Daniel Bryan Talks Brock Lesnar’s Love For Pro Wrestling

Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT and looked back at his WWE Survivor Series 2018 match with Brock Lesnar.

That match saw then-Universal Champion Lesnar, representing RAW, defeat then-WWE Champion Bryan, who was representing SmackDown. The Champion vs. Champion main event went almost 20 minutes. Bryan says he was thrilled to finally get a match against The Beast.

Bryan added that he always pictured a babyface underdog vs. killer heel match, but things were different as he was working as a heel on the blue brand.

“I was thrilled, I was absolutely thrilled,” Bryan said. “I wanted the Brock Lesnar match for a long time. But how I always envisioned it was babyface Daniel Bryan! Yes man Daniel Bryan, underdog Daniel Bryan against the killer Brock Lesnar.

“But I had literally just become the Planet’s Champion and kicked AJ Styles in the nuts [laughs]. So it was a really weird thing, but I think the weirdness of it also made it fun and made it more pleasurable for me.”

Bryan praised Lesnar for his in-ring abilities and said he believes Lesnar really loves pro wrestling.

“Wrestling Brock Lesnar, I don’t think anybody appreciates how great Brock Lesnar is and the mind that he brings to wrestling,” Bryan said. “I also think, and from a character perspective I’ve said this on a Talking Smack or whatever, but it’s actually not true, is I think Brock Lesnar loves this.

“He just also loves farming, loves being at home and he’s not going to do it just because he likes doing it, he’s going to do it because, ‘Hey, you need to pay me to put my body on the line’, that sort of thing, right? But his eyes light up when he does this. That’s the thing.”

Bryan talked more about the 2018 Survivor Series match and how proud of it he is, noting that it was a real test for him.

“That match is something that I’m really, really proud of and it was a test for me,” Bryan said. “I don’t think there’s been anybody in the history of WWE who’s been more excited to take a German Suplex from Brock Lesnar than me.

“Just to be like, ‘Ok, let’s see! We got to see what I got here. Am I good?!’ German Suplex… ‘Yep, I’m good’ [laughs].”

AJ Styles Reveals The REAL Reason His Last WWE Title Run Ended

AJ Styles revealed the real reason why he lost the WWE Title to Daniel Bryan in 2018 on his official Twitch stream.

Styles’ 371 day reign as champion came to an end when Bryan beat him on the 13 November 2018 episode of SmackDown. That, so says AJ, was only done because WWE were worried about booking a rematch between Styles and Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series just five nights later.

Brock and AJ had already clashed the prior year at Survivor Series 2017.

Vince McMahon was concerned that scheduling the exact same match two years running (on the exact same pay-per-view) would lead to diminishing returns. Privately, Styles didn’t see the problem – he believed there was an appetite for a Universal Champion vs. WWE Champion rematch against Lesnar.

WWE disagreed. They thought it’d be much better if they could book a fresh scenario and put Bryan in there against Brock instead. So, they hastily penned a title change on SmackDown and switched up the already-announced AJ vs. Brock battle.

Styles said on Twitch that he’s sure his biggest fans didn’t like that decision at the time.

Charlotte On Going Back To Being A Heel, How She Feels About Ronda Rousey

After about a year-and-a-half of being a face, Charlotte Flair turned heel at Survivor Series by brutally attacking Ronda Rousey with a kendo stick and steel chair. This isn’t Charlotte’s first time being a heel and she says she naturally portrays one better than being a babyface.

Charlotte talked about turning back into a heel when she joined the State of Combat podcast with Brian Campbell.

“I think what was hard for me is during the Becky Lynchfeud is I cared so much what everyone thought,” said Charlotte. “Here I am supposed to be the good guy but I am getting booed. If you know my past, if you know Charlotte and Becky’s past, leave titles and everything in the past behind, and if you just look at the friendship story, I was still supposed to be the good guy.”

Charlotte says she wasn’t staying true to her character as being genetically superior to the rest of the women’s roster by being a babyface.

“I got into Survivor Series I said to myself, you know what, I can no longer apologize for being that good because I am. It was one of those moments where it’s like go back to who you are and what your character is supposed to be and don’t care about the rest,” stated Charlotte. “It was almost like I was re-debuting when I debuted as a babyface and turned to bad it was just a matter of, no, I’m Charlotte Flair. I’m an eight-time Women’s Champion. I am not an afterthought and I just went back to what I am meant to be the entire time, which is The Chosen One.” 

Since she is part of the first female main event in WrestleMania history, Charlotte knows that there is pressure placed upon her shoulders. But she says that under pressure is when she performs best and she plans on proving that at WrestleMania 35 tonight.

“For me, I have to go with I know that I am under immense pressure and the bright lights are on and I am on the biggest stage that is when I do my best work,” stated Charlotte. “I feel like after Survivor Series vs Ronda Rousey I found a whole other gear changed in me that hasn’t stopped. 

“I am looking to take my performance to a whole new level on April 7th at MetLife Stadium, and that is when I am going to prepare myself mentally and emotionally because that is what you have to do. When you are out there you have to find those emotions somewhere and the pressure is on. The most important thing for us to do is to put an exclamation point on the main event and to prove to everyone that we are where we are supposed to be.”

Despite their feud and upcoming match, Charlotte has immense respect for Ronda Rousey and what her presence has done for women in sports entertainment.

“I just look at Ronda and I go, if there had not been a Ronda, I mean, I know the world has changed for women overall, but Ronda played a huge part of that,” admitted Charlotte. “She is a household name and has always stayed true to her message. When she got signed with WWE no one can say whether or not she would be able to pick up this business. Just because you are a great athlete doesn’t mean you are going to be a great storyteller. I believe she legitimized the women’s division to an audience that may not be familiarized with sports entertainment. That is what I believe she brought to the table.”

Before the triple threat match at WrestleMania was announced, Charlotte revealed that she dreamed of one day facing Rousey at WrestleMania.

“Before Survivor Series, I pictured facing her at WrestleMania and I wanted to test my skill against her,” said Charlotte. “That is how much I look up to her and I still do because of what she has done for women’s sports around the world. I have that much respect for her. Don’t get me wrong though, it is my ring.”

Nia Jax Still Doesn’t Regret Her Punch To Becky Lynch, Talks If Women Will Headline WrestleMania

One of the most polarizing figures in the women’s locker room, Nia Jax is still answering questions about Becky Lynch.

Since appearing in both the women’s and men’s Royal Rumble matches back in January, Jax singles career has taken a backseat to her pursuit of WWE’s new tag team titles.

Jax recently sat down with the Sporting News and was asked about women potentially headlining WrestleMania 35this year.

“It’s our time. It’s definitely our time,” Jax said. “We all work hard, we work our butts off and it’s our time. People are starting to recognize all the talent that we have and we keep doing it every week on “RAW” and then the pay-per-views. The fans want to see a main event at WrestleManiaand the women end the show. It’s great. We have 100 percent support from all the men backstage and everyone is supporting us to get to where we are. We’re taking over. That’s what it is.”

Never one to hold back her thoughts, Jax also spoke on her infamous punch that broke Becky Lynch’s nose on the RAWbefore Survivor Series. Jax admitted she learned from the incident but because she’s a heel it doesn’t sound like she regrets it.

“Obviously, we learned that I can’t throw punches (laughs),” Jax said. “I’m just kidding. From that experience, there’s always an opportunity whether it’s good or bad. If somebody gets hit, that happens in a contact sport. It happens, so you just have to be able to look at the positives and take it and run with it. I just realized that everything is an opportunity no matter what happens. People might freak out like they did on me and that’s OK because now I’m one of the top heels in this company and I’m OK with that. That’s my job, so I take everything as an opportunity.”

Nia Jax has the ultimate glass half full approach to breaking the nose of one of her co-workers.

Daniel Bryan Talks WWE Fans Criticizing Brock Lesnar, Wants To Be Hated More Than Lesnar

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Newsweek to promote Sunday’s match with AJ Styles at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The full interview is at this link. Bryan praised WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar for their Survivor Series match back in November, saying he wanted to do the match for a long time and he was very satisfied coming out of it. Bryan was asked how the match would have been different if he were still a babyface.

“It would have to have been a different match,” Bryan said. “One of the challenges with that match, specifically, from a creativity standpoint is ‘ok I just turned into a bad guy maybe 5 or 6 days ago, I can’t go out there and be a good guy. Otherwise it’s an ineffective turn.’ So how do I go out there and make people want to see me beat Brock Lesnar but at the end of it still have them hate me? And I feel we accomplished that very well [laughs]. It’s funny too, because a lot of people give Lesnar a lot of crap especially from wrestling fans. But man, what an incredible performer that guy is. I’ve been wanting to do the Brock Lesnar match for a long time and I was very satisfied.”

The interviewer pointed to how Bryan would be cheered by default up against Lesnar, no matter how heelish he was. Bryan acknowledged that this was difficult, adding that the interesting dynamic worked in the end. Bryan said he wanted to be the most-hated Superstar in WWE, more hated than The Beast.

“Yea it’s an interesting dynamic because this was my thinking going in and it worked. Get people at first, because I want to be the most hated guy in the company. I want to be more hated than Brock Lesnar,” Bryan revealed. “Some people want to cheer for the bad guy. I don’t want them to cheer, I want to be hated. So far I’ve had two jumpers at live events [laughs] and that’s an old school kind of mentality. You don’t want those guys to jump but you want them to hate you. You want them to pay to see you get beat. Or pay to see you get beat up or at the very least enjoy seeing you get beat up. That’s my thing. In the Brock Lesnar match, specifically, before we got to do much, I wanted people to see Lesnar kick my ass. But then I want them to be concerned about Brock Lesnar kicking my ass, and then I kick Brock Lesnar’s ass. And then when I lose, I still want [the fans] to be like “I wanted to see him win but you know what, I hate him. What a despicable human being this guy is” [laughs].

“So it’s a challenge. I look at professional wrestling as a martial art, almost. But if you’re looking at martial arts, MMA is the most martial aspect of it, professional wrestling is the most artistic aspect of it. And so this is my performance art. When I do other martial arts I do them to be better at my performance art. Creating those kind of narratives is something I think about a lot. People think of wrestling they don’t see it as a performance art or something that is very nuance or have that kind of depth to it. It doesn’t have to, but I don’t mind having that depth.”

Bryan continued, “One of the things I think of when I think of professional wrestling is music. I’m thinking more classical music. If you’re in the ring and you’re listening to classical music, and this is an imperfect example, but it would be like “boom… boom… boom…boom boom boom boom.” So you get used to the “boom….boom….boom” part so when you get the “boom boom boom boom” part you say “oh that’s different.” And then you throw in variations on that, and you throw in the horns [makes horn noises] and that sort of thing. [I want to ] add those sorts of things to the art of professional wrestling in a way that even people who are watching aren’t’ thinking of. I do it because it isn’t “I want the critics to be like this!” this is something that I do because I love doing it and I appreciate the small nuances of that. And selfish as it is, I’m not doing it for anyone else but myself [laughs].”

In response to the last comment about doing it for himself, the interviewer said that is OK because this is something Bryan loves to do. Bryan revealed how his reaction to a match sometimes differs from the reaction he receives when he returns backstage to the Gorilla Position.

“But when you’re in entertainment you get ‘I want the people to enjoy this’ and I do but at the end of the day…,” Bryan said. “There have been times in gorilla position where I go backstage and everyone is clapping after a match and I’m just shaking my head and thinking, ‘what are these people clapping for? That was nothing. That was a spotfest.’ I try to work hard in every performance that I do, but when I get back there it wasn’t special, it was thoughtless. And there have been times where I go back there and I’m so proud, but not a single person in gorilla cared [laughs]. And I just walk with my chest out and my head held high, proud of what I’ve done.”

Becky Lynch Talks WWE Attempt At Turning Her Heel, If Her Accent Held Her Back, Hugging Charlotte

Becky Lynch appeared on State of Combat to discuss some of WWE’s strange booking, becoming “The Man,” why she hugged Charlotte before Survivor Series, and social media. Here are some of the highlights:

Being told that she should cut a promo against the fans that lifted her to the top as WWE attempted to turn her heel:

“There was a lot going through my head on that day because I come off such a high from the reaction of the night before, from finally saying that I’m doing with this, that I deserve more. And that’s a very freeing feeling because you almost were shackled by friendship for so long. So you say, ‘OK, I’m taking off these chains because the only person bounding me down right now is you—and me by allowing it. And I’m taking it off.’ And then I think everybody thought that I was going to be the bad guy because of that.

“But I don’t think that I was because I think anybody can relate to that person that always wants you to do good but they don’t want you to do better than them ever. And they don’t really want you to succeed—maybe to a level to where you’re content but never where you’re truly happy, never to where you’re truly soaring. And I think everybody has that person who everything comes easy to them, everything is handed to them and there’s no struggle. Unfortunately, that’s not most people. That’s not most people.

“And I went out there and I was going through a lot of stuff, I was questioning a lot of things, and the one thing I did question was—and I could feel it from the fans, too. Because when I said it, I said, ‘Well, when Charlotte [Flair] stole the win from me, you got up and you cheered the new champion. You weren’t that upset, were you?’ And I think people agreed with me. They did stand up and cheer a new champion because she weaseled her way in like a Flair does into a match where she didn’t belong and she did what she does. She’s an opportunist and she stole that opportunity from me.”

Her “enough is enough” moment at SummerSlam:

“I think it’s been progressive. I don’t know that there’s a defining moment. The physical moment was the moment the world saw at SummerSlam, but I think it’s been building for such a long time, it really has. If you go back and you look at any of my interviews backstage or whatever, I’ve been saying the same thing for a long time. I keep getting overlooked. I keep getting taken advantage of and I need to change. I kept saying, ‘I need to change; I need to do something different.’ But I think I didn’t—for lack of a better term—I didn’t have the balls to do it really. I was still stuck in that mindset of, ‘No, let me get along with everybody. Let me do the right thing. Let me not ruffle too many feathers. Let me ruffle a few, but not every one – certainly not my best friend.’

“And then when I realized that was what was holding me down, keeping me back, casting a shadow on me, I was like, ‘Ha-ha, no way. You asked me for advice. You rely on me. And you’re the one [getting a push]? Well that doesn’t sound right. Surely I should be the one since I have the knowledge, I have the ability, I have paid my dues in so many different ways.’ She works hard, but nobody works harder than I do or for as long.”

Becoming “The Man” and exorcising some demons:

“‘The Man’ is a state of mind. What I’m going out there and doing is I’m just telling the truth. I think that’s what people are reacting to, that’s what people are responding to. It’s just the truth that I’m saying; there’s no words of a lie coming out of my mouth whenever I say anything. I’m just stating fact. And unfortunately, they’re not said often enough, and they’re not said loud enough to a large enough arena of people. Now I’m doing it on every single platform that I have. Whether it’s on Twitter, whether it’s on Instagram, whether it’s on a WWE show on RAW or SmackDown, at a pay-per-view, in a backstage interview, whenever I get the chance to come on your show and talk like this, I will stand out there and I will state the facts.”

Whether it’s true that some backstage said her accent was holding her back:

“No. Nobody ever said that … to my face. Ha-ha. Nobody ever said that to my face, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some snake was saying it behind my back. I’ll prove them wrong. I love proving people wrong. It’s one thing to prove people right, and I love doing that, but it’s a whole other [thing] to go out there and prove people wrong.”

Why she hugged Charlotte before Survivor Series:

“… and then I have to watch Charlotte Flair step into my role. And clearly you hug people you don’t like when you’re concussed because I don’t know what I was doing; wouldn’t have ever hugged her in a million years in a sober state. I have to watch her try to be bootleg Becky at Survivor Seriesacting like she’s me, thinking she’s tough, thinking she’s edgy. That woman couldn’t have any edge if she turned into a Rubik’s cube.”

Talking trash on social media:

“That’s where the fun is. That’s where the fun is. You know, the thing is, if you’re going to say anything about me, just prepare that I’m going to come back at you. And if you’re not prepared for that, well then I would advise getting my name out of your mouth.”

Lynch also discussed Vince McMahon’s reaction to her. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.

Shane Helms Shares His Thoughts On Enzo Amore Crashing WWE Survivor Series PPV

During the Survivor Series pay-per-view, Enzo Amore attempted to steal the showby crashing the event. He dressed in a disguise, sat in the second row opposite the hard camera and then removed the disguise to reveal himself. Amore then stood on his chair and did a mock intro of what he did when he was actually employed by WWE.

The disruption led to security removing him from the arena and banning him from future events at Staples Center. Shane “Hurricane” Helms weighed in on Amore’s antics when he joined the X-Pac 1,2,3 Podcast.

“I think it was disrespectful because there were guys in the ring working. He tried to take away from them so that’s disrespectful to the guys in the ring. And honestly my gut reaction was, ‘Is this a work? Are these guys in on it?’ I think that comes from just being in the business for so long, you sometimes think everything is a work but if it’s not it’s just disrespectful to the guys in the ring,” stated Helms.

This wasn’t a planned stunt and this was Amore acting on his own. He lives in Los Angeles and also used the opportunity to promote his local rap concert by having his team place flyers on cars parked outside the Staples Center.

Even with Amore not employed by WWE, Helms says his act surely didn’t go well with the boys in the back, many of whom once shared a locker with Amore. He also wished Amore would find some peace in his life moving forward.

“If I am in the ring busting my a– and I find out one of the boys is out in the crowd trying to take away from it, we’re gonna have a conversation in the back,” stated Helms. “And that has happened at shows… I don’t know where he’s at in his life, if it’s just a publicity stunt and I don’t know the guy at all so I don’t know where his head is at. Hopefully he can find some kind of success that brings him happiness in his life.”

With Raw also taking place in the Staples Center the following night, WWE was on high alert for Amore. They gave pictures of Amore to security at the arena along with instructions to not let him in. Amore did not show up at Raw as he had his rap concert also take place that night.

Major WWE Title Change And Heel Turn On Tonight’s WWE SmackDown

Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles in the main event of tonight’s WWE SmackDown to become the new WWE Champion.

The finish of the match saw Bryan hit a low blow on Styles. Bryan then turned heel and attacked Styles after the match, laughing at him while the beatdown continued.

Bryan is now a four-time WWE Champion. Styles won the title back on November 7, 2017 by defeating Jinder Mahal on a SmackDown episode.

Bryan will now go on to Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view to face WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar because of the title change.