At some point in late-1996/early-1997, I was turned on to The Wrestling Tribune newsletter. If you are unfamiliar with The Wrestling Tribune, it was pretty much a Wrestling Observer rip-off. I'm not sure who this Eric Chmiel's sources were, but I believed every word of what he had on that page. This, of course, was pre-Internet, pre-Meltzer for me. In 1997, the only interaction I had with the World Wide Web was engaging in random Lycos searches for nude Carmen Electra photos. So you could imagine my virgin mind being filled with all of these insider terms and, wait for it, REAL NAMES of wrestlers. Finding out that The Sandman's real name was Jim Fullington blew my adolescent mind. My exposure to the newsletter was around Brian Pillman's "Loose Cannon" phase. It took me a while to comprehend why they couldn't actually show live clips, as opposed to stills, of Pillman's match with Kevin Sullivan at WCW's SuperBrawl '96. "I respect you, bookerman?" What the hell did that mean?

So here we are in 2010, and I feel like I'm seventeen again: naive as sh*t with no way to know what is real and what is a work. The NXT angle from RAW last week knocked the Internet Wrestling Community on its collective asses, proving the WWE can deliver with something fresh & interesting if you give them a chance. Yeah, believe it or not folks, if you're patient and not a jaded prick, things will surprise you. Anyway, just as the post-coital ejaculate volleyed forth by Internet wrestling nerds over the blatant elevation of talent started to crust over on their bed sheets, the WWE went ahead and fired Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), one of the centerpieces of the angle. As of this writing, rumors are swirling over why Danielson was let go, largely settling on a violation of a tacit rule in which he used a necktie to choke out ring announcer Justin Roberts. Someone important got mad...and Danielson got fired.

Well, is it simply "fired" or "fired??" No one seems to know for certain. John Cena is blowing up his Twitter, looking to sign online petitions to get Danielson back in the E. Now, would John Cena of all people, the virtual sun around which we, as asteroids & comets, float in the WWE Universe, are we supposed to buy the fact that he would actively pine for someone who Benoit'd an announcer on live TV to get their job back? Why didn't he do that for Carlito? Jimmy Wang Yang? Ray Gordy? Don't they both like rap?!?!?

The kicker is that internally within the company, the employees were told that he's fired, but now they might be in on the joke as well. Sh*t, could the WWE lying to us about lying to their own employees? To what benefit financially will the WWE reap from this scenario? Probably not at all. To my knowledge, there isn't a Bryan Danielson (or Daniel Bryan) shirt to be purchased or dolls to be played with. While the ratings for this past Monday's RAW was up, is this madness going to land them those elusive sponsors? Highly unlikely. I'm going to watch though, for damn sure.

There are a few upsides to this ongoing saga. First of all, Bryan Danielson's profile has gone from a modest buzz to an absolute earthquake overnight. Whether he's fired or not, Danielson has the eyes of the wrestling world fixed on him (at least for the next week). He's like Matt Hardy from 2005 without all the whining & dumbf*ckery. The best thing (well, kind of since he did get fired after all) is that there is a lot of sympathy surrounding the circumstances for his release. Danielson was the scapegoat, and regardless of whether or not he knew not to choke someone out with a tie, it got the angle over and made it memorable. He was doing his job as an entertainer in an angle that, from all accounts, was not made privy to everyone at ringside. In the heat of the moment, bad decisions are made; that's life. In hindsight, it's not like he pulled a Tank Abbott and whipped out a knife on Pay-Per-View. Danielson was instructed along with his NXT brethren to lay a vicious attack on John Cena & everyone ringside, so that's what he did. Danielson will be back in the WWE, probably sooner than later, I can assure you that.

Second, the WWE, who everyone thinks is out of touch and doesn't know what the hardcore wrestling fan wants, has pulled the wool over our eyes yet again. There's nothing worse for Internet pundits (myself included) to not have immediate knowledge available to us. The moment someone is released from the WWE (and to lesser extent, TNA); it's like bloody chum in shark-infested waters. We have to -- no we must break down why Eric Escobar lost his job. We take this great pleasure in knowing what went wrong so we can ridicule & ostracize these wrestlers for failing on a grand scale. So here we have one of the biggest independent wrestlers in recent years, suddenly fired in the midst of a hot run in the spotlight, and we don't know why!!! It's been several days of nothing but speculation & insecurity, and quite frankly, I'm digging the chaos.

If it was the WWE's intention to mess with the Internet, then more power to them. Hell, I don't own any of their stock. I don't advertise on their website or TV shows. I have nothing to lose financially. I'm just a fan who wants to be entertained, and that's what I am right now. I cannot wait to see how this manifests itself in the weeks to come. Do I anticipate being disappointed & pissed off that they'll just go with the obvious solution and have Cena go Superman times ten all over the NXT crew? Absolutely. But regardless of how big or small this whole Danielson deal gets, you cannot deny the fact that it is a great moment to be a fan.

Check out my blog at www.FutureEndeavored.tumblr.com for more wrestling goodness, including new jokes!! I is writing!!! And, while you're surfing the 'net for Bryan Danielson rumors, check out the official site to my short film, SMARK, over at www.SmarkMovie.tumblr.com. See you in two weeks, and remember: Above all things -- be a man!