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 The Snowman is a genius Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: You remember that question from last week about a 1-10 scale for Mania excitement? How 'bout now? It had been two years, ladies and gentlemen. Two years is how long it had been since I was so excited about wrestling that I could not sleep. That night, I had just finished watching what I felt might have been the greatest WrestleMania of all-time. Three awesome matches highlighted that card, ending with a match living up to my year’s worth of self-hype. Rare, it is, for the WWE to produce something that makes me feel like a kid again. As you age, even the things that you are most passionate about cause you to react differently than you did a decade or two prior. A WWE storyline that has me out of my seat with that pure, child-like joy is about as rare in modern times as one of my favorite sports teams having a magical season (about every few years). WrestleMania XXVIII gave me that. The Rock vs. John Cena, Taker vs. Triple H w/ HBK as the guest ref, and Punk vs. Jericho were all so good from where I sat that it justified countless hours of writing that “Road to WrestleMania Countdown” of all the Mania matches through 27 and my mind drifting to the night of April 1st even as I was taking the podium to speak at a health conference during the day of March 31st. Monday, March 10, 2014's RAW left me feeling similarly joyous and justified. Through all the talk of expectational shifts, I had pinned my WrestleMania XXX hopes to Daniel Bryan the moment that it became apparent that Cena vs. Taker was a no-go. I have admitted to being one of those fans that goes with the flow and bases his excitement on what the WWE does do rather than allow what they do not do to ill affect me. However, the Bryan saga has been gripping in such a way that it would have shaken my strong faith in the WWE had the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match not have been tweaked to include the Yes! Man when the entire audience, seemingly, (and not just the vocal minority) had so loudly demanded that Batista vs. Randy Orton was not going to fly. So, when I sat there in my chair in the living room and watched Bryan #OccupyRaw/WWE, I was enthralled. Not at first, I’ll admit. No, at first, I was merely amused by the antic considering that I had, a week ago on “The Doc and Super Chrisss Show” chided the fanbase a bit for hijacking shows to make statements as if it were some sort of “Occupy WWE movement.” Yet, as the segment went on and The Authority got increasingly riled up, it became apparent what was happening. Long before Triple H caved, it was a virtual lock that this very unique scene before my eyes was going to make official the match that I had been suggesting since the night of Summerslam 2013: Trips vs. Bryan at Mania 30. My mind, subsequently, started exploring, as it often does when I’ve determined that I know what’s happening before it’s happened, the options that would find Bryan in the title match at Mania, too. So, as Bryan paused Triple H after already getting the match between them booked for “The Showcase,” THAT was when I rose from my seat. I pushed open the door to my bedroom where Mrs. Doc was watching TV. While Bryan was stating the words I had hoped to hear since making the prediction on our radio show 6 weeks ago that he would pull double duty at Mania, giving the fans who wanted him to face Trips what they wanted and also giving the fans who wanted him to be in the title match what they wanted, “These people also want to see me wrestle for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship,” I looked at my wife and began double pointing to the sky, mouthing to her over the audio of her TV program, “YES! YES! YES!” And, with that, I excitedly - at 4AM writing this column instead of the customary 24 hours post-Raw - state that through all the trials and tribulations and no matter how we got here, the bottom line is that the most universally loved babyface that we have seen in over a decade is now in position to tell the ultimate story at WrestleMania XXX. If Bryan beats Triple H, then he will get to the main-event, where only once in Mania history has a heel walked away the champion. The debate has already begun, I see, as to whether or not Bryan will achieve what the pro wrestling historian in me sees as blatantly obvious in the most blatant and obviously awesome way imaginable – that Bryan will beat Trips and then will overcome the odds to become WWE Champion to close out Mania with 75,000 screaming “YES!” I, for one, will let the critics do their criticizing on that front. If you care to join me, I’ll be over here feeling like a kid again, taking the time to write an exuberated tribute to Raw at the crack of dawn when responsibilities loom once the sun rises. There will be time to analyze. Now is not that time. Rather, now is the time to celebrate that your voice has been heard and that your words matter and to applaud the WWE for recognizing it. Daniel Bryan, the 5’7” 200 pounder, is poised to complete an eight month story arc with a climax that nobody in WrestleMania’s 30 years history has achieved – beat the boss and win the title all in the same night. That is, simply, amazing. WrestleMania XXX needed Daniel Bryan to be in this position. I, along with the majority of the fanbase, needed it to make this Mania mean something in the manner that “The Granddaddy of ‘em All” should always mean something. Every Mania should have at least one story that enhances everything else around it. Daniel Bryan’s confirmed, booked quest to buck the system has my excitement for Brock-Taker skyrocketing in a way that, even as brilliant as Paul Heyman has been, no amount of WWE hype could achieve. I am doubly as amped for Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena because of it. I am stoked for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal because of it. I am that much more intrigued by The Shield’s story, Hulk Hogan as WrestleMania’s host, and the 2014 Hall of Fame ceremony because of it. Daniel Bryan has made this year’s WrestleMania for me. So, as I sit here in all my excitement, harkening back to WrestleMania XXVIII two years ago and the last night before tonight that had me enthralled in this manner, I am consumed by a sense of irony, as well. It was on that night that Daniel Bryan lost the opening match and the World Heavyweight Championship in 18 seconds. That was the night that #YesMovement was born. WrestleMania XXX will be the #YesMovement’s peak. ----------------------------- Join us for "The Doc and Super Chrisss Show" as we continue the celebration and get down to the business of analyzing Raw and its many WrestleMania repercussions, including but not limited to the Bryan saga, The Shield, and Paul Heyman. Listen To Wrestling Internet Radio Stations with LordsofPain on BlogTalkRadio
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