[jaderock]

Bryan Danielson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Danielson) is widely considered the best USA based independent wrestler. He recently signed with WWE and will finish out his ROH commitments til the end of September.

On the surface, that is great news, but the reality of the situation is this.

Financially, no matter how he is used, he will make more money in the WWE than he did in any past years. That's a virtual guarantee.

Unfortunately, the signing, to me, is more of a career killing gimmick that the WWE intentionally does from time to time -- that is signing "non traditional WWE body types," then burying them until they break/quit/get fired and finally returning to the independent scene only to be half as over as they once were.

Here's the low down, Danielson is 5' 8", 185 lbs and is "average Joe ordinary looking". That's honestly where all consideration for WWE stardom ends. Although some are quick to point out Evan Bourne as a natural comparison, Danielson's "realistic strong style" is the polar opposite of the WWE's ring psychology. In the WWE, higher ups (think Triple H) will tell him everything you learned up to today was wrong and you are nothing will be another major obstacle that he will have to conquer. Because he won't be in McMahon's Top 10 things to do list, writers will have little to no interest in pushing him. Even in WWE's farm system (FCW, currently and OVW, previously), in ring talent has NEVER been a requirement to be called up especially when you don't have the right look.

In my mind, Danielson will end far less of a star than Jaime Noble, Paul London or Brian Kendrick became. If he's lucky, he may become a good jobber for other talent ala Jimmy Wang Yang.

Your thoughts?

[chrisolds]

WWE needs some new talent that has experience. I wouldn't be shocked if they explored adding more international wrestlers as a short-term fix.

CM Punk has had a decent push and he was an ROHer...

[biggie2911]

I think if he is used as a shooter and a total bad RAINBOW (ala Regal, Finlay, Benoit) he could do well. In a lot of ways he is the next Benoit, and I think he has a better ability on the mic. I hope he does well, and I can't wait to see Danielson-Regal.