Reading this makes remembering his 96' run so much sadder

But Jake's doing well now and is over 60. He had an extremely tough childhood and worked hard to overcome it.

That was a great read. I remember most of it like it was yesterday, but there were some bits I'd forgotten or had never seen. Fantastic writeup for a fantastic angle.

Jake's 1996 was nearly without any redeeming value...but, even if Jake's only "contribution" to it was making himself an easy target, without Jake there is no Austin 3:16 promo, because that promo only makes sense targeted specifically at him. Despite the fact that it wasn't actually Jake's doing, there's probably an argument that sitting through all of his 1996 was worth it as a tradeoff for that moment, especially as that promo almost certainly had a hand in making sure that Vince wouldn't screw Austin up.

Great series of posts. While the posts are done from a kayfabe perspective, I just learned that the above guitar shot is what Jake points to as the beginning of his addiction problems. Someone messed up a prop and Honky Tonk picked up a real guitar instead of gimmick guitar that breaks on impact. Roberts had recurring neck problems due to the guitar shot and ended up becoming addicted to painkillers.

That GIF is scary to watch. You can see Jake just got knocked completely loopy.

It's also scary because the edgiest character in the company was rocking the Pamela Anderson shirt style.

In all seriousness, I do agree. What looks like a great sell job on the surface looks ugly when you know that he got legitimately ****ed up.

Note: This is the third and final part of the Year of the World Heavyweight Championship write ups. Previously I was going to do four parts, but the first half of Daniel Bryan's year didn't warrant a full write up.





When we last left off, Mark Henry had just become the World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Randy Orton at Night of Champions. To fully get set up for the rest of this we need to go back in time two months to Money in the Bank.


Money in the Bank, 2011

Daniel Bryan had moved to Smackdown around the same time as Mark Henry and Randy Orton did. He feuded a bit with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr in the undercard. When MitB rolled around he was entered in the match but was not one of the people that had a real chance to win.

Except, well ...






He did. It was a pretty cool moment as Bryan kicked Wade Barrett off of the ladder leaving himself all alone in the ring. The crowd - who had to be expecting Barrett to win - slowly all stand up at the realization that nobody else is there. The crowd noise rises continuously until finally going nuts when Bryan lifts the case off the hook. Unfortunately we're treated to heel Cole (who at this points despises Bryan because ???) yelling you've gotta be kidding me over and over again. Don't worry though, Cole is great later.




On Smackdown, Daniel gave a promo explaining that it was his life long dream to main event Wrestlemania and that this briefcase was the key in doing so. He wasn't going to be one of those people that preyed on a weak opponent. He was going to declare up front that he was cashing in for a match at Wrestlemania. With Daniel's explanation giving a reason for us expect a long term case holding, the fact that he continuously lost matches to Wade Barrett and was relegated to preshows vs JTG in the next few PPVs didn't bother anyone. He had to learn to be a main eventer by the time Wrestlemania rolled around.






Hell in a Cell




side note: Always enjoyed how they make Henry seem like such a larger than life character with that camera angle on his entrance.

The Smackdown main event was a rematch between Mark Henry and Randy Orton for the WHC. Much like the lead up to the NoC match, the build up to this match revolved around if Orton could land an RKO on Henry. He was unable to land it at NoC and it resulted in Henry winning the title. As this match progressed, Orton used all of his signature spots on Henry attempting to weaken him enough to deliver the RKO. After multiple attempts were denied, Orton finally is able to nail the RKO





All of that build up. All of those failed attempts. Two PPVs of discussion on how Orton has to hit the RKO to win. Only for the RKO to not be good enough. It was a wonderful, fantastic, and unique approach to do a feud on. Every single person in attendance popped for the RKO because they were sure that was it. Every single person in attendance let out an audible gasp when Mark Henry kicked out.

And Michael Cole made the best call possible.


Orton looked around wondering what he could do and came up with one solution. One callback to a move he'd used before to put people down. He went for the punt - the same punt that took out John Cena himself in a HiaC match years earlier - and got caught in a World's Strongest Slam. Randy Orton couldn't beat Mark Henry.









Smackdown, October 7th

The Big Show returns from his broken ankle with Mark Henry in his sights. He and Henry brawl and Show ends up putting Henry through the table. Teddy Long declares Show the #1 contender for the WHC.









Vengeance

Daniel Bryan's attempt to learn how to be a main eventer is still going through struggles, as Wade Barrett defeats him on the preshow. As for Show and Henry? They battle back and forth for a bit until the match gets called off due to, well, this








November 4th, Smackdown

Bryan had been continuing his promise to cash in at Wrestlemania and become the WHC over the past few months. Mark Henry comes out tonight and tells Bryan he will never be WHC material. He isn't good enough. To prove his point Henry challenges Bryan to a match that night. Big Show - who since his return has been pretty friendly with Bryan trying to coach him up on reaching the next level - comes out during the match and knocks out Henry (allowing Henry to win). Show then tells Bryan to cash in now. Not at Wrestlemania. Now. Become the WHC. As Bryan ponders it, Henry gets up and fights them both off to close the show.



Survivor Series

Show and Henry have a rematch for the WHC where, unfortunately, Henry has sustained a real life injury. It's not one that puts him out of action, but it is one that limits what he can do. They work a match around it and have Henry retain by DQ by low blowing Show on purpose. At this point I'm glad that despite the limitations due to the injury that they aren't just moving the belt on to Show and instead allowing Henry to progress the storylines as well as possible.

After the match, Show is enraged and does to Henry's ankle what Henry did to Show's months earlier.







November 25th, Smackdwon

Henry comes out in a walking boot calling out Show for his actions at Survivor Series. Show gives a shrug and knocks Henry out cold despite Henry being defenseless. As Show walks away, Bryan runs down to the ring with a ref and follows the advice of his friend Show by cashing in the MitB contract.

1.

2.

3.

Cole is beside himself as Bryan celebrates with the title. The crowd is happy even though Bryan just did exactly what he'd been promising for months that he wouldn't do. As Bryan celebrates, Teddy Long runs out (acting GM) and informs Bryan that due to the leg injury Henry was unable to compete and as such Henry is STILL the WHC. It's a great segment and I've put the link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atGJi25v2mg


Over the next few weeks Bryan responds to the discussions of him being a hypocrite by attempting to cash in prior to Wrestlemania. He explained that he wanted to exact revenge on Henry and realized with that due to Henry's recent attacks on him he wasn't sure if he'd even make it to Wrestlemania. It was an accetable answer, but the fact remained that the guy that promised to be an honorable holder of the case and live his dream of main eventing Wrestlemania went against his word and tried to use the case like everyone else.


Tables, Ladders, and Chairs

Again, due to Henry's legit injury a normal match isn't really feasible. Also again, love that they allowed him to carry the title through this story. He deserved it. Henry and Show were slated for a Chairs match in order to finally have a match with a real finish. They threw a bunch of chairs into the ring and Show knocked out Henry in 5 minutes, pinning him to become the World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Henry beat down Show and left him prone in the middle of the ring.

Cue Daniel Bryan. The Daniel Bryan that had been spending 5 months saying he wouldn't use his case like everyone else. The Daniel Bryan that promised to use it at Wrestlemania. The Daniel Bryan that had needed to learn how to be a main eventer. The Daniel Bryan that kept losing matches while trying to do things the right way. The Daniel Bryan that had been Show's "little buddy" for months now as Show tried to help him out. Help him out by telling Bryan that Bryan could be WHC. Help him out by explaining that when it comes to the WHC, morals and principles could be discarded if it'll help you become champion. The Daniel Bryan that made everything come full circle. The Daniel Bryan that listened to Show's advice and pinned Show in the middle of the ring becoming the World Heavyweight Champion.





After TLC, Bryan did a great job of being a smart ass heel against Show and Henry before losing the title at Wrestlemania (which started the Yes Movement). After that match the WHC never rose to the same heights before being discarded altogether a few years later.

The year of the World Heavyweight Championship was 2011. It was the one thing in the WWE that consistently made sense and consistently made it seem like it mattered. Storylines crossed over while wrestlers peaked and fell chasing it. Dreams were realized and then broken shortly after. It corrupted good and honest people like Christian and Bryan (storyline wise) into changing who they were just so they could regain it. Most importantly, it was a lot of fun to watch. I just wish it would have lasted longer.

Daniel Bryan's heel run as champ is one of my favorite angles in the last few years. I (and most other fans I remember) didn't really appreciate it at the time, because it was annoying to see Bryan play as a coward heel guy who couldn't beat anyone when we know he's an incredible wrestler. But in retrospect, he was perfect in that angle and that was when he really nailed being an actual character instead of a boring wrestler guy.

Even the infamous Sheamus match at WM kind of works for me as a poetic justice for Bryan's character at the time.

Heel DB was so great

Having AJ say Daniel Bryan is a great lover while they both corpse while getting massive boos is an all time great promo.