photo by wwe.com
So, Kane in an anger management class. Good times.
I, for one, am looking forward to WWE Raw on Monday. I am one of those fans who watches every week no matter what’s happening, because, let’s face it, when you’re a fan, you tune in whenever the product is on the air.
And, these days, you tune in whenever Daniel Bryan is on the air.
The guy is just flat-out killing it right now, isn’t he? Every time he’s on camera, he entertains. With each new impossibly tough situation, Bryan’s frustrations, his tantrums, are priceless.
Despite how many times we see him, he finds a way to make us smile, to shake our heads, surprised at just how good he really is.
Bryan is the perfect example of a talent who knows who he is, understands how to carry himself and what he needs to do in order to get over. And at this point, he has so completely inhabited his character that the line between truth and fiction has become very blurred.
So blurred that you just believe he is no longer playing a role, that he is in reality that paranoid, neurotic little man who thinks the world is against him and the crowd is mocking him every week.
Indeed, it’s hard to remember a time when Bryan was not the character we currently see.
He’s a far cry from the reserved “nerd” that Michael Cole painted him as when he first broke from Nexus. And, when compared to his American Dragon persona back in Ring of Honor, the WWE version of Bryan today is nearly unrecognizable.
And therein lies the point. This Daniel Bryan is the Vince McMahon-produced Daniel Bryan.
Bryan found a way to get over in a company whose fans initially recognized his talent but really could not care less about him. He made them not only take a second look, he made it very hard for them to look away.
He adapted, and he not only survived—he is thriving.
Then, we have his anger management classmate, the Big Red Machine, Kane.
That just sounds funny, right?
Unlike Bryan, Kane is a WWE creation from top to bottom. Built on Vince’s Superstar assembly line, Kane was introduced as Undertaker’s brother, modeled after the Deadman, and then the two became forever intertwined.
Eventually, Kane was able to fully come into his own, evolving into a totally separate character who is now considered somewhat of a legend himself in WWE. Obviously some of the credit for that lies with WWE creative due to good booking and the spotlight given to Kane at points in his career.
But Kane deserves the real credit for just making the character work.
After all, anyone could have been put in that red suit and mask and told to act like the Undertaker. It’s the man under the hood that really made it all click. Much like Bryan, he embraced what he was given, played it to the hilt and connected with fans.
Kane and Daniel Bryan, two of a kind. Who would have thought?
So, what started as a feud over AJ has now reached a new level of insanity, as both men are being forced to attend weekly anger management classes. It sounds ridiculous on paper, and at first glance, looks even crazier on TV.
But, because Bryan and Kane are fully in character, they completely stand out, making their environment irrelevant. The focus is on them and how their issues seem so out of place in the world outside of WWE.
And hilarity ensues.
Now, some so-called purists out there undoubtedly have a problem with the whole idea, mostly due to the fact that it is so goofy, and it’s just not believable Kane would be there in the first place, wearing his full gear.
Yeah, OK, I get that.
But, lest we forget, WWE is not your run-of-the-mill pro wrestling promotion. It’s all in the name of entertainment for Vince McMahon, and has been for a very long time.
Seeing a thoroughly disgusted Bryan shaking his head as Kane very calmly tells the horror story of his life is not just entertaining, it’s funny.
Crazy funny.
Yes, it’s ridiculous, and yes, it’s over-produced, with virtually nothing to do with wrestling.
And on Tuesday, we will all be talking about how we couldn’t help but laugh at WWE’s newest odd couple of Daniel Bryan and Kane.
Good times indeed.
I, for one, am looking forward to WWE Raw on Monday. I am one of those fans who watches every week no matter what’s happening, because, let’s face it, when you’re a fan, you tune in whenever the product is on the air.
And, these days, you tune in whenever Daniel Bryan is on the air.
The guy is just flat-out killing it right now, isn’t he? Every time he’s on camera, he entertains. With each new impossibly tough situation, Bryan’s frustrations, his tantrums, are priceless.
Despite how many times we see him, he finds a way to make us smile, to shake our heads, surprised at just how good he really is.
Bryan is the perfect example of a talent who knows who he is, understands how to carry himself and what he needs to do in order to get over. And at this point, he has so completely inhabited his character that the line between truth and fiction has become very blurred.
So blurred that you just believe he is no longer playing a role, that he is in reality that paranoid, neurotic little man who thinks the world is against him and the crowd is mocking him every week.
Indeed, it’s hard to remember a time when Bryan was not the character we currently see.
He’s a far cry from the reserved “nerd” that Michael Cole painted him as when he first broke from Nexus. And, when compared to his American Dragon persona back in Ring of Honor, the WWE version of Bryan today is nearly unrecognizable.
And therein lies the point. This Daniel Bryan is the Vince McMahon-produced Daniel Bryan.
Bryan found a way to get over in a company whose fans initially recognized his talent but really could not care less about him. He made them not only take a second look, he made it very hard for them to look away.
He adapted, and he not only survived—he is thriving.
Then, we have his anger management classmate, the Big Red Machine, Kane.
That just sounds funny, right?
Unlike Bryan, Kane is a WWE creation from top to bottom. Built on Vince’s Superstar assembly line, Kane was introduced as Undertaker’s brother, modeled after the Deadman, and then the two became forever intertwined.
Eventually, Kane was able to fully come into his own, evolving into a totally separate character who is now considered somewhat of a legend himself in WWE. Obviously some of the credit for that lies with WWE creative due to good booking and the spotlight given to Kane at points in his career.
But Kane deserves the real credit for just making the character work.
After all, anyone could have been put in that red suit and mask and told to act like the Undertaker. It’s the man under the hood that really made it all click. Much like Bryan, he embraced what he was given, played it to the hilt and connected with fans.
Kane and Daniel Bryan, two of a kind. Who would have thought?
So, what started as a feud over AJ has now reached a new level of insanity, as both men are being forced to attend weekly anger management classes. It sounds ridiculous on paper, and at first glance, looks even crazier on TV.
But, because Bryan and Kane are fully in character, they completely stand out, making their environment irrelevant. The focus is on them and how their issues seem so out of place in the world outside of WWE.
And hilarity ensues.
Now, some so-called purists out there undoubtedly have a problem with the whole idea, mostly due to the fact that it is so goofy, and it’s just not believable Kane would be there in the first place, wearing his full gear.
Yeah, OK, I get that.
But, lest we forget, WWE is not your run-of-the-mill pro wrestling promotion. It’s all in the name of entertainment for Vince McMahon, and has been for a very long time.
Seeing a thoroughly disgusted Bryan shaking his head as Kane very calmly tells the horror story of his life is not just entertaining, it’s funny.
Crazy funny.
Yes, it’s ridiculous, and yes, it’s over-produced, with virtually nothing to do with wrestling.
And on Tuesday, we will all be talking about how we couldn’t help but laugh at WWE’s newest odd couple of Daniel Bryan and Kane.
Good times indeed.
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