Power Rankings: Bryan Danielson's last run

Not many people go out on their terms. There are sad stories across pro wrestling, sports, and other industries. If not sad, the stories at least feel incomplete.

This is true across industries. If we focus on sports, the barriers to going out on a positive note are familiar. Injuries get in the way. Time catches up and drags down that person’s individual skills, making them a shade of their former self.

Some of those factors are within the person’s control, some are not. Ultimately the reason that it’s so rare for someone to retire on a high note is because there are so many variables. So many things have to come together and go well for that to happen.

When it actually does, we’re wise to let ourselves sit in that moment and enjoy it. With a few months to go until his self-imposed deadline to retire as an in-ring performer, it feels like Bryan Danielson is going out on his own terms.

6. Orange Cassidy’s “jeans”

Those clearly aren’t jeans. They are joggers that look like jeans. Where do I get some?

I’m sure they are the same pants that he has always worn, but I just happened to notice it in his match against Trent Baretta on Dynamite last week. That match was great by the way, and it had a lot of small touches to make it feel like a fight that was truly personal. For example, the announcing team noted near the end of the match that neither man had attempted a pinfall.

That’s a good detail in a good match. I’m looking forward to this one continuing.

5. Cody Rhodes fighting on our behalf

In this case, I mean that Cody is fighting for people our age - meaning Cody, yours truly, and anyone else in the 35-40 age bracket. If you’re around that age and you’re like me, you don’t understand Logan Paul, you’re not really sure why he’s famous in the first place, and you want to see him punched in the face.

Subscribe to Premium Membership to read the rest.