This is probably going to be way too dramatic, but who cares. I loved the story that was told with Bryan and Nigel’s match. When Bryan’s music played for the first time, Nigel was still looking smug and even told Paul Tuner to count and he was content to take a countout win. Then Final Countdown hit and Nigel’s demeanor changed. Despite issuing the challenge to Bryan and goading him on, he was almost shocked. He was not about to face “Brittle Bryan” or “The American Coward”. Paul Turner was the ref. They were in New York. Nigel was about to be standing across the ring from the American Dragon and the Best in the World, Bryan Danielson.
Then the match starts and both are wrestling well and showing that they know each other better than anyone in the ring. They did all of their famous moves and spots, but it felt like Nigel knew he wasn’t going to win. He’d been away from the ring for too many years and Bryan, even as hurt as he is, has been wrestling at an elite level all of that time. Nigel wanted to win if he could, but what he wanted even more was for people to remember that there was a time when he was Bryan’s equal. That he had been considered the best in the world. That’s why when Bryan locked in a submission on Nigel after 20 minutes of a hard fought match, Nigel wasn’t defiant and he didn’t try to cheat to escape and fight on. Nigel thanked his greatest rival for giving him the platform that he had earned years ago, but never got.
I fucking love professional wrestling.
