Chris Jericho Returns, Daniel Bryan Going Heel?

The big mystery was solved on this past week's episode of Raw when those video promos finally ended, and Y2J finally emerged.  That's right, Chris Jericho has returned to WWE Raw from the looks of it, but his return has many puzzled.

His spotlight moment featured Jericho pandering to the crowd, celebrating his return.  Jericho came out wearing a snazzy jacket complete with blinking lights, before his pyro and theme music hit.  Y2J did a lot of hyping up audience members, and yelling, dancing and walking around all excited, but said absolutely nothing.  Perhaps, his actions spoke louder than words?  He will likely have something to say soon, as fans know Jericho is one of the most talkative guys in the business, and one of the best on the mic in terms of his promos.

The best bet for Jericho is that he has returned as a heel once again.  His excited display on Raw is probably him mocking his own return and the fans for being excited about it.  Should CM Punk continue to hold the WWE Championship past the Royal Rumble, expect Jericho to be among the frontrunners feuding with Punk.  In fact, it would not be very surprising at all if Jericho wins the Royal Rumble and goes after Punk at Wrestlemania 28.

Meanwhile, speaking of heels, it's apparent Daniel Bryan is turning that way on Smackdown.  On Friday night fans saw more of his jubilant celebration after "beating" Big Show in a championship rematch.  He won the match because Mark Henry shoved him down at ringside, causing a DQ.  Bryan acted as if he had pulled off some amazing feat, when in fact he won by default.  Daniel Bryan didn't exactly have the best personality of all the wrestlers around, but the same can be said for others befor him, until a change.

It's now becoming a mainstay in WWE that if someone who is a face wins Money in the Bank, smart money is they'll be turning heel.  The previous example is none other than CM Punk, who went from heel back to face quite nicely, so this character change could be just what Daniel Bryan needs.  However, it'll take some rather treacherous acts to turn him heel, besides just making comments and winning matches by luck.  Bryan will need to show his true colors at some point, and will probably become the latest major heel on Smackdown, as there's not much else to choose from!

Summerslam Surprises - Undertaker & Daniel Bryan Return!

The Summerslam 2010 PPV has come and gone in Los Angeles, CA as of Sunday but not without some riveting storylines. The matches aren't rated highly by most wrestling critics or fans. The event featured six matches, two of which ended in a DQ, one title change (Melina won divas title), a handicap feud, Mysterio losing to Kane, and of course that Team WWE vs Nexus battle. While all the matches weren't top caliber and this may not be the best Summerslam ever, it had its moments. Luckily there were a few interesting developments tossed in to keep the WWE Universe interested.

It made for an exciting Pay-Per-View for WWE to offer not one, but two superstars returning to Smackdown and Raw. One of them most fans could see coming, with The Undertaker arriving back to confront Rey Mysterio and Kane. It ended with Taker saying he believed Rey, then going after his brother. However, Undertaker is much weaker following the attack that left him in a vegetative state. So Kane got the upperhand and eventually a Tombstone Piledriver. To be continued on Smackdown.

The biggest surprise of the night was Daniel Bryan, aka Bryan Danielson. He was the surprise 7th member added on to Team WWE. To make his return bigger, he took over The Miz's spot, as Miz made a grand announcement at Summerslam that he would participate on behalf of Team WWE. Cena said sorry, we've got ourselves the final man. That lead to Daniel Bryan making a bit return impact as he battled The Nexus and eliminated several of them. Bryan was eliminated thanks to The Miz at ringside who bashed him with the MITB briefcase, followed by a pinfall from Wade Barrett. Expect The Miz and Bryan to feud, with Bryan eventually capturing the US Title. Then Miz can go on to bigger titles.

Speaking of that, good move by WWE to make Sheamus available for an easy MITB cash in, but have Miz hold off. Surprising move from an opportunistic heel which can only help build Miz up even more. WWE Creative can get Miz to near the level of Rock or Stone Cold's charisma. There's been chatter online about how if they're not careful, Miz could become a face. Keep in mind that both Rock and Austin were heels that just happened to become loved for their indifferent attitudes and catch phrases, which is what Miz displays a lot of. Fans loved both characters as heels before it was generally accepted that Rock and Austin were actually "heroic types" who kicked butt in the ring.

Heading forward it seems both Miz and Danielson will help each other out, despite the fact they'll be battling in the ring. Good moves by WWE to establish both these guys even more. Now we can wait and see what goes down Nexus on Raw.

What did you think of Summerslam 2010 PPV? Good surprises, good matches or so-so?

WWE fires NXT star Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan)

Just this past week we saw the NXT invasion go down on Monday Night Raw to conclude the 3-hour "Viewer's Choice Night". It involved all 8 of the NXT Season 1 competitors surrounding the ring, and then causing complete chaos, beating up John Cena and everyone else in sight, then destroying the ring. One of those guys involved was Daniel Bryan, aka Bryan Danielson. Now it appears the NXT/WWE superstar has officially been fired.

The following news note was posted on WWE.com regarding the release, about 12 hours ago:

"WWE has come to terms on the release of NXT first season rookie Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) as of today June 11, 2010. We wish Daniel Bryan the best in all future endeavors."

Thirteen hours ago, the NXT rookie had posted the following on his Twitter account:

"Just changed my Twitter name to Bryan Danielson. The winds of change are stirring. about 13 hours ago via web"

There's a report going on F4WOnline which says that possibly the firing came because Danielson went a bit far with the improv attack violence on Monday Night. In particular they say his choking out Justin Roberts with his tie may have been too violent and spitting in John Cena's face. So the firing appears to be legit and not part of any storyline.

Unfortunate to see Bryan Danielson fired from WWE. This guy was talented and his story was just getting interesting with the whole Michael Cole and NXT invasion going on. It will be interesting to see if Michael Cole brings it up at all, or they just ignore it after the whole attack. I wouldn't be surprised that if they do explain Bryan's release, that they use it in relation to the Cole story.

WWE Storylines 2010: NXT & Smackdown losers?

It's interesting to take a look at some of the WWE Storylines 2010 edition. We're just three months into the new year for WWE wrestling, and there seems to be a few "anti-push" type stores going on which are perplexing.

First up, we've got Drew McIntyre. The guy has now lost 3 matches in the past four weeks on Smackdown after going undefeated. The first two losses were expunged/erased by his friend Vince McMahon. After that, McIntyre got to go into a third MITB qualifying match against a local amateur. He easily won the match and became one of the nine guys in the MITB match. He may be odds on favorite despite his losing streak. Just last night though, he was booked in a main event contest against Undertaker by GM Teddy Long. The question, why another loss? It will most likely be expunged again by Vince McMahon, but where is this story leading?

If McIntyre is a future World Champion as Mr. McMahon has predicted, then he'll need at least to win some quality matches, clean or not. Drew could have defeated Kane, but they had their matches result in a double countout and then the DQ win. He could have had some sort of "cheap" win against Undertaker too. Why not have Michaels come out and pull another Sweet Chin Music on Taker like at the Chamber, allowing McIntyre the pinfall, or a distraction, or even a Superkick leading to a Taker countout? The Drew McIntyre story is a strange one, let's see where it goes. He just might become Mr. Money in the Bank at WM26, although Christian is still my favorite to win it.

The NXT storyline is that of Daniel Bryan (real name: Bryan Danielson). It's still a mystery why they changed his name, but we see that storyline is building a feud with his Pro mentor, The Miz. These two guys don't get along and for good reason. Most of the WWE pro heels aren't really into being part of the NXT concept, see CM Punk or Regal. Jericho and Carlito seem to be molding their rookies, while The Miz just doesn't like Daniel Bryan. That's resulted in a lot of pain, humiliation and a 0-4 record for Bryan on NXT, despite the fact that this guy has shown some great skills in ring. What's the reason for a losing streak on a guy of his caliber? It's not going to make him a fan favorite in the way that the scrawny kid Colin Delaney was back on ECW. Delaney was a gimmick, Bryan is not. A storyline of this nature only costs Bryan credibility and there's only true payoff you can see coming out of this: Bryan is able to earn a US title shot against Miz and probably takes the belt away from his mentor to redeem himself.

Daniel Bryan and Drew McIntyre are definitely two talented youngsters within the ranks of WWE, but they need wins on their resumes, not losing streaks, to stay respectable.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on these latest WWE Storylines for 2010. Are they necessary? Do you see a light shining at the end of the tunnel in these stories?

WWE NXT Recap 02.23.10 - Premiere

WWE NXT recap 02.23.10

WWE NXT kicked off with the 8 rookies backstage. The Miz arrived and looked them over one by one. Miz called forth the rookie he's mentoring Daniel Bryan. Miz began to boast about his accomplishments, and asked Bryan if he thinks he's ready. Miz said you have to expect anything when you're in WWE, so he told Bryan to go out to the ring and introduce himself. He suggested Bryan needs to let everyone know exactly who he is. Miz said he can use his theme music too. After Bryan left, Miz spoke directly to the camera, saying that if Bryan doesn't show any personality, then he'll slap him silly.

Josh Matthews and Michael Cole were the commentators on hand for WWE NXT. Backstage was the host of the show, Matt Striker. Striker said he jumped at the opportunity to take the host spot to showcase these 8 rookies and their talents.

Back in the ring, ring girl Savannah introduced Bryan. He apologized for Miz' remarks, and said he had wished William Regal was his mentor. Bryan spoke about wrestling all over the world and how finally he's got an opportunity in the WWE with NXT. Bryan's speech was interrupted by The Miz' theme music, as Miz arrived to the ring. Miz began to berate the speech Bryan was giving, so Bryan said maybe he should go on a reality TV show and get a fauxhawk, then said no wait that's been done by you. Bryan told Miz if he ever gets in the ring to fight with him, he either taps or snaps. The WWE Universe responded cheering Bryan. Miz asked if Bryan deserves to be in the same ring, then told Bryan he failed and slapped him in the face before leaving to go up the ramp. Bryan went up to the ropes staring out at Miz saying "you got nothing on me". They immediately showed a replay of the slap incident. Bryan got on the mic saying there will be a time when he slaps Miz back.

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NXT returned to showcase their theme song "Wild & Young" by American Bang which is currently available on iTunes.

Host Matt Striker interviewed Daniel Bryan backstage during the commercial break. Striker asked Bryan's thoughts after being slapped in the face. Bryan said he wanted Miz to know he slaps a lot harder than he does. Striker asked how Bryan can talk like that if Miz is his mentor. Bryan said he's been in the industrry twice as long as Miz, but Striker interrupted him to let him know he hasn't been in the WWE for a minute. Bryan said he can be a star on his own without Miz' help.

Cole and Matthews said Bryan doesn't realize that later tonight he's scheduled to fight World Champion Chris Jericho one-on-one.

Carlito came out with his rookie Michael Tarver from Akron, Ohio. Carlito announced that with his help Tarver will become next breakout WWE Superstar. They showed a highlight promo video of Tarver, who said they call him "Mr. 1.9 seconds" because he can knockout opponents that quickly. Tarver said he takes out the head to cause the body to fall. He said he wants to show what he's capable of so the world can see, and he hopes the other rookies bring their A-game to deal with him.

Carlito & Michael Tarver vs. Christian & Heath Slater

They showed an in-depth profile of Slater who is from West VA. Slater said he's wanted to be a WWE Superstar forever and likes to showboat a lot. Slater started off with Carlito and went for a quick rollup, then taunted Carlito. Carlito responded with a kick to the gut, then brought him to the corner to pound away. He tagged in his rookie Tarver to start punching away some more. The heels started to take control as they dominated Slater while Christian watched from the apron.

Christian finally got involved and had several near Killswitch attempts as well as a pinfall. Carlito tagged in Tarver who tried to slingshot Carlito towards Christian in the corner. Slater came over to take out Carlito. Christian hit a flying elbow off the corner, then the Killswitch on the rookie Tarver for the pinfall.

Winners: Christian and Heath Slater win via pinfall over Carlito and Michael Tarver.

They showed CM Punk with his rookie backstage as well as R-Truth coaching his. Both men will meet one-on-one next on NXT.

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David Otunga vs. Darren Young

Punk, Gallows and Serena came out to the ring and Punk kept giving strange looks to Young who is a South Beach party animal. They showed an earlier interview where Punk said he doesn't know why he's even there for NXT, because he mentors Gallows and Serena. He suggested Darren gets Straightedge into his life soon.

They also showed a David Otunga promo who is from Hollywood and with Jennifer Hudson. He talked about his good looks and the fact he went to Harvard Law School. He said he's got the confidence and charisma of The Rock, the attack of HHH and power of John Cena. Otunga said all the haters are jealous of him, but he doesn't plan on failing at NXT.

R-Truth came out doing the "What's Up?" song, then Otunga came out and posed at the top of the ramp. Truth kept rapping around the ring, then stopped himself before getting into the ring. The bell sounded with Young gaining the upperhand on Otunga, getting a near fall, but Otunga made a quick comeback with several moves and slammed Young down hard to the mat for a very fast pinfall. The move came after Otunga whipped Young to the ropes, then slammed him down as he came back.

Winner: David Otunga wins via pinfall over Darren Young.

They showed another replay of Miz slapping his rookie Daniel Bryan in the ring. Later tonight, Daniel Bryan faces World Champion Chris Jericho in the main event. Jericho is mentoring Wade Barrett.

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NXT returned to show Raw Rebound highlights of the Cena-Batista buildup. Cena won the Elimination Chamber and WWE Title, but Vince McMahon immediately ordered him to defend the title against Batista. Cena was worn and beaten down from the Chamber, which allowed Batista to win in about 30 seconds with a Batista Bomb. Batista became new WWE champion. The next night on Raw, Cena called for his rematch, but again Vince McMahon came out and told Cena that Batista won't defend until Wrestlemania. Instead, Vince gave Cena the opportunity to have his rematch, if he could defeat Batista in the main event. In that match, Batista ducked Cena several times in the early going, then kicked him in the groin to get DQ'd. After the bell, The Animal continuously attacked Cena, including using a steel chair repeatedly on his back.

Jericho came out from backstage with his rookie Wade Barrett walking behind him down the ramp. Barrett wore a long black coat with a white flower on it. Jericho and his rook got in the ring as NXT hit commercial break.

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Back from break, they announced that next week, Matt Hardy brings his rookie Justin Gabriel to NXT.

In the ring, Jericho told his rookie Wade Barrett to introduce him to the crowd instead of Savannah. Barrett introduced himself as the best bare knuckle fighter there is then said it's a privilege to work with a superstar like Chris Jericho. He kept talking up Chris Jericho, and finally Jericho grabbed the mic telling his rookie to just introduce him. Barrett said this is your world champion, Mr. Jericho, to which Jericho nodded approvingly saying "much better."

Miz came out next, leading Daniel Bryan to the ring. Bryan bumped Miz and walked by him, then rushed to the ring. Bryan posed in the ring as NXT went to yet another commercial break.

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Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho

Bryan offered a handshake to start the match, but Jericho started to let him know he wasn't of the same caliber. Jericho shoved Bryan, and then hit a dropkick followed by some impressive corner moves. Soon after, Jericho responded by powering out of the corner, then hitting a dropkick and eventually a backwards slam to the mat. Jericho continued to pound away on the rookie, then applied a headlock on the mat as Wade Barrett watched from ringside.

Bryan came from against the ropes for a rollup pin which Jericho kicked out of. Jericho regained the upperhand and started to beat on Bryan some more.

As the match continued, Matt Striker interviewed Wade Barrett at ringside. Striker asked what insight he's gaining from watching, and Barrett said he's seeing the quality it takes to be a world class champion like Jericho. Meanwhile in the ring, Bryan was on a tear with a barrage of moves, including a jumping clothesline. He knocked Jericho out of the ring, then went for a suicide dive. Jericho was ready for it and grabbed Bryan from the air to slam him against the commentators' table.

Bryan recovered though and got back in control, tossing Jericho into the ring. Bryan went for the high risk move jumping from the corner, but Jericho caught him and set up Walls of Jericho. Bryan countered it and put on a Figure Four leglock, causing Jericho to writhe in pain. Jericho struggled but finally grabbed the bottom rope. The ref talked to Bryan, and as he walked back at Jericho, Jericho hit the Codebreaker. The rookies backstage were shown watching on a flatscreen. Jericho walked over and put Bryan into the Walls of Jericho, causing Bryan to quickly tap out.

The Miz got into the ring after the match and began to hammer away on Bryan, pounding his head into the mat. Cole said it appears Miz is trying to instill some respect into his rookie. Miz berated Bryant telling him "I'm the pro, you're the rookie!"

They showed a replay of Daniel Bryan and Jericho's match. Matthews said Bryan was impressive in the debut, nearly making Jericho tap. Cole said Miz set an example for all the rookies on NXT.

Winner: Chris Jericho wins via submission over Daniel Bryant.

Backstage, Matt Striker was with the other six NXT rookies. Striker said next week we'll continue to make history, with the unique future of NXT. They rolled an outro highlight video of tonight's show including the various moments and matches.

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WWE Signs ROH Star Nigel McGuiness

About a week or so ago, it was reported that Ring of Honor wrestler, Bryan Danielson, would be heading to World Wrestling Entertainment. Now in recent news reports, it appears that another ROH star, British heel Nigel McGuiness, will also make his way over to WWE. The 33 year old wrestler hails from London, England and is 6'1" 220 pounds.

McGuiness has the record for longest reign as ROH Pure Champion at 350 days. He also held ROH's World Championship title as well, for 545 days total. He's also been injurred due to a diving move by another wrestler at a ROH PPV several years ago. Nigel received a concussion, and a broken nose as well as 14 stitches from the incident.

According to various reports, McGuiness is going to keep wrestling with Ring of Honor through the end of this month. He's agreed to a WWE contract in principal, so it's not quite official as of yet. It's unknown where he'll go in terms of TV shows with WWE, but he just might become another top heel in the tradition of William Regal.

Check out more about Nigel McGuiness and other ROH wrestlers at their official website rohwrestling.com.

WWE Signs ROH Star Bryan Danielson

World Wrestling Entertainment has reportedly signed former Ring of Honor Champion Bryan Danielson, aka "American Dragon". Danielson's wreslted in the US, Europe and Japan for several independent wrestling programs.

Ring of Honor released the following statement (from The Sun UK):

"Bryan Danielson has agreed in principle to a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

"Bryan has been an exemplary talent and a wonderful member of the Ring of Honor locker room and family since the inception of the company.

"We couldn't be happier for Bryan and all of his successes, many of which Ring of Honor has been proud to witness first hand.

"We congratulate Bryan on the beginning of this next journey in his brilliant career, and wish him all the best as he progresses."

Danielson's been in WWE briefly before. He wrestled on the older Velocity and Heat shows WWE used to have on Saturday and Sunday nights, as a developmental talent. Danielson was a guest of William Regal at the Hall of Fame ceremony this year, and Regal has also helped train the young star.

Two Ring of Honor stars that made the jump to WWE previously are Scotty Goldman and CM Punk. As we all know, Punk has experienced the greater success of the two, as he is now a multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion for WWE.

See more info about Bryan Danielson at the Ring of Honor roster page.