The Uncertain Future of Daniel Bryan - Grantland

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

When I walked out of the Superdome that night, “Yes!” chants rang through the air the whole walk back to the French Quarter, and I felt like anything was possible. I remember thinking, Imagine where we could go from here! A few weeks later, fans are throwing their hands up while watching Raw and crying, “Where the hell do we go from here?”

That night, I was there in the seventh row, jumping out of my seat and screaming in disapproval every time one of Bryan’s opponents, Batista and Randy Orton, came close to winning. I reacted this way even though — as every wrestling fan knows — such false finishes are part of the dance, the same coy winks night after night. But every time I was prepared for the worst. No matter how much reason told me that Bryan should win, it never really felt possible. I kept waiting for defeat to somehow be snatched from the jaws of victory. Bryan’s title reign could never be inevitable, because inevitability was set precisely opposite him. Everything about him — his size, his appearance, his vegan diet, his rise through the ranks — was unlikely.

When Bryan won, he won despite all odds — that night, in story line terms, because he survived a grueling first match and then defeated two fresh opponents, both bigger men and former champions. On top of all that, he also had to overcome the interference of Triple H in the main event. But by then, story line and reality had become indistinguishable. Bryan bested the corporate figurehead and two of the biggest stars of the preceding generation, and in doing so he signaled the beginning of a new one. We didn’t believe it because we were marks, because we wanted so badly to believe the story was true.

Its on the Grantland homepage. Long as fukk read.