Interesting to see how this show pans out. I like the concept but I hope that it does not take the established stars away from their respective shows. I have heard of Danielson but living in Australia I have never seen him wrestle, so I am looking forward to see what he can do in the ring has he has got a good reputation.

It doesn't make sense, and I understand your reasoning.

The Miz is only starting to get over. He needs to focus on his own career, because his push could disappear faster than you can say Kofi Kingston.

The Miz really can't do more for Daniels than tell him where to not eat chicken. Any mic/promo work that the Miz could pass along could easily be learned by talking to people who know a lot more about the business than the Miz. A weekend seminar spent with Chris Jericho could teach Bryan more than he could learn in a year with the Miz.

This only makes sense if they are either setting up a future feud or they are hoping that the Miz will gain credibility in the eyes of fans by working with Bryan.

This is just Vince McMahon telling indie fans that they are bush league. Only Vince knows what is in the best interest of the rest of humanity.

His ego makes me sick.

I am not being sarcastic when I say that Miz can teach Bryan how to survive WWE's whirlwind life on the road, life out of a suitcase. Will that aspect of superstar reality be part of the show?

I agree. This pairing isn't as bad as some people claim it to be. Miz is pretty much a veteran in WWE (4-5 years in the business is a long time in my view), and his star quality rises every single day, not to mention how he racks up titles very quickly. I persume that Bryan Daniel will get elevated to one of the main shows when all's said and done, but for now it's a good start. We'll see how really good it's going to be Tuesday, if at all.

I am going to look at this a different way... Let me start by saying that I am not as involved in wrestling as much as I used to be, but I look forward to Kevin's blog. Now on to my whay to look at this...

Let's assume just for a moment that the WWE is 100% on the ball here. This paring could very well be for the mutual benefit of both superstars. Miz can teach Danielson about the WWE lifestyle and the whirlwind that it creates. Danielson can actually help Miz in becoming a better all-around athlete. From what I am gathering, Miz appears to be getting better, but if Danielson is truly the best, why not have Miz work with him and learn from him.

Now if the WWE doesn't have their ducks in a row, as it appears that they may not, Miz might be the only one willing to work with him. Who knows. Keep up the great work Kevin.

Dr.J but it does make sense if Danielson is working w/ him on improving in the in ring move sets, while Miz teaches Danielson how to own the mic.

I think this pairing may have a lot to do with WWE seeing Miz as a long term player for them, and wanting him to hone his tech skills...they may say Daneilson is the rookie, but I suspect that they have been paired so that the best wrestler in the world can teach Miz some new tricks.

I couldn't agree with you more. At first I was a little bit uncertain about the pairing, but like you said it does make sense. Yes someone did make the point that a weekend seminar with Jericho could do more then training with the Miz when it comes to mic skills. But I look at this as a test for the Miz, it is kind of like the WWE is saying, "Mike, I want you to go and make one of the best and most talented wrestlers out there, and somehow make him better". Also I would really like to hear your thoughts on each pairing, and how each superstar could help their "rookie" partner improve.

The Miz really can't do more for Daniels than tell him where to not eat chicken.

Posted by: Dr.J | February 17, 2010 10:35 PM

This coulda been the COTW if not for the rest of the post.

"I have little doubt that WWE decision makers are getting a kick out of tweaking the smart marks"

Really, Eck?
I might be being naive but i'd like to think that high ups in a huge organisation like WWE have better things to do than mess with wrestlings fans for a laugh.

I know that writers might be mindful of the internet community when making everyday decisions about an ep of their tv's, but making relatively big decisions purely to get an online reaction from wrestling fans? Nah, i don't buy it.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I can't say with 100 percent certainty it's true in this instance, but, yes, WWE does like messing with the Internet marks. And when a guy come in with a rep as an accomplished indy wrestler who all the smarts love, it actually seems to work against the guy. Punk and Danielson both got developmental deals, and it took a while for Punk to get a push (I remember him jobbing to Hardcore Holly on ECW after Punk was starting to get a reaction from fans). I'm guessing that Nigel McGuinness would be in Florida Championship Wresting right now if he has signed with WWE instead of main eventing PPVs with Kurt Angle.

Imagine the heat on this decision had it happened a few years back (before Miz established himself with the fans and the locker room).

@Christopher:
Danielson has already spent ten years traveling through the independent territories and going overseas wrestling and living out of his suitcase, earning it.
Only thing Mizanin did was be an underwear model, reality television star, who whored out his limited personality to MTV every time they had a reality competition. He is no better than the attention craving idiots on reality tv. He is way overrated as far as his "entertaining" speaking & personality goes. And when he was on the reality shows dreaming of being a pro-wrestler, he had all the wrong ideas of what it currently means to be a wrestler. He's just some spaz with muscles who spent way too much time cuddling with his WWF wrestling buddy doll when he was a kid. The WWE doesn't have to recognize amazing indy talent as kings once they show up at their company, but they don't also have to bury guys and make clowns out of everything they have ever done in order to feed their (WWE)and (VKM's) egoes and show us fans why we are stupid and don't matter.

As with most other smart marks on the IC, this pairing has on my mind for the last couple of days. At first, I was appalled, terrified, and just a wee bit insulted.
But after taking the though for a run around the proverbial park, I realized just how genius it really it.

It gives us everything we (and that's a generic we, by the way) want out of this new turn in the WWE.
It gives us a pairing that is sure to erupt, with two massive egos, coming from very different backgrounds colliding.
It gives us hope, that we may actually see Danielson on tv, and it gives him the push into mainstream living rooms.
It gives Miz a chance to become a better technical wrestler (which is one reason I think the E actually had in mind), and it lets Danielson learn some of the experience that has made Miz such a great heel in virtually no time at all.
Now, I'm not saying that Danielsons mic work is bad, but it's big difference between ROH promos and WWE.

I see only good things come of this. Sure, all us smart marks would like to see Danielson roar into the WWE, kick Shamus' and HHH's asses, cattle mutilate them and change the entire business on the way... but hey... come on...

How has Punk's run on the indies meant nothing in WWE? The only reason he got hired was because his friend Eddie Guerrero recommended him when Jeff Hardy left WWE. He's been there what two years and he's a multi-time world champion. They saw the potential in Punk beginning with his win as part of HHH's team at Survivor Series. It may not have helped him that much but Punk was certainly the total package when they hired him as a result of that experience.

RESPONSE FROM KE: OK, you may have misunderstood my point, which was that no matter how big a star you are on the indy scene, it doesn't matter to WWE.
WWE signed Punk to a developmental deal sent him to OVW when he was more talented (on the mic and in the ring) than guys on the main roster. Then he was brought on to WWE's "C" show. When he was getting over with fans, WWE decided to make sure everyone knew he wasn't anything special by having him do a clean job to Hardcore Holly. He also jobbed to Chavo Guerrero, when there was clearly more upside in Punk. When he won the world title the first time, he was booked as a fluke champion. He was booked much better during his feud with Hardy over the title, but then he got squashed by The Undertaker in the opening match on a PPV. Even now, as over as Punk is and as good of an all-around performer as he is, I still don't think WWE considers him in the same class as Cena, HHH, Batista, Taker, Edge, HBK, etc.

Maybe the aim is to have the Miz pair with Daniel to get the unified Tag Team Belts at the end of the show ? Or even before it ends, it would open a slot for another rookie (Low Ki) and mentor (Regal ?).

How about the fact that The Miz still has quite the limited Moveset. I think this could be a win win situation, where The Miz could learn new moves and Bryan get more persona...

Don't you just hate it when that happens? The more experienced guy slapped with rookie status...well, I guess if it pays well...

Christopher, what do you think Bryan's been doing for the last 7 years?

Kevin, I think this could be a disaster if it's perceived that Bryan has to dumb things down in order to play the game.

Talking about The Miz, I rembered something I always wanted to ask you:

What's your opinion about the relevance of the finishing move for the wrestlers and the audience, and which are your favourite ones?
I personally enjoy a lot the Skull Crushing Finalle, that's why I remembered asking. Regarding the new stars, Trouble in Paradise also does a nice job selling a match finale. All three members of legacy also have very convicing finishers as well. But there are some things I just don't get. How the hell is a chokeslam suposed to be more devastating than a superplex?? Another non finisher I find particularly devastating is Orton's RKO with the adversary dangling from the ropes. Damn it looks nasty. Furthermore, why is it that wrestlers in WWE mostly just have one finisher (if we exclude Taker and Cena)?
On a last note, do you agree with submission holds being used less and less as finishing movies, when you have such legendary submitting finishers like the sharpshooter, the figure four lock or the walls of cherico (which by the way are a lot easir to buy as a final blow to a guy than the codebreaker!).

Cheers from Portugal!

This is such an odd pairing, but I'm guessing WWE is doing it so they will clash at some point. This makes me want to watch the show more, so I guess they've accomplished their goal on that one. As sad as it sounds, WWE really doesn't care what you've done in the wrestling business unless you've become a big star in their company. And I do agree that the Miz will be able to help Danielson develop his on-screen character and mic skills. Still though, it's going to be very interesting to see how Danielson reacts if and when the Miz tries to help him develop his actual wrestling skills.

The winner of the match and new United States Champion, Daniel Bryan.

boy I bet Danielson is starting to wish his deal had fallen through like Nigel's. Desmond Wolfe is a rising star in TNA and Daniel Bryan will end up getting the Scotty Goldman treatment.

Kev,
I agree. With the Miz having a reality show backround, I think it gives Daniels an advantage. I'm not very familier with Daniels work except what internet buzz I read about and I've been a pro-wrestling fan for over 20 years. That's why he is considered a rookie. The indy scene can only get you so far. The WWE might not be the only place to wrestle but if you don't do it infront of the "WWE Universe" then how could Vince allow it to be viewed any other way than he is a rookie.
A good saying I've heard is "your current wife dosent care what your ex-wife cooked for dinner". He is in the WWE now and Vince shouldn't care about what titles other promotions put on Daniels. It can't hurt that Vince knows that Daniels is capable of doing the techinal ring work but that's not enough to make him an automatic "pro" in the "WWE Universe". Being a WWE Superstar is something The Miz understands as he has done well for himself despite being looked down on and even hazed for coming out of reality TV. If Daniels learns anything from The Miz it may be how to overcome the stigma of being from the indy world.

I'm glad I'm not the only person that thought this. I know I'm thinking really far ahead, but a personality clash between Danielson and Miz could lead to an instant US title program that will elevate both guys tremendously.

I'm sure there was an element of wanting to "humble" Danielson a little bit, but I'm more willing to bet that the WWE was savvy enough to recognize the value of such an odd pairing.

If Miz needs to sharpen his wrestling skills he needs to go train at FCW. I wanted HBK to be paired up with Danielson.........that would of been some conflict in the making!

The Bryan Danielson pairing with Miz DOES make sense: Bob Holly got fired and JBL quit.

You're right Eck,WWE is certainly getting a kick out of tweaking the smart marks, I mean just look at all of you thinking this is going to be like an actual reality show(which I know, none of them have anything to do with reality).It's all gonna be preceived reality...ya know just like wrestling. They are going to put on there little show from 9-10 on SyFy every Tues. night and after Miz and Bryan walk through the curtian after work is done Miz will go one way and Bryan will go another. They're not going to work out in the gym together, they're going to the clubs after the show together, they'll little to no interaction at all except in production meetings when a team of writters tell them what to say and how they want the story of their relationship to devlope.
On the smart mark side of things I thought the pairing of these two was great because hopefully this gets Bryan in a progam with a chapion sooner than latter. But Im still not gonna hold my breath for him to become a star he's still to vanilla for WWE's taste.

RESPONSE FROM KE: It will be interesting to see how "real" the reality aspect is.

If WWE is doing this to spite the smart marks, it sure isn't working. I'm a card carrying smart mark member of the IWC (seriously, I cover ROH's TV show for a relatively well-respected site), and this pairing has me more excited than anything else they could have come up with (well, except CM Punk, and that would just be too obvious).

First, the Miz and Danielson will likely have a personality clash at some point in the show. Danielson is just too naturally laid back and friendly to not clash with the Miz, assuming they're going to actually base this on reality.

Second, if they don't have a personality clash, then Danielson will get to play his gimmick where he acts like he's better than anyone, and then backs it up in the ring, like he did in 2006 in ROH.

Third, the Miz is the best thing about Raw by an incredibly large margin, and more Miz is good.

Fourth, it's Bryan Danielson for free. Nothing could be better.

WWE doesn't so much "ignore" what you do on the independant scene and how big you tear it up.

CM Punk rose through the ranks very fast in WWE, when WWECW started Punk was almost immedietly put in a spotlight on that show and held a very central role in that show, when he was moved to Raw he had the belt put on him immedietly.

Bryan Danielson is alot like Punk, an extremly talented athlete who needs to adapt his developed character to a WWE environment.

And yes I think WWE will try and humble him, because the "American Dragon" has a reputation as being the absolute best in ring performer in the world.

Vince McMahon has proven time and time again that in ring skill means very little to him (Batista, Cena, Sheamus, need I go on?) so I fear that Bryan Danielson may never get a top position in that company.

But then again, McMahon did prove me wrong when it came to CM Punk.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Punk did break through, but like I said earlier, he was humbled when he first started. I remember vividly that Punk was really starting to get over on ECW and then he did a clean job for Hardcore Holly.

Why don't we all see what the actual format of the program is with respect to kayfabe and any "reality" aspects before we go making any conclusions about pairings?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Because speculating is half the fun.

This is McMahon's way of telling both the fans and the wrestlers that whatever you accomplished anywhere before WWE ammounts to absolutely nothing.

Demoting Bryan Danielson to Miz's "rookie" is a slap in the face to Independant wrestling and it's followers. To take a man who has spent a decade building himself as a wrestler, while trying to uphold the traditions of said sport, and reducing him to a reality show flunkie, is a sign of disrespect.

Anyone who honest to God beleives that this is a smart business decision in the long run, has zero faith in the sport as a whole. This is much akin to having Jay Cutler tutor William Perry on how to be a "true" Chicago Bears player.

"And when a guy come in with a rep as an accomplished indy wrestler who all the smarts love, it actually seems to work against the guy'

That really makes me feel good about WWE.

In clarification of my earlier comment, I did not mean to imply that Danielson has never been on the road. According to what Rob Van Dam and others have said, WWE's schedule is one of the most demanding anywhere, so I assumed that Danielson did not have to work through such a challenge in Ring of Honor. Was I way off base on that? Maybe. My knowledge of ROH is admittedly quite limited.

Over on wwe.com there is a blog that The Miz addresses his mentoring Danielson situation. Even though some of the blog is written with The Miz being in character, what he said in his blog is pretty much true. http://fans.wwe.com/themiz/blog/2010/02/18/mentoring_daniel_bryan_on_wwe_nxt

Who is the hell is Bryan Daniel Danielson Bryan??? Like a previous poster, I've been watching wrestling for 20 years, grew up watching independents CWA, USWA, WCCW, Global, and i have NO idea who he is. I've only read about all of his 'buzz' through the internets and didn't know what he looked like until his pic was showed on ECW. My point is, 90% of WWE's audience has no idea who this guy is, and it just shows the insanity of the IWC if they think the WWE is gonna have this guy come in and debut any differently than Trent Barretta, Scotty Goldman , Vance Archer, or Tom, Dick, and Jobber.

I believe The Miz had some training and worked the independent circuits before joining the "Real World" in New York. Granted he didn't have much training when he went into the WWE, he's really a good showman and wrestler - hell better than a few of them (I'm looking at you, Chris Masters). Maybe this pairing will be good for the both of them. Miz will learn something from Bryan, and vice versa. I think we have to see it before we can make assumptions.

Throw him yo the masses right away and you will have Lance Storm part 2. Have him humble a champ with multiple strikes and lay out the Miz, the WWE fans will know how he is for real and you can build a whole bad ass submission based character out of it. It is genius to have the 2 together.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that McMahonagement want Miz to be Jericho 2.0. Smarmy personality? Check. Smaller build? Check. Mic skills? eh... Check. Teaming with the Big Show? Check. Top technical wrestling ability? ............ Umm...

I really do think that putting Miz with Danielson will, at the very least, make Miz a better wrestler. Jericho is one of the best of all time because he could talk his way into a big match, and then wrestle his way through it. The Miz may have improved a lot... but he still isn't putting on 4 star matches. If there is anyone that can get him there, it would be the best you have. Last time I checked, Kurt Angle isn't under WWE contract (for now), Michaels will be taking time off, and putting him against Jericho makes him look like the Jericho light version he already is. The WWE gives Miz a chance to learn... and they get to p--- all over the Smarks, while creating huge buzz for their new show.

Say what you want about the product, WWE marketing is incredible... and I think they struck gold again.

It's not just work on the indies that means nothing to the WWE. Nothing means anything to them. Most people point to merch sales and drawing power for a performer being on top, and that should be the reason, but the WWE brand itself has gotten so lucrative that they stopped caring about how they book things. Cena sells more merch than anyone else, and it's not close. He is the top babyface and will be there for a long time. This makes sense. Currently, the second highest selling item at wweshop.com, behind only Cena's t-shirt and ahead of every other item, Cena or other, is Santino Marella's "Beware the Cobra" shirt. Yes, you read that correctly. A shirt about a finishing move that has never successfully finished anyone is now outselling everyone else. So, the case can be made that Santino is a bigger money draw than Sheamus. Does the WWE top brass care? Not at all. They are still selling PPV's, their ratings are high, and their profitability is still outrageous.

The justification for Sheamus as Champion stems mostly from his time in the European indies as a top wrestler. Hmm.. smells like hypocrisy. And then there was the time when they cancelled Tough Enough because they wanted people to work through the indies rather than win a spot on the roster. WWE management waffles more than Barack Obama John McCain and Nanci Pelosi combined.

Until people stop paying for it, the product will stay the same, or near to it.

Please note: Before you say it, TNA is not the answer. They actually suck even worse.

Kevin, I might have missed this in an earlier post, but will NXT have any wrestling on it? Or is it just a reality show? Thanks.

RESPONSE FROM KE: It sounds like a combination of the two.

Christopher-

A guy like Danielson didn't just work for ROH. He also wrestled regularly in Europe, Japan, and all across America for various independent promotions. He was easily the biggest draw an indy promotion could have. Just having him appear on your show meant that the IWC would take notice of you, and that means more money.

Danielson, in any given month, could have a schedule like this: He'd work ROH one weekend, in a place like Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, New York, as well as one of the several smaller markets ROH runs. Let's say Manassas, VA and New York City. The next weekend, he'd be off to Southern California, for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. After that, he'd be going to Germany, to work for Westside Xtreme Wrestling. After that, he'd probably come back for the next ROH weekend, let's say Dayton, OH and Chicago. Then maybe he'd go on a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH, and wrestle maybe six times in those two weeks. Maybe sometime in there he'd also work for CHIKARA in Pennsylvania, or AAW in the Chicago area.

The guy's life is on the road, and he does it in a much more strenuous manner than a guy like the Miz. When Danielson travels someplace, he's either driving, or if he flies, he flies coach. No first class, no chartered planes, just load up all your stuff and hope the airline doesn't lose it.

There's even a documentary coming out about Danielson, Colt Cabana (aka Scotty Goldman), and fellow indy wrestler Sal Rinauro, called Wrestling Road Diaries, about all the stuff guys like them go through in their lives. It's much harder than you'd think.

I see NXT as just a vehicle used as a means to start a lot more storylines and to help propel the newer stars a lot faster than the old method of slowly working them up from the bottom, they've already started doing that with Sheamus/McIntire and tried to with Escobar. If anything, I think this is how they plan to fill the void of the veterans retiring, wouldn't surprise me if this year or next is the last year for Undertaker, HBK, Batista and a couple others and so there exists a great need to get some more top level talent quick. I think this will be interesting.

To Joe M.: Sign me up to buy that Documentary when it comes out.

As for the pairing, I am praying it will be done with respect...but reality programming and the WWE is a match made in....well hell for me...

Tough Enough was ok but you have seen the track record of it in the long run and hell this NXT has half the pairings where the "rookies" are BETTER than the vets mentoring them.

I am crossing my fingers seriously here...