even doing it. The Usos are expected to throw their bodies over the top rope night in and night out. And Seth Rollins takes the dive to new levels.
It’s flashy, and once in the while, is great. But it not only loses its effectiveness in repetition, but puts the competitor at serious risk.
Bookers can also learn from what has happened with Bryan. In this case, he is his own worst enemy, because his heart and passion for the industry and being the best put him in a situation that more likely than not put his body in trouble. When in doubt, Bryan was the go-to for a gauntlet match. In 2013, it seemed to be the weekly main event (and at times was) that Bryan would face every member of The Shield, or every heel on the roster. He’d wrestle multiple matches a night, including WrestleMania XXX against three future WWE Hall of Famers. And then he’d go do a house show and blow the roof off for 35 minutes. His gritty, never-say-die attitude made fans fall in love with him, but it cost his body.
And think, they weren’t even going to reward him at one point.
The higher-ups need to take notice and realize what this over-exposure, no matter how beneficial it could potentially be for a character, is doing to the performer. And the wrestler must understand their own limitations as well.
I understand what traditionalists will respond with: “What about the Jeff Hardys? What about the hardcore matches? Those were fine for so many years!”
Well for a while, my friends, concussions were solved with an aspirin and an ice pack too, you know.
Every now and then, it will be okay to whip out a necessary crazy spot, or to exhaust a performer to their physical limit in order to get them over. It makes that particular instance unique and special. But the case of Daniel Bryan has set a new precedent that is absolutely necessary, in my opinion, for those in the industry to consider. I am no professional wrestler, and will never claim to be. But as an avid sports lover and supporter of the business, I recognize where these trends have led to in the past. Protecting someone’s best interest is never a bad thing, even if it’s not always the flashy outcome.
This isn’t a panic call for change like the Benoit situation. But in this writer’s humble opinion, without doubt, it is a necessary one.
Do you agree or disagree with Jon’s points? Sound off below.
The Commentary: Daniel Bryan’s Injuries Must Bring Change to Wrestling
BY Wrestling Rumors Team – ON July 10, 2014
I can think back to 2007, not all that long before this very date more than half a decade ago. The sudden tragic death of Chris Benoit and his family members had rocked not just the wrestling world, but the sports spectrum as well. While many pointed to “‘roid rage,” and began to blame the McMahon empire for enabling some kind of exotic drug-filled hell house, others looked elsewhere for explanations.
A Harvard-alum named Christopher Nowinski suggested that it wasn’t steroids that drove Benoit to commit the heinous crimes, but instead, multiple brain injuries that ultimately left him crippled in the head. Benoit’s immediate family and doctors took his advice at taking a look at the tissue, and revealed just that.
Over the next few years, WWE would ban chair shots to the head and take a much more serious approach to diagnosing concussions and evaluating talent before they could return from them. Though the circumstances were awful, a precedent was unfortunately needed to open eyes.
Here we are, some seven years later, and a new injury epidemic has hit not necessarily WWE, but one man in particular: The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan.
Bryan had taken off like a bullet out of a gun following the “Royal Rumble” pay-per-view, building up a fan-sustained run to the main event scene like never seen before in the history of professional wrestling. He had charisma and an infectious underdog aura that people could get behind. He had the beautiful wife that draws legitimate interest from outside the industry. And despite what seemed to be months of being held back, he eventually had the support of WWE’s upper brass.
And then he had neck surgery.
Now, Bryan is out indefinitely. And who knows if he’ll ever return for sure.
As a lifelong sports fan, I cringe anytime I hear about an injury where the neck is involved. No matter what the optimistic outlooks show, they’re never as easy as they seem. I hardly bought the initially reports of a six-to-eight week timetable for a return, no matter how minor of a surgery it supposedly was initially. Now, not only were the neck issues worse than anticipated, but his shoulder is damaged as well. Forget the fact that he may be out for the rest of the year, let’s hope he’s even able to move his upper body at that point.
Some within the industry have spoken out about Bryan getting rid of his missile dropkick from the top rope as a way to limit his neck. As many will recall, he suffered a stinger in 2013 on a live match on “Monday Night Raw,” an occurrence many believe was as a result of such. But there’s a larger issue at hand than just cutting down one move from the arsenal.
What I’m about to say will upset the IWC freaks, the self-entitled marks and the organization-chanting fanboys, but it’s a reality in my opinion. With Daniel Bryan now as the precedent, professional wrestlers and bookers must now learn to tone down the unnecessary risks of in-ring competition.
But what is wrestling without a corkscrew off a ladder or a dive off a forklift, right?
There’s a difference between a performer going out there and giving it their all to prove a point and trying to be a spot monkey. Daniel Bryan’s ability to work a crowd is like few others in the industry today when he’s between the ropes, but take a look at the differences between his earlier WWE matches and when he finally started getting over. The suicide dive through the ropes became a staple of his arsenal. It’s a move that fans could expect to see not only once in a match, but maybe even three times.
A literal head-first dive with no give to the outside.
There’s the diving headbutt, a move perhaps made famous over the last two decades by Benoit himself. It destroyed his own neck, and appears to have had the same effect on Bryan.
The former champion is one of the best ring psychologists and technicians in the world. Simply put, the flashy stuff can be left behind.
But this issue expands well beyond Bryan. More and more often now than ever, it is not only customary to see these risky moves, but moreover, expected. When was the last time a suicide dive was seen in only one match on a pay-per-view? It seems now one may see four a night, even on “Smackdown.” Big men, like Luke Harper, are even doing it. The Usos are expected to throw their bodies over the top rope night in and night out. And Seth Rollins takes the dive to new levels.
It’s flashy, and once in the while, is great. But it not only loses its effectiveness in repetition, but puts the competitor at serious risk.
Bookers can also learn from what has happened with Bryan. In this case, he is his own worst enemy, because his heart and passion for the industry and being the best put him in a situation that more likely than not put his body in trouble. When in doubt, Bryan was the go-to for a gauntlet match. In 2013, it seemed to be the weekly main event (and at times was) that Bryan would face every member of The Shield, or every heel on the roster. He’d wrestle multiple matches a night, including WrestleMania XXX against three future WWE Hall of Famers. And then he’d go do a house show and blow the roof off for 35 minutes. His gritty, never-say-die attitude made fans fall in love with him, but it cost his body.
And think, they weren’t even going to reward him at one point.
The higher-ups need to take notice and realize what this over-exposure, no matter how beneficial it could potentially be for a character, is doing to the performer. And the wrestler must understand their own limitations as well.
I understand what traditionalists will respond with: “What about the Jeff Hardys? What about the hardcore matches? Those were fine for so many years!”
Well for a while, my friends, concussions were solved with an aspirin and an ice pack too, you know.
Every now and then, it will be okay to whip out a necessary crazy spot, or to exhaust a performer to their physical limit in order to get them over. It makes that particular instance unique and special. But the case of Daniel Bryan has set a new precedent that is absolutely necessary, in my opinion, for those in the industry to consider. I am no professional wrestler, and will never claim to be. But as an avid sports lover and supporter of the business, I recognize where these trends have led to in the past. Protecting someone’s best interest is never a bad thing, even if it’s not always the flashy outcome.
This isn’t a panic call for change like the Benoit situation. But in this writer’s humble opinion, without doubt, it is a necessary one.
Do you agree or disagree with Jon’s points? Sound off below.
Follow @JonAlbaSFC
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