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Here is the update to my last team chemistry post:
ALL TEAMS
Eric Berry S 2x Chiefs at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Channing Crowder MLB 2x Dolphins at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Ronde Barber CB 2x Buccaneers at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Rob Eisen HB 2x Any Team NFL Combine†
Team Affinity Strategy Items (1x-4x)
ARIZONA CARDINALS
96 Emmit Smith HB 2x AKA Crews
93 Greg Dortch WR 2x Division Dynasty
92 Aeneas Williams CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Marquise Brown WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Paris Johnson Jr RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
ATLANTA FALCONS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ruke Orhorhoro DT 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Kirk Cousins QB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Jake Matthews LT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Bill Fralic RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Calais Campbell RE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Bijan Robinson HB 2x Rookie Premiere*
BALTIMORE RAVENS
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Adissa Isaac LE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 T.J. Tampa CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Travis Jones DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Anquan Boldin WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Odafe Oweh ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Zay Flowers WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
BUFFALO BILLS
97 Andre Reed WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Keon Coleman WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Reggie Gilliam FB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Ruben Brown LG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Dion Dawkins LT 2x Division Dynasty
84 Dorian Williams MLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
CAROLINA PANTHERS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
97 Charles Tillman CB 2x AKA Crews
95 Ja’Tavion Sanders TE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Johnathan Brooks HB 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Damien Lewis LG 2x NFL Free Agency
94 Josey Jewell MLB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Bryce Young QB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Julius Peppers LE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Bradley Bozeman C 2x Division Dynasty
84 Jonathan Mingo WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
CHICAGO BEARS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
97 Charles Tillman CB 2x AKA Crews
96 Gale Sayers HB 2x AKA Crews
94 Gerald Everett TE 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Nate Davis RG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Alshon Jeffery WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Justin Jones DT 2x Division Dynasty
84 Darnell Wright RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
CINCINNATI BENGALS
95 Eric All TE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Jermaine Burton WR 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Kris Jenkins DT 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Tee Higgins WR 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Ted Karras C 2x Division Dynasty
92 Geno Atkins DT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Logan Wilson ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 DJ Turner CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
CLEVELAND BROWNS
93 Shelby Harris DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Joe Thomas LT 3x Team Diamonds
88 David Njoku TE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Dawand Jones RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
DALLAS COWBOYS
96 Troy Aikman QB AKA Crews
96 Emmit Smith HB 2x AKA Crews
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Marshawn Kneeland ROLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Osa Odighizuwa DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Chuck Howley MLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Leighton Vander Esch MLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Luke Schoonmaker TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
DENVER BRONCOS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
95 Jonah Ellis ROLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Troy Franklin WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Mike McGlinchey RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Julius Thomas TE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jerry Jeudy WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Marvin Mims Jr WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
DETROIT LIONS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
98 Amon Ra St. Brown WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Christian Mahogany RG 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Ennis Rakestraw Jr CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jalen Reeves-Maybin LOLB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Kevin Glover C 3x Team Diamonds
88 Penei Sewell RT 2x Division Dynasty
87 Aidan Hutchinson LE 2x Rookie Premiere*
84 Jahmyr Gibbs HB 2x Rookie Premiere*
GREEN BAY PACKERS
97 Josh Jacobs HB 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Edgerrin Cooper MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Javon Bullard SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Elgton Jenkins LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Clay Matthews LOLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Christian Watson WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Lukas Van Ness LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
HOUSTON TEXANS
97 Dalton Schultz TE 2x NFL Free Agency
96 J.J. Watt RE 3x Team Diamonds
95 Kamari Lassiter CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Sheldon Rankins DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Mario Williams LE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jimmie Ward SS 2x Division Dynasty
84 C.J. Stroud QB 2x Rookie Premiere*
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
99 Pat Mcafee P 2x April Fool's
97 Marshall Faulk HB 2x AKA Crews
97 Michael Pittman Jr WR 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Adonai Mitchell WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Samson Ebukam RE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Reggie Wayne WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Julian Blackmon SS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Julius Brents CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
93 Roy Robertson-Harris RE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Donovin Darius SS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Zay Jones WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Brenton Strange TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
99 Tyreek Hill WR 2x AKA Crews
98 Travis Kelce TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Jaden Hicks SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Donovan Smith LT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Will Shields RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Isiah Pacheco HB 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Rashee Rice WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
Eric Berry S 2x Chiefs at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR Team Captains†
Chiefs Super Bowl Offensive Playbook 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Defensive Playbook 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Home Uniform 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Away Uniform 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Base Stadium 1x
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
95 Jackson Powers-Johnson C 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Daniel Carlson K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Lincoln Kennedy RT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Marcus Epps FS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Tyree Wilson ROLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
96 Hunter Henry TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Junior Colson MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Ladd McConkey WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Zion Johnson LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Phillip Rivers QB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Gerald Everett TE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Tuli Tuipulotu LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
LOS ANGELES RAMS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Kevin Dotson LG 2x NFL Free Agency
97 Isaac Bruce WR 2x AKA Crews
97 Marshall Faulk HB 2x AKA Crews
95 Braden Fiske DT 2x NFL Draft 3
96 Todd Gurley HB 3x Team Diamonds
93 Coleman Shelton C 2x Division Dynasty
92 Ryan McNeil CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Kyren Williams HB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Byron Young LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
MIAMI DOLPHINS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
99 Tyreek Hill WR 2x AKA Crews
99 Jaylen Waddle WR 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Jaylen Wright HB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jason Sanders K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Reshad Jones FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Emmanuel Ogbah LE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Cam Smith CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Channing Crowder MLB 2x Dolphins at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
98 Danielle Hunter LOLB 2x NFL Free Agency
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Khyree Jackson CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Dalton Risner LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Fran Tarkenton QB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Harrison Phillips LE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Jay Ward FS 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
97 Mike Owenu RT 2x NFL Free Agency
96 Hunter Henry TE 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ja’Lynn Polk WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Cole Strange LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Logan Mankins RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jabrill Peppers FS 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Christian Gonzalez CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Cameron Jordan LE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ga’Quincey Mckinstry CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Rashid Shaheed WR 2x Division Dynasty
92 Jimmy Graham TE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Tyrann Mathieu FS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Bryan Bresee DT 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW YORK GIANTS
97 Brian Burns RE 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Tyler Nubin SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Evan Neal RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Terry Kinard FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Shane Lemieux LG 2x Division Dynasty
84 John Michael Schmitz C 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW YORK JETS
93 Tony Adams SS 2x Division Dynasty
92 Joe Klecko DT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Laken Tomlinson LG 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Will McDonald IV RE 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
97 John Madden MLB 2x Ring of Honor
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Cooper DeJean CB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Jeremiah Trotter Jr MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 D'Andre Swift HB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Troy Vincent CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 James Bradberry IV CB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Nolan Smith Jr LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
95 Mason McCormik LG 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Payton Wilson MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Roman Wilson WR 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Zach Frazier C 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Broderick Jones RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Le'Veon Bell HB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Mason Cole C 2x Division Dynasty
84 Darnell Washington TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
97 Isaac Bruce WR 2x AKA Crews
93 Aaron Banks LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Merton Hanks FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Dre Greenlaw ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Ji'Ayir Brown SS 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
49ers Super Bowl Offensive Playbook 1x
49ers Super Bowl Defensive Playbook 1x
49ers Super Bowl Home Uniform 1x
49ers Super Bowl Away Uniform 1x
49ers Super Bowl Base Stadium 1x
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
95 Christian Haynes RG 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jason Myers K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Steve Largent WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Anthony Bradford RG 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Mike Evans WR 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Chris Braswell LOLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Aaron Stinnie LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Doug Martin HB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Ryan Neal SS 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Yaya Diaby LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Ronde Barber CB 2x Buccaneers at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
TENESSEE TITANS
97 Chidobe Awuzie CB 2x NFL Free Agency
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
93 Azeez Al-Shaair MLB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Keith Bulluck ROLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jeffery Simmons RE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Will Levis QB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
97 Andre Reed WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Johnny Newton DT 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Mike Sainristil CB 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Frankie Luvu LOLB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 James Smith-Williams LE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Brian Orakpo ROLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Cody Barton MLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Emmanuel Forbes CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
*No longer obtainable
†Marks a player item that must hit a certain overall to unlock an extra chemistry slot

Trade Mistakes has won Day 4!
Most Upvoted Song Wins Each Day - I will do my best to tally votes and post the winnenext day everyday between 5 PM EST-6 PM EST
For albums – only the main songs are eligible // No repeats (ex. if We’re So Starving wins Day 1, it cannot win any other day)
Greatest Panic! Album:

1. The Ballad of Mona Lisa
   
2. Build God, Then We’ll Talk
   
3. Northern Downpour
   
4. Trade Mistakes
   

5. Best Song from Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

1. Best Song from Death of a Bachelor
   
2. Best Song from Pray For The Wicked
   
3. Best Song from Viva Las Vengeance
   
4. Best Closer (Last Song on any album)
   
5. Bonus Track (B-sides, songs not on albums, live albums, EPs, etc.)
   
6. Magic 8 Ball (Anything Goes)
   

DAY 5: Best song from TWTLTRTD! (This is Gospel, Miss Jackson, Vegas Lights, Girl That You Love, Nicotine, Girls/Girls/Boys, Casual Affair, Far Too Young To Die, Collar Full, The End Of All Things)

As Reddit doesn't allow posts to exceed 40,000 characters, Eastwood's edition had to be split into two parts because his whole career cannot be ignored. The second part will be posted tomorrow.

Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Clint Eastwood's turn.
Eastwood was a troublemaker at school, and he had a bunch of odd jobs such as lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy. In 1951, he was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War and was discharged two years later. Through this, he got into contact with a Hollywood representative, who got him into acting classes and started his acting career. He got his start by starring in the hit show Rawhide, but he said he was exhausted by the experience. This caught the attention of some film producers and he decided to act in films directed by the then-unknown Sergio Leone. His career was on the rise, and then he got the chance to make his directorial debut.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

It should be noted that as he started his career in the 1970s, some of the domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.

Play Misty for Me (1971)

"The scream you hear may be your own!"
His directorial debut. It stars Eastwood, Jessica Walter and Donna Mills, and follows a radio disc jockey being stalked by an obsessed female fan.
Before his colleague Irving Leonard died, he and Eastwood had discussed the idea of producing a film that was to give Eastwood the artistic control he desired, and his debut as a director. Eastwood said he was ready, "I stored away all the mistakes I made and saved up all the good things I learned, and now I know enough to control my own projects and get what I want out of actors."
The film was a huge success for Eastwood, and it also received positive reviews. So far, his directorial career was off to a great start.

• Budget: $950,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $10,600,000. ($81.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $10,600,000.
  

High Plains Drifter (1973)

"They'd never forget the day he drifted into town."
His second film. The film stars Eastwood, Verna Bloom and Mariana Hill, and follows a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town.
Eastwood reportedly liked the offbeat quality of the film's original nine-page proposal and approached Universal with the idea of directing it, which would make it his first directed Western. The screenplay was inspired by the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964, which eyewitnesses reportedly stood by and watched. Holes in the plot were filled in with black humor and allegory, influenced by Sergio Leone.
It was well received, and the film even surpassed Play Misty for Me at the box office. Eastwood was just going up.

• Budget: $5,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $15,700,000. ($110.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $15,700,000.
  

Breezy (1973)

"Her name is Breezy."
His third film. It stars William Holden and Kay Lenz, and follows the relationship between a middle-aged real estate agent and a young hitchhiker.
This was his first directed film without starring on it. And his lack of presence certainly hurt the film; it received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $750,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $200,000. ($1.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $217,753.
  

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

"His lifeline, held by the assassin he hunted."
His fourth film. Based on the novel by Trevanian, the film stars Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, and Jack Cassidy. It follows Jonathan Hemlock, an art history professor, mountain climber, and former assassin once employed by a secret government agency, who is blackmailed into returning to his deadly profession for one last mission.
The film received mixed reactions for its writing, and it wasn't a box office success either.

• Budget: $9,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $14,200,000. ($82.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $14,200,000.
  

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

"An army of one."
His fifth film. Based on the novel Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter, it stars Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney and John Vernon. The film tells the story of Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer whose family is murdered by Union militia during the Civil War. Driven to revenge, Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla band and makes a name for himself as a feared gunfighter. After the war, all the fighters in Wales' group except for him surrender to Union soldiers, but the Confederates end up being massacred. Wales becomes an outlaw and is pursued by bounty hunters and Union soldiers as he tries to make a new life for himself.
Eastwood was fascinated by the novel and he bought the film rights, hoping to star on the film. He got Philip Kaufman involved as screenwriter and possible director, but left after disagreeing with Eastwood in the material adapted to the screen. Kaufman insisted on filming with a meticulous attention to detail, which caused disagreements with Eastwood, not to mention the attraction the two shared towards Locke and apparent jealousy on Kaufman's part in regard to their emerging relationship. This caused Eastwood to take over as the director. Kaufman's firing angered the DGA, as he did most of the pre-production, and sanctioning a $60,000 fine. This resulted in the Director's Guild passing a new rule, known as "the Eastwood Rule", which prohibits an actor or producer from firing the director and then personally taking on the director's role.
The film received critical acclaim, and in subsequent years, is ranked among Eastwood's greatest films. It was also a huge success at the box office, doubling his previous highest grossing film. It was also one of the few Western films to receive critical and commercial success in the 1970s at a time when the Western was thought to be dying as a major genre in Hollywood.

• Budget: $3,700,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $31,800,000. ($174.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $31,800,000.
  

The Gauntlet (1977)

"The man in the middle of..."
His sixth film. It stars Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and Mara Corday. It follows a down-and-out cop who falls in love with a prostitute, to whom he is assigned to escort from Las Vegas to Phoenix for her to testify against the mob.
While it received mixed reviews, it became another box office success for Eastwood, becoming his now highest grossing film.

• Budget: $5,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $35,400,000. ($182.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $35,400,000.
  

Bronco Billy (1980)

"The most outrageous of 'em all."
His seventh film. The film stars Eastwood and Sondra Locke, and focuses on the financially-struggling owner of a traditional Wild West show and his new assistant.
It became another critical and commercial success for Eastwood, who referred to the film as one of his most affable shoots of his career.

• Budget: $6,500,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $24,265,659. ($91.9 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $24,265,659.
  

Firefox (1982)

"The most devastating killing machine ever built... his job... steal it!"
His eighth film. Based on the novel by Craig Thomas, it stars Eastwood, Freddie Jones and David Huffman. The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called "Firefox". Naturally, the British are worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon, as rumors say that the jet is undetectable on radar. They send ex-Vietnam War pilot Mitchell Gant on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal the Firefox.
The film received mixed reviews, but it earned almost $47 million, becoming Eastwood's highest grossing title as director.

• Budget: $21,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $46,708,276. ($151.1 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $46,708,276.
  

Honkytonk Man (1982)

"The boy is on his way to becoming a man. The man is on his way to becoming a legend."
His ninth film. It's based on the novel by Clancy Carlile, and it stars Eastwood and his son Kyle. It follows Red Stovall, a country music singer and composer. With his nephew Whit by his side, he travels to Nashville to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in the backdrop of the Great Depression.
While the film received acclaim, it earned just $4.4 million, becoming his second worst performer.

• Budget: $2,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $4,484,991. ($14.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $4,484,991.
  

Sudden Impact (1983)

"Dirty Harry is at it again."
His tenth film. The fourth installment in the Dirty Harry series, directed, it stars Eastwood and Sondra Locke. The film tells the story of a gang rape victim who decides to seek revenge on her rapists 10 years after the attack by killing them one by one. Inspector Harry Callahan, famous for his unconventional and often brutal crime-fighting tactics, is tasked with tracking down the serial killer.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but it earned over $150 million worldwide, Eastwood's first film to pass that milestone. It's also very popular for including the iconic catchphrase, "Go ahead, make my day."

• Budget: $22,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $67,642,693. ($212.1 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $150,642,693.
  

Tightrope (1984)

"A cop on the edge..."
His 11th film. It stars Eastwood, Geneviève Bujold, Dan Hedaya, Alison Eastwood and Jennifer Beck, and follows a detective determined to hunt down a sadomasochistic serial killer of prostitutes.
The film became another critical and commercial success for Eastwood.

• Budget: N/A.
  
• Domestic gross: $48,143,579. ($144.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $48,143,579.
  

Pale Rider (1985)

"...And Hell followed with him."
His 12th film. It stars Eastwood, Michael Moriarty and Carrie Snodgress. A couple and their daughter, along with a few others, are driven out of Lahood, California, by goons working for a mining baron. However, a stranger enters their life to assist them in their fight.
There was no stopping Eastwood: another critical and commercial success.

• Budget: $6,900,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $41,410,568. ($120.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $41,410,568.
  

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

"The scars run deep."
His 13th film. It stars Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, and Mario Van Peebles. The story centers on a U.S. Marine nearing retirement who gets a platoon of undisciplined Marines into shape and leads them during the American invasion of Grenada in 1983.
The film was inspired by an account of American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division using a pay telephone and a credit card to call in fire support during the invasion of Grenada, and fashioned a script of a Korean War veteran career Army non-commissioned officer passing on his values to a new generation of soldiers. Eastwood was interested in the script and asked his producer, Fritz Manes, to contact the US Army with a view of filming the movie at Fort Bragg. However, the Army read the script and refused to participate, due to Highway being portrayed as a hard drinker, divorced from his wife, and using unapproved motivational methods to his troops, an image the Army did not want.
It received mixed reviews, with some deeming the film as "imperialist propaganda". But it was still another box office success.

• Budget: $15,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $42,724,017. ($121.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $121,700,000.
  

Bird (1988)

"There are no second acts in American lives."
His 14th film. The film stars Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora. It is constructed as a montage of scenes from saxophonist Charlie Parker's life, from his childhood in Kansas City, through his early death at the age of 34.
Eastwood, a lifelong fan of jazz, had been fascinated by Parker ever since seeing him perform live in Oakland in 1946. He approached Chan Parker, Bird's common-law wife on whose memoirs the script was based, for input, and she lent Eastwood and arranger Lennie Niehaus a collection of recordings from her private collection Before Eastwood was involved, Richard Pryor was originally cast as Parker.
Despitive positive reviews, it performed poorly, earning just $2.2 million in North America.

• Budget: $14,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $2,181,286. ($5.7 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $2,181,286.
  

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

"An adventure in obsession."
His 15th film. Based on the novel by Peter Viertel, it stars Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza, Alun Armstrong and Marisa Berenson. It follows a famous movie director, John Wilson, who goes to Africa to make his next movie. He is an obstinate, contrary director who'd rather hunt elephants than take care of his crew or movie. He has become obsessed with one particular elephant and cares for nothing else.
Despite positive reviews, it made just $2.3 million domestically, not even 10% of the budget.

• Budget: $24,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $2,319,124. ($5.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $2,319,124.
  

The Rookie (1990)

His 16th film. The film stars Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Tom Skerritt. It follows a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective, whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles, following months of investigation into an exotic car theft ring.
It received negative reviews for its acting and story, and it became another flop for Eastwood. That's three bombs in a row. Ouch.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $21,633,874. ($51.6 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $21,633,874.
  

Unforgiven (1992)

"Some legends will never be forgotten. Some wrongs can never be forgiven."
His 17th film. It stars Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris and Morgan Freeman. It follows William Munny, a widower with two young kids, who was once a very vicious gunfighter who gave up everything after marriage. Now, a man named Schofield Kid brings him an offer that he cannot refuse, forcing him to come out of retirement for one last job.
David Webb Peoples wrote the script all the way back to 1976, and it was optioned by Francis Ford Coppola, but he lacked the funds needed to helm it. By Eastwood's own recollection, he was given the script in the "early 80s" although he did not immediately pursue it, because, according to him, "I thought I should do some other things first". Eastwood has long asserted that the film would be his last traditional Western, concerned that any future projects would simply rehash previous plotlines or imitate someone else's work. He dedicated the film to his close friends and mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. Hackman initially refused to participate as his daughters were upset that he was starring in too many violent films, but he became fascinated by the script that he agreed.
It opened with $15 million and it legged all the way to $100 million after playing for almost one year, closing with $159 million worldwide, his now highest grossing film. The film received Eastwood's best reviews of his career, with many considering the film as his magnum opus as director. It received 9 Oscar nominations, and won four: Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood, Best Supporting Actor for Hackman, and Best Film Editing. So Eastwood, on top of being a reliable box office draw, was now a 2-time Oscar winner.

• Budget: $14,400,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $101,167,799. ($225.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $159,167,799.
  

A Perfect World (1993)

His 18th film. Kevin Costner, Eastwood and Laura Dern, and follows an escaped convict who takes a young boy hostage and attempts to escape on the road with the child, while being pursued by a Texas Ranger.
The film received critical acclaim, and has appeared as one of Eastwood's best films. The film disappointed in North America, but it earned up to $100 million overseas (Eastwood's first film to gross that much) and ended with $135 million worldwide.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $31,130,999. ($67.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $135,130,999.
  

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

"The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it's been broken into a million pieces."
His 19th film. Based on the novel by Robert James Waller, it stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The film is set in 1965, following a war bride, Francesca Johnson, who lives with her husband and two children on their Iowa farm. That year she meets National Geographic photojournalist, Robert Kincaid, who comes to Madison County, Iowa to photograph its historic covered bridges. With Francesca's family away for a short trip, the couple have an intense, four-day love affair.
It received more critical acclaim, and made over $180 million worldwide, becoming his highest grossing film. For her performance, Streep was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

• Budget: $22,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $71,516,617. ($146.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $182,016,617.
  

Absolute Power (1997)

His 20th film. Based on the novel by David Baldacci, it stars Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert, and Richard Jenkins. It follows a master jewel thief who witnesses the killing of a woman by Secret Service agents.
It received mixed reviews, and disappointed at the box office.

• Budget: $50,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $50,068,310. ($97.4 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $92,768,310.
  

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

"Welcome to Savannah, Georgia. A Ccty of hot nights and cold blooded murder."
His 21st film. Based on the book by John Berendt, it stars John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. It follows the story of antiques dealer Jim Williams, on trial for the killing of a male prostitute who was his lover. The multiple trials depicted in Berendt's book are combined into one trial for the film.
It received mediocre reviews, and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $30,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $25,105,255. ($48.8 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $25,105,255.
  

True Crime (1999)

His 22nd film. Based on the novel by Andrew Klavan, it stars Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, LisaGay Hamilton and James Woods. It follows a journalist covering the execution of a death row inmate, only to discover that the convict may actually be innocent.
This was another project that received mediocre reviews and flopped at the box office.

• Budget: $55,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $16,649,768. ($31.2 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $16,649,768.
  

Space Cowboys (2000)

"Boys will be boys."
His 23rd film. It stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as four aging former test pilots who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite.
It received very positive reviews, and earned over $128 million worldwide.

• Budget: $60,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $90,464,773. ($164 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $128,884,132.
  

Blood Work (2002)

"He's a heartbeat away from catching the killer."
His 24th film. Based on the novel by Michael Connelly, it stars Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Wanda De Jesús, and Anjelica Huston. It follows a retired FBI agent who recently had a heart transplant but still takes up the job to nab a killer.
It was another film with mediocre reviews and flop status.

• Budget: $50,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $26,235,081. ($45.5 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $31,794,718.
  

Mystic River (2003)

"We bury our sins, we wash them clean."
His 25th film. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, it stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. It follows three childhood friends who are reunited 25 years later when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
Michael Keaton was originally cast in the role of Det. Sean Devine, and did several script readings with the cast, as well as his own research into the practices of the Massachusetts Police Department. However, creative differences between Keaton and Eastwood led to Keaton leaving the production. He was replaced by Kevin Bacon. This was the first film in which Eastwood would be credited as composer.
The film had a slow roll-out, but it was aided by strong word of mouth, closing with a wonderful $156 million worldwide. It also received acclaim, and was named as one of Eastwood's greatest films. Sean Penn received universal acclaim for his performance, with some naming it among the best acting of the century, particularly for one scene (if you watched it, you definitely know which scene). It received 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. It won two: Best Actor for Penn and Best Supporting Actor for Robbins.

• Budget: $25,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $90,135,191. ($153 million adjusted)
  
• Worldwide gross: $156,595,191.
  

Come back tomorrow for Part 2

MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Overseas Total	Worldwide Total	Budget
x	The Bridges of Madison County	1995	Warner Bros.	$71,516,617	$110,500,000	$182,016,617	$22M
x	Unforgiven	1992	Warner Bros.	$101,167,799	$58,000,000	$159,167,799	$14.4M
x	Mystic River	2003	Warner Bros.	$90,135,191	$66,460,000	$156,595,191	$25M
x	Sudden Impact	1983	Warner Bros.	$67,642,693	$83,000,000	$150,642,693	$22M
x	A Perfect World	1993	Warner Bros.	$31,130,999	$104,000,000	$135,130,999	$30M
x	Space Cowboys	2000	Warner Bros.	$90,464,773	$38,419,359	$128,884,132	$60M
x	Heartbreak Ridge	1986	Warner Bros.	$42,724,017	$78,975,983	$121,700,000	$15M
x	Absolute Power	1997	Sony	$50,068,310	$42,700,000	$92,768,310	$50M
x	Tightrope	1984	Warner Bros.	$48,143,579	$0	$48,143,579	N/A
x	Firefox	1982	Warner Bros.	$46,708,276	$0	$46,708,276	$21M
x	Pale Rider	1985	Warner Bros.	$41,410,568	$0	$41,410,568	$6.9M
x	The Gauntlet	1977	Warner Bros.	$35,400,000	$0	$35,400,000	$5.5M
x	The Outlaw Josey Wales	1976	Warner Bros.	$31,800,000	$0	$31,800,000	$3.7M
x	Blood Work	2002	Warner Bros.	$26,235,081	$5,559,637	$31,794,718	$50M
x	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil	1997	Warner Bros.	$25,105,255	$0	$25,105,255	$30M
x	Bronco Billy	1980	Warner Bros.	$24,265,659	$0	$24,265,659	$6.5M
x	The Rookie	1990	Warner Bros.	$21,633,874	$0	$21,633,874	$30M
x	True Crime	1999	Warner Bros.	$16,649,768	$0	$16,649,768	$55M
x	High Plains Drifter	1973	Universal	$15,700,000	$0	$15,700,000	$5.5M
x	The Eiger Sanction	1975	Universal	$14,200,000	$0	$14,200,000	$9M
x	Play Misty for Me	1971	Universal	$10,600,000	$0	$10,600,000	$950K
x	Honkytonk Man	1982	Warner Bros.	$4,484,991	$0	$4,484,991	$2M
x	White Hunter Black Heart	1990	Warner Bros.	$2,319,124	$0	$2,319,124	$24M
x	Bird	1988	Warner Bros.	$2,181,286	$0	$2,181,286	$14M
x	Breezy	1973	Universal	$200,000	$17,753	$217,753	$750K

The Verdict

Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.
The next director will be Robert Zemeckis. One of the biggest falls from grace.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. It had to be a controversial filmmaker. Well, we'll later talk about... Zack Snyder. Oh, BoxOffice chose fuego 🔥
This is the schedule for the following four:

Week	Director	Reasoning
May 20-26	Robert Zemeckis	Can we get old Zemeckis back?
May 27-June 2	Richard Donner	An influential figure of the 70s and 80s.
June 3-9	Ang Lee	What happened to Lee?
June 10-16	Zack Snyder	RIP Inbox.

Who should be next after Snyder? That's up to you.

Dear Gambling Addiction,
I love to write so I thought I would write you a letter today. It has been almost 16 years since we last met, and to be honest, I don't miss you one bit.
There was a time when you were the only thing that mattered. I would do anything for you. Lie, cheat, steal, not eat, not sleep, or anything really. When I say you were the only thing, you were. I was obsessed with you. You plagued my thoughts and made me feel things that were uncomfortable.
Prior to being introduced to you, I was a moral person. I liked helping people and I was happy. I had friends, good relationships with my family, people trusted me, I worked, and I had money to pay my bills.
When you entered my life on my 21st birthday, I was partially intrigued but mostly I was frustrated. I lost $20 in about one minute on a craps table. I wanted my $20 back because I was not clear on why I lost the money. And the game of craps did not make sense to me. I thought if I was going to gamble again, I would play slots. So much easier and all I had to do was pull a handle.
In these very early stages, I did not think about you much. I believe though that you were there in my brain maybe trying to figure out how to get me more engaged. Maybe you were there attempting to entice me with needing to win back that $20.
A few years later, I found another friend to spend my time with and their name was cocaine. Well, living in Las Vegas when one could not sleep because of the drugs, the casinos were there with bright, flashing lights and the intrigue of winning money. So I met you again, and discovered that playing video poker machines was a great way to spend my time while high.
This was the start of our relationship that lasted quite a while.
In the beginning stages of my addiction with you, I was able to have some fun and enjoyed most of the times I had with you. Over time though, you consumed my soul. I did not care whether I lived or died. I just needed to be with you and I loved only you.
Our relationship lasted 14 years in total with breaks during some of that time, but even when I was not playing, I was still thinking about you. Wondering how I could get together with you again. Money was usually the main reason why I could not connect with you, but I also found it more challenging to find places to visit you.
Honestly, over time my relationship with you became rather tedious and boring. I started to feel like I might need to separate myself from you. I did not know why I was feeling this way, but on some level I just wanted something different for myself. I was tired of lying to people about you, and I was getting frustrated with being broke all the time. There was also this emptiness that even you could not fill. Most importantly, my real relationship with my husband was beginning to suffer. I did care about him and he really became more important than you. Sometimes I felt like I cheated on him with you. I do believe that my moral compass was questioning all that I was doing with you, and it just was beginning to not feel right.
On June 24, 2008 I decided to end my relationship with you. This was a very hard thing for me to do. After all, you were the only important thing in my life and I just wanted to be with you as much as possible. But on a sleepless night in June, I was watching my husband sleep and felt this overwhelming desire to be with him and not you. I felt like I could no longer lie to him about us. These feelings were quite overwhelming too almost to the point of if I didn't tell him about us, I might go crazy. There were just so many emotions running through me, and I decided to break it off with you. When he woke up, I told him everything about us.
June 24, 2008 was the best day and the hardest day of my life! I knew that once I told my husband everything that I would need to let you go. It was definitely a hard decision to make but I could not go on living or being with you.
The first few days of not having you in my life were a whirlwind of emotions. I do not recall another time when I cried so much. As I talked to others about us, I did start to feel better. And I went to meetings where others were talking about their own relationships with something similar to ours. The details were different but similar in that all of us wanted to end our relationships.
Over the weeks and months that followed, I continued to go to meetings and was learning to live without you. I had a lot to process and many feelings to address. Fortunately I had a lot of support from family and friends, but I did have to work on regaining their trust. When you cheat, people do not easily trust again. And I had to give up my finances to my husband. That was okay because I simply did not want to see you again or be tempted by you. Without access to cash or credit cards, it was just a little bit easier to let you go.
I also found that I needed to give up some control over certain things. First it was the finances. Then I discovered letting go was also needed. I started to let go of things that I could not control, and fixing the things I could. My focus was specifically on how to rebuild after a tumultuous relationship with you.
I worked every day to learn to live without you. I learned to feel my feelings and process them instead of covering them up by playing with you. I learned how to think more productively and to make goals for myself. I learned how to manage my finances and I was slowly regaining trust from my husband and others.
The work was hard but I kept going. I just did not want you in my life any longer, and no matter how I felt or what I thought, I was not going to re-engage with you. I was working a program of recovery and very proud of each day that I did not want to be with you. There were some days I thought about you, but it ended there. Just thoughts that were quickly replaced with all the positive benefits of not having you in my life.
All these years later, I still think about you but not in the ways you would want. I just have thoughts about how wonderful my life is without you. I have no urges to see you, and nothing that I can think of would bring me back to you. I have too much to lose now.
In a way, I do thank you for being in my life. I believe I am a better person for knowing you. You taught me what a person is capable of during a relationship with you, and with that, I can help others now. Our relationship also opened my mind to the human spirit and how resilient we really are. We can overcome great obstacles and learn to live without you.

Here are your eight albums that made it!

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
3. Bjork - Homogenic
4. Elliott Smith - EitheOr
5. Portishead - Portishead
6. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯A♯∞
7. Deftones - Around the Fur
8. Ween - The Mollusk

Lifesaver Round time! Click on the link below to vote for up to 4 albums to make it in! You can also check out the results below.

VOTE

Bracket 1 Results
Bracket 2 Results
PREVIOUS AOTY WINNERS (Click to view full event)

• Pre-1965: Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
• 1965: John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
• 1966: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
• 1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• 1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
• 1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
• 1970: Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
• 1971: Joni Mitchell - Blue
• 1972: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
• 1973: Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
• 1974: King Crimson - Red
• 1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
• 1976: Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
• 1977: Television - Marquee Moon
• 1978: Kraftwerk - The Man Machine
• 1979: The Clash - London Calling
• 1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light
• 1981: Siouxsie & The Banshees - Juju
• 1982: The Cure - Pornography
• 1983: New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
• 1984: Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
• 1985: Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
• 1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets
• 1987: Dinosaur - You're Living All Over Me
• 1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
• 1989: The Cure - Disintegration
• 1990: Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
• 1991: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
• 1992: Sade - Love Deluxe
• 1993: Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
• 1994: Portishead - Dummy
• 1995: GZA/Genius - Liquid Swords
• 1996: Weezer - Pinkerton
• 2020: Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
• 2021: Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
• 2022: Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

PREVIOUS AOTD WINNERS (Click to view full event)

• 1950s: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
• 1960s: The Beatles - Abbey Road
• 1970s: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
• 1980s: Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

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This continues the adventures of Rodney's television remote control. In another absurd twist, the remote may have been the Cooper who flickered away in the opening episode when the Fireman said he was "far away". If someone is far away, he is remote, which in this fantasy would then have turned him into another kind of remote, a remote control.
The last we saw of the remote control was when Rodney froze local news in P10. In the frame, there was Cooper and some of Janey-E. In front of Cooper, there was an orange rectangle for the program's title bar.
Transitions between storylines seem to rely on what could be described as dream logic, allowing any kind of absurd turn in the events. That said, there is an order in the free-wheeling wildness, and all we need to do is to get comfortable with very unusual storytelling.
Freeze it there.
Later in P15, another television program got frozen when Cooper used another kind of remote control to pause Sunset Boulevard, an old movie from 1950. On the table in front of him, there was another kind of orange rectangle, the placemat. On the mat, he had a round chocolate cake plate whereas in the newscast there was an image of the world globe, another round object.
The scene started when Cooper was sitting at the table in Jones's house, quite frozen already. Next to him, there was the television remote control on the table. There had been no remote control on the table in any previous scene. Carrying the plate with a piece of chocolate cake, Janey-E appeared from the kitchen.
The suggestive connections between the scenes may have meant that Rodney's remote had now jumped to the Jones's house with some new business to take care of. Eating the cake, Cooper started toying with the remote and turned on the movie. It happened to be playing the part where the name Gordon Cole had originally been taken from.

"Get Gordon Cole. Tell him to forget about our car. Tell him he can get another old car someplace --"

This caused a frantic reaction in Cooper, and he paused the movie. He took a fork and crawled on the floor to the wall socket where he stuck it into a slot, electrocuting himself. This would be another throwback to Rodney freezing the television as two vertical slots in the socket echoed the red pause icon.
Get Gordon Cole. This sounded like an opening to get him into the story.
FBI Director Gordon Cole first re-appeared in P3. That was also another scene featuring a prominent remote control and frozen pictures on television. Cole presided over a meeting in an FBI Philadelphia headquarters conference room that continued with Tammy's report about bloody murders in New York City.
I'm literally pointing to you what to think about.
Tammy took the remote control that was on the cabinet next to the television, placed towards Cole. There were repeated shots of her theatrically pointing the television with it.
Perhaps, it was the remote control that needed to seek Gordon Cole, not the brainless Cooper eating the chocolate cake. If that was the case, it had certainly got him and also his attention, as Cole was keenly following what the remote was showing him, with some help from Tammy
So who's this now then?
When everyone left the conference room and rushed to Cole's office, the remote was left on the table. On the television screen, there was a picture of a blurry, female shadow that had been found on one of the cards "on the night of the murders". The shadow was not similar to Cooper or the Experiment Model who had appeared in the box in P1 and P2, respectively but some yet unidentified third party.
Behind the shadow, there was the round wall opening at the back of the glass box. Above it, there would have been the large horizontal X-shaped frame holding the box's glass ceiling together. Below, there would have been a vertically setup X in the box's supporting base.
She (4) has arrived, beware. The Xs (1, 2), the round opening (3) and the curtain (5).
On the conference room table, there was the remote control, now in front of the apparition on television. The setup may have echoed Candie hunting the fly and hitting Rodney with the remote in P10, since just before taking it from the table at 8:42, her position was similar to the blurry figure on television.
Here, the Xs on the glass box would come to play. Right behind Candie, there was a round, glass coffee table the foot of which resembled a vertical X. There was also another X, a horizontal one, under the larger glass table in front of Rodney, seen in the quick shot when Candie grabbed the remote. Besides the Xs, the round table would connect to the round wall opening behind the box while the slanted right side of the glass box in the picture that Tammy had on television matched the position and appearance of the curtain framed together with Candie just as she stood between the tables.
As it seems then, the glass box was right there in front of Rodney, now showing up as two glass tables, as suggested by the Experiment Model breaking it in the opening episode. Coincidentally, Rodney paid no attention to Candie before she was in the spot between the tables that seems to have made her also appear as the blurry figure in the glass box. This would have been when and how she actually entered the Las Vegas storyline, hunting the fly. Where did she come from and who was she are then something else to think about.
The girls hadn't quite arrived to the story yet.
Candie had kind of appeared already in P5 but that footage of the three cocktail girls was taken from P10, and they were nowhere to be seen in any wider angle. The shot of Candie entering the surveillance room in P5 was the same shot as Candie going out in P10, only played in reverse. Perhaps this meant to indicate they were not in the story yet, like Candie wasn't before she entered the right spot between the tables.
Coming and going.
There were no more scenes featuring a remote control, at least not getting the same attention as these three that may all have been one and the same, jumping from one television to another. Next, the remote probably needed to become something else to advance its interests.
We got the hint what to look for as a cup of coffee and a picture of a boy in a uniform were framed in front of the remote when we saw it for the last time on the FBI conference room table.

If you are confused, this is a draft and book I did with u/hefty_fix_8416 and u/aewbulletclub1016. This is my company's first show, Ignite the Flames
SEGMENT 1-
The Beginning
"We are LIVEEE from Las Vegas Nevada for Glory Wrestling Revolution: Ignite the Flames!” "We are your commentary team for GWR, I am Kash Stone, and I’m here with Diego Brunello. Welcome to the Revolution!"
*The camera then cuts to Rick Grayson, Owner of Glory Wrestling Revolution in the ring*
"VIVAAAAA LAS VEGASSSS"
The crowd erupts
"I don’t want to take too long in this introduction, but I would personally like to thank all of you for coming out and spending your Saturday night with GWR. Whether you’re watching at home, or watching here in Las Vegas, we appreciate you!”
“We have a great show planned, with matches like Hikaru Shida vs Mercedes Moné"
Cheer
"The Young Bucks vs The New Day, for the first time ever!"
Cheer
"The murder grandpa, Minoru Suzuki vs the Ring General Walter!"
Cheer
"Andddd, the main eventt, for the first time ever.
CODY RHODES VS HIROSHI TANAHASHI”
Big Cheer
"Anyways, that’s enough of me, how about for some action, in fact, I think we should already crown a title here in GRW. The GWR United States Title Scramble starts now!"
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 2-
GWR UNITED STATES TITLE SCRAMBLE
Ricochet vs Mark Briscoe vs Jay Lethal vs Eddie Kingston vs Samuray Del Sol
20 minutes to see who the real, and first GWR United States Title holder is!
Ricochet, Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Eddie Kingston, and Samuray Del Sol all make their way into the ring for the first match in GWR history!
As the bell rings, the 5 men look outside the ring at the United States Title! Big stakes on the line!
With 17:23 left in the match, Ricochet scores the first pinfall after successfully hitting an early 630’ senton!
With 14:11 left in the match, the title changed hands from Ricochet to Samuray Del Sol, after successfully hitting a hurricanrana into a pin!
With 10:22 left in the match, the title changed hands from Samuray Del Sol, back to Ricochet after a diving corkscrew moonsault
Immediately after, Jay Lethal catches Ricochet right into a Lethal Injection, making it Lethal’s first pinfall at 10:07 left in the match!
With 7:21 left in the match, Eddie Kingston picks up his first pinfall with a spinning back fist, dethroning Jay Lethal.
With 5:47 left in the match, Mark Briscoe gets on the board as he picks up Eddie Kingston and drops him down with a Cut-throat driver!
With 4:31 left in the match, Jay Lethal once again gets on the board by rolling up Mark Briscoe
With 4:02 left in the match, Mark Briscoe gets his get back with a roll-up of his own!
With 3:30 left in the match, Eddie Kingston hits another spinning back fist on Mark Briscoe!
With 3:15 left in the match, Ricochet comes out of nowhere right after the pin and picks up his third fall of the match!
As Ricochet is looking to put it away with one final 630’ senton, Eddie Kingston comes out of nowhere with a spinning back fist! And gets the pin!
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
The clock winds down as Eddie Kingston is the first GWR United States Champion!
Ricochet cannot believe it, as if he never tried to go for that last 630’ senton he would’ve won!
The Las Vegas crowd cheers on Eddie Kingston as we go into a sponsorship break!
Eddie Kingston def Ricochet, Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, and Samuray Del Sol to become the first GWR United States Champion
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 3-
GWR Revolution Title 4-Way Qualifier
Jade Cargill vs Deonna Purrazzo
After the break, we begin Jade Cargill vs Deonna Purrazzo. The winner will enter the four-way In the ring, Deonna Purrazzo and Jade Cargill start the match with intense back-and-forth action. Purrazzo uses her technical skills to target Cargill's arm, but Cargill's power proves to be a challenge. Despite Purrazzo's submission attempts, Cargill breaks free with her sheer strength and athleticism. As the match progresses, Cargill showcases her agility with high-flying moves and powerful strikes, wearing down Purrazzo. In a climactic moment, Cargill delivers her signature finisher, the "Jaded," pinning Purrazzo for the three-count and claiming victory. Jade Cargill stands tall as the winner of the intense match-up, and will go on to face the winner of Mercedes Moné and Hikaru Shida, and 2 other women to become the first ever Revolution Title Holder!
Jade Cargill def Deonna Purrazzo to enter the Revolution Title 4-Way Match
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 4-
GWR Tag Titles 6-Way Qualifier
Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero) vs House of Black (Buddy Matthews and Brody King)
The anticipation in the arena is electric as Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero) step into the ring to face off against the formidable House of Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King. The bell rings, and the battle begins!
Ishii and Matthews start the match, exchanging powerful strikes and showcasing their incredible strength. The crowd is on the edge of their seats, witnessing a clash of titans. Matthews agility and cunning give him an edge, as he manages to gain control over Ishii.
Meanwhile, Romero is itching to get in on the action, but King proves to be a formidable opponent. King's size and power overwhelm Romero, leaving him struggling to mount a comeback. House of Black are in complete control, displaying their dominance in the ring.
Despite Chaos' valiant efforts, the House of Black proves to be an unstoppable force. Buddy and King's teamwork is flawless, executing devastating double-team maneuvers that leave Chaos reeling. The crowd is in awe of the House of Black’s dominance.
In the final moments of the match, Matthews and King deliver their devastating finisher, securing the victory. The crowd erupts in a mix of shock and admiration for the House of Black’s triumph. They have proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with, leaving Chaos in their wake.
It was an intense and hard-fought battle, but the House of Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King, emerged victorious. This means they will face 5 other teams to crown the first ever GRW Tag Team Champions!
House of Black def Chaos
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 5-
The Scapegoat
After the break, we cut to the entrance ramp, where The Scapegoat Jack Perry is entering the ring, he tears a kids sign and flips him off! What a piece of shit.
He picks up a microphone
“Well, well, well. I have got to say, this is the most miserable and pathetic wrestling show I’ve ever seen. You guys are lucky I got paid a lot to be here tonight, or else I would’ve done a show for WBW in Pittsburgh. Now, that piece of shit Rick Grayson expects me to wrestle tonight, but to be quite honest I would rather kiss his dead mother, then fight in this ring with you stupid fucking fans.”
*crowd boos*
“I have nothing to prove. I’m your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler, I am the best bout machine, I am the Cerebral Assassin, I am The Animal, I am the. best. in. the. world.”
*the crowd begins to boo at Jack Perry…*
This is until the crowd hears a very familiar song…
“LOOOOOK IIIINNNN MY EYEEESSS, WHAT DO YOU SEEEEE”
“OH MY GOD, IT'S C.M PUNK, HE HAS ARRIVED IN GLORY WRESTLING REVOLUTION!”
HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT
“Look who it is, it’s Jungle Boy”
*crowd pops*
“I know we don’t have a very good history, Jack. You get in my face backstage, I choke you, somebody gets scared for their life, yada yada yada. But I was willing to put all of that aside…”
“But you, you call yourself the best in the world? Not only is that disrespectful to me of course. But it’s disrespectful to every other wrestler in the company. The only thing you’ve ever accomplished in your wrestling career is winning a tag team championship with your pet dinosaur.”
“In a world of innovators, aces, like the great Tanahashi, who is going to be on this very show”
*pop*
“A mind, like the Viper Randy Orton.”
*pop*
“Your the best in the worl…”
Jack Perry interrupts C.M Punk
“Do me a favor, shut the fuck up, please.”
boos
“Here is punk coming into another promotion and fucking everything up once again. Here’s the deal, nobody wants you in any promotion, you are what people call a cancer. You are in WWE, you are in AEW, hell, you even were when you lasted 2:14 against Mickey Gall in the UFC. Nobody likes you, nobody wants you here, you would be better off leaving for another 9 years.”
C.M Punk takes a mic once again!
“I’ve choked you once, I don’t really feel the need to do it again, I don’t like to be the bad guy here, I don’t want to fight you. But I will do whatever is necessary, and if I have to kick your ass again, in front of all these people in Las Vegas, so help me god I will not hesitate.”
Jack Perry and C.M Punk get closer and closer, they start to swing! They are now back at swinging at each other! Security gets called to break them up!
C.M Punk is in the Revolution, and he makes it clear he’s going after The Scapegoat!
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 6-
GRW Revolution Title 4-Way Qualifier
Hikaru Shida vs Mercedes Moné
As the bell rings, Moné and Shida lock eyes, ready to give it their all. Moné, known for her incredible strength and technical prowess, wastes no time in taking control of the match. She delivers a series of powerful strikes and executes impressive submission holds, keeping Shida on her toes.
But Shida, the resilient fighter that she is, fights back with her lightning-fast strikes and high-flying maneuvers. The crowd is on the edge of their seats as the two competitors trade blows, each refusing to back down.
Moné, fueled by determination and a desire to prove herself, digs deep and unleashes her full potential. She showcases her agility and innovative moves, catching Shida off guard. The momentum shifts in Moné's favor, and the crowd can sense an upset in the making.
With every near fall, the anticipation in the arena grows. Moné's resilience and unwavering focus propel her forward, as she continues to dominate the match. The crowd rallies behind her, cheering her on with thunderous applause.
In a thrilling climax, Moné delivers her devastating finishing move, leaving Shida stunned and unable to kick out. The referee counts to three, and the crowd erupts in a mix of shock and jubilation. Mercedes Moné has done it! She has defeated the reigning champion Hikaru Shida and claimed victory in this incredible match.
The arena is filled with cheers and applause as Moné celebrates her hard-fought win. She will go on to face Jade Cargill and 2 other women to challenge for the GRW Revolution Title!
Mercedes Moné def Hikaru Shida
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 7-
The Future…
As we get back to the ring, the commentators Kash Stone and Diego Brunello have a very important announcement!
“Diego and I are back, and what a great match we saw, Walter coming on top, action pact as can be!”
“That’s right Kash, but before we head back to the ring we want to make a very quick announcement, GWR is coming back to this same building in a little under 2 weeks time on Friday, May 31st for Roll the Dice!”
“But Diego, not only that. That date officially kicks off the western states tour, going to hit through the western states, we are so excited to expand this outside of Las Vegas!”
The dates read as follow-
House of Fire. Sunday, June 2nd. The Nile Theater (Mesa, Arizona)
TBA. Saturday, June 8th. El Paso Convention Center (El Paso, Texas) *Afternoon Show*
TBA. Sunday, June 9th. Revel Entertainment (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
TBA. Thursday, June 13th. The Summit (Denver, Colorado)
TBA. Friday, June 28th. Venue TBA (San Diego, California)
TBA. Sunday, June 29th. Venue TBA (Los Angeles, California)
What an announcement! Let’s head back to the ring where we get ready for The Ring General, WALTER, and The Murder Grandpa, Minoru Suzuki!
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 8-
GRW Glory Title Series Match
“The Ring General” WALTER vs “The Murder Grandpa” Minoru Suzuki
In a clash of titans, Walter and Minoru Suzuki step into the ring, the tension palpable as they lock eyes, ready to unleash their full arsenal of strikes and submissions. The match begins with a fierce exchange of chops and kicks, each man testing the other's resilience and strength. Suzuki's technical prowess is matched by Walter's raw power, creating a thrilling back-and-forth battle that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
As the match progresses, Suzuki manages to trap Walter in his signature submission holds, but the Austrian powerhouse refuses to tap out, powering his way out of each predicament with sheer determination. Walter retaliates with devastating chops that echo through the arena, leaving Suzuki visibly shaken but unfazed.
The climax of the match sees both men exhausted but refusing to back down, trading stiff strikes and near-falls in a display of pure grit and tenacity. In the end, Walter manages to hit his devastating powerbomb, securing the victory! WALTER is the first man to move on in the Glory Title Series, and will face the winner of the next 2 qualifying matches!
WALTER def Minoru Suzuki to advance in the Glory World Title Series
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 9-
Speaking of Glory Title Series…
“Thanks again for watching this epic show on GRW, this is a great time in wrestling, we are having a great time, what a great match we saw there right Kash!”
“Yeah that was something else, hard hitting as all hell.”
“But let’s turn our attention away from that specific match and to the next Glory Title Qualifiers, there’s some bangers on the list!”
“As we know, the 2nd match in the series happens tonight between Cody Rhodes and Hiroshi Tanahashi! But we still have 4 more over the next 2 shows, we are announcing them right now!”
May 31st, Roll the Dice. Las Vegas, NV:
Bobby Lashley vs Swerve Strickland
Johnny Gargano vs Jay White
June 2nd, House of Fire, Mesa, AZ:
Andrade vs Malakai Black
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazuchika Okada
“What a great few matches in the next couple of shows! But we have some business to take care of here. For the first time ever, The Young Bucks will face The New Day!
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 10-
The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) vs The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
The crowd is on their feet as The Young Bucks, Nick and Matt Jackson, step into the ring, ready to showcase their high-flying skills. They, along with other Elite member Kazuchika Okada are getting booed! The New Day, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, bring their charismatic energy as they enter, determined to prove their dominance.
The match starts with a flurry of quick-paced action, as The Young Bucks showcase their innovative tag team maneuvers. Nick and Matt's seamless teamwork keeps The New Day on their toes. However, Xavier and Kofi's resilience and teamwork shine through as they counter with their own impressive moves.
As the match progresses, The Young Bucks unleash their signature superkicks, catching Xavier and Kofi off guard. The crowd erupts in excitement as The Young Bucks go for their finishing move, the Meltzer Driver. With precision and agility, they execute the move flawlessly, securing the victory.
The referee's hand hits the mat for the three-count, and The Young Bucks emerge triumphant, celebrating their hard-fought win. The crowd roars with applause, acknowledging the incredible performance from both teams.
It was an incredible match filled with high-flying action, teamwork, and heart-pounding moments. The Young Bucks proved once again why they are one of the most dynamic tag teams in professional wrestling! They advance and will face The Kings of the Black Throne and 4 other teams!
The Young Bucks def The New Day
After the match, The Nick & Matt Jackson continue to beat down both Woods and Kofi Kingston! This is when Big E comes storming down the ramp and tries to even the odds! As Big E is hurt, The Bucks and Okada were able to take out Big E and the rest of The New Day! This is until the lights go out!
Its… its…
KENNNNNYYY OMEEGAAAA!
The Elite scrams out of the ring very quickly! Kenny Omega is here!
Kenny Omega is checking on them as we cut to a short sponsorship break.
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 11-
Roll The Dice Full Card
“What a shocking event just there, Kenny Omega helped The New Day, he's back but obviously still hurt, we gotta know when he will be back in action!”
“I agree, but it’s only a matter of time before Roll The Dice, lets see the card for the 2nd event that will take place in GRW”
The GRW Winners Briefcase is decided in a 20 man Battle Royal!
Kenny Omega Will Speak To The Crowd
GWR Tag Titles 6-Way Qualifier: The Hurt Business vs Hit Row
GRW Glory Title Series Match: Bobby Lashley vs Swerve Strickland
GRW Revolution Title 4-Way Qualifier: Shayna Baszler vs Toni Storm
The Baddies (Leila Grey and Kiera Hogan) vs CEO and Glow (Mercedes Moné and Naomi)
CM Punk Returns To Las Vegas To Address Jack Perry!
GWR Tag Titles 6-Way Qualifier: FTR vs The Gunn Club
GRW Revolution Title 4-Way Qualifier: Bianca Belair vs Kris Statlander
GRW Glory Title Series Match: Johnny Gargano vs Jay White
“Roll The Dice is going to be special, but no more procrastinating guys,
THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE VS THE ACE, CODY RHODES VS HIROSHI TANAHASHI FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, NEXT!
____________________________________________________________________________
SEGMENT 12-
GRW Glory Title Series Match
Cody Rhodes vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
The crowd is buzzing with anticipation as the two wrestling superstars make their grand entrances. This is the first main event in GWR history! Cody Rhodes, known for his charisma and technical prowess, steps into the ring with confidence. Hiroshi Tanahashi, the legendary "Ace",Hiroshi Tanahashi, follows suit, radiating his trademark star power.
The match begins with a test of strength, as both competitors lock up in the center of the ring. Cody's technical skills are on full display as he tries to ground the high-flying Tanahashi. However, Tanahashi's agility and resilience keep him a step ahead, countering Cody's every move.
As the match progresses, the intensity builds. Cody Rhodes targets Tanahashi's legs, trying to weaken his opponent's base. Tanahashi, known for his resilience, fights back with a series of hard-hitting strikes and high-risk aerial maneuvers. The crowd is on their feet, witnessing a masterclass in professional wrestling.
The match reaches its climax with a series of near falls and dramatic moments. Cody Rhodes unleashes his Cross Rhodes finisher, but Tanahashi somehow kicks out at the last possible moment, leaving the audience in awe. Tanahashi retaliates with his High Fly Flow, connecting with precision and grace.
The final moments of the match are filled with heart-pounding action. Both competitors dig deep, pushing their bodies to the limit. In a breathtaking display of athleticism, Cody Rhodes executes a picture-perfect Moonsault, securing the victory and earning the respect of his opponent.
The crowd erupts in applause, recognizing the incredible performance by both wrestlers. Cody Rhodes and Hiroshi Tanahashi embrace in a show of sportsmanship, acknowledging the hard-fought battle they just shared.
It was a main event for the ages, showcasing the talent and passion of two wrestling icons. Cody Rhodes and Hiroshi Tanahashi delivered a match that will be remembered for years to come. Cody Rhodes has beaten Hiroshi Tanahashi, this means that he will face the winners of Swerve Strickland vs Bobby Lashley, and Kazuchika Okada vs Shinsuke Nakamura!
Cody Rhodes def Hiroshi Tanahashi
____________________________________________________________________________
As the screen begins to fade to black, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Cody Rhodes give a bow to the crowd, as Rick Grayson comes in and congratulates Cody! What a first show for Glory Wrestling Revolution, and they are just getting started!

I'm moving later this year and I need to get rid of some sets. All sets are in boxes and sealed. Prices are based on Ebay trends. Shipping not included. All fair offers considered. If in Los Angeles, will consider local delivery.
Proof and pics: https://imgur.com/a/Lj7VXH6
Architecture

• 21017 - Imperial Hotel - $200
• 21018 - United Nations Headquarters - $125
• 21022 - Lincoln Memorial - $150
• 21023 - Flatiron Building - $100
• 21024 - Louvre - $150
• 21029 - Buckingham Palace - $120
• 21030 - United States Capitol Building - $180
• 21031 - Burj Khalifa - $150
• 21035 - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - $200
• 21039 - Shanghai - $100
• 21041 - Great Wall of China - $100
• 21047 - Las Vegas - $100

Star Wars

• 9516 - Jabba’s Palace - $350
• 10188 - Death Star (2008) - $850 Edit: sold locally
• 75005 - Rancor Pit - $300

Lord of the Rings

• 9473 - Mines of Moria - $300

Other

• 10214 - Tower Bridge - $300
• 71006 - The Simpsons House - $400
• 3300003 - LEGO Brand Retail Store - $100

When I went to Las Vegas last year, I saw a Willy Wonka slot machine at the Bellagio and a Ghostbusters one at the Excalibur. Seeing them gave me this thought: I see no reason they shouldn’t make a SpongeBob-themed one, especially with that new ride that opened at the Circus Circus. Who else would love to see that?

Online gambling sites are constantly looking for new and creative ways to attract customers. Offering the live casino experience and rules on their website is what the best online casinos are excelling at these days.
Playing live casino games is fun, but playing without understanding some live casino rules and techniques is a sure path to frustration. Following proven tips for playing live casino games can make your experience much more enjoyable. We've put together some general guidelines here to get you on the right track.

Why Play at a Live Casino?

Hardly any sector has had as much innovation in recent years as the gambling market. New games and features are being developed almost daily to provide players with a great gaming experience, and one such innovation is live casinos.
Live casinos are a kind of golden mean between online and land-based casinos. In it, players get access to virtual rooms where real dealers conduct rounds of various games in real time.
Nowadays, most online casinos have this section, usually all popular games such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker, etc. are available in live casinos.
In addition, live tables often have chat rooms. In this way, players can communicate with each other or with the dealers, creating the feeling of a real game in a real casino.
It is for these and other reasons that live casinos are so popular today, with them it is as if you are in Las Vegas from the comfort of your own home, whenever you want and anywhere in the world.

The Best Live Dealer Casinos 2024

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Good live Dealer Casino Etiquette

Good live dealer casino etiquette starts before you even sit down at the table. Few things annoy other players more than when someone asks questions simply because they don't know the basic rules. The dealer can also be annoyed by certain chatroom attitudes and if a player abuses this, they may even be kicked out of the room.
Therefore, understanding the rules of your chosen live casino game and good chat behavior are important when accessing the table. These rules can vary from casino to casino, so be sure to do your research if you move to a new operator.
Let's say you are new to the game and want to start learning. It's best to look for a free version of that particular game. Most online casinos include this option: just log in to the game and enter “demo mode”. or “free play”.
There are even casino game developers (like Real Dealer and Evolution first-person games) that simulate a live table, but work as a single-player game available at online casinos.
Also, if you are still not quite sure about the rules but you want to know how a certain game works, you can just go to the live section of the casino and have a look. So, you enter a particular game and watch the rounds, when you feel confident, then you can put your chips on the table.
So, be a responsible and conscious player and learn how the game works before you bet on a live dealer game. This way, you won't lose money and you won't disturb the game by asking unnecessary questions, especially since the chat room allows you to leave constructive comments, praise the dealer, encourage other players, etc. If you are going to ask questions, ask questions at a more advanced level, not about the basic rules of a particular game.

What does a Dealer do in a Live Casino?

The dealer is responsible for performing several different actions during the game. First, he is responsible for everything that happens at the table. He is the one who notifies you when bets are open, closed, what the result of the round is, etc. Therefore, he is a kind of host who leads the game and interacts with the players in the chat room.
Secondly, the croupier has the same duties as the dealers in traditional casinos, that is: he shuffles and deals the cards, spins the wheel in roulette and so on. However, he doesn't have to worry about collecting and distributing chips: this is handled by the gaming system itself.
Usually, live casino studios combine physical furniture with a virtual interface, timers, cards, betting boxes, and so on. Thus, the player clicks on these boxes to place bets, and then the dealer performs a specific action for each game: dealing cards, spinning the roulette wheel, spinning the wheel, rolling the dice, etc.

Which table to choose for a Live Casino game?

Deciding which table to sit at is not such an easy task. Different live dealer gaming tables cater for many types of players, some may be high stakes and more oriented towards high rollers, while others are designed for players on a tight budget, for example.
Therefore, when accessing a live dealer table, make sure that your budget meets the table's minimum and maximum limits. Also, remember the golden rule of casinos: only bet on what you can afford to lose.
If you sit down to a game of blackjack with a live dealer, for example, and your budget doesn't allow you to play more than two or three hands, it's best to look for a table with lower limits. Most experts recommend that you bet no more than 5% of your total budget on each round of your chosen game.

Which Software Providers Produce the Best Live Casino Games?

Nowadays, there are many companies involved in developing games with real dealers. However, not all of them are equally good in terms of quality. So, let's take a look at the best in the industry:

Evolution Gaming

When it comes to live casinos, Evolution Gaming is the undisputed leader. This company offers a great gaming experience with revolutionary graphics, low betting limits and high-quality live streaming. The studio is also very versatile and offers online roulette , blackjack, poker, craps, baccarat, prize wheels and more.

Quickfire

This company is without a doubt one of the most respected and popular game manufacturers. Quickfire produces not only exciting slot machines and table games, but also games with live dealers. You will definitely not be bored in them.

Tips for Getting Started at a Live Casino

We're coming to the end of our guide to live casinos. To finish, check out our top casino tips to help you get the best out of this style of play:
Take advantage of live casino bonuses
Many betting sites and online casinos offer great bonuses for new customers. In some cases, the bonuses are exclusive to slot machine betting, but it may happen that the operator has live casino promotions and very often, for example, offers cashback (refund of lost bets) for live casino. So keep an eye on the promotions and the terms and conditions of each offer.
Do not try to recoup your losses
Many newbies make the mistake of chasing lost money. You should avoid this at all costs, if luck is not on your side, it is best to call it a day and come back at another time.
Set a betting limit
You should always set limits for yourself before you play. The most recommended one is to have limits on losses and screen time. Once you come across any of these, stop immediately.
Always stay focused
Live casinos are a lot of fun, and the thrill of the game can make you forget that you are betting real money and lead to reckless behavior. Therefore, you need to stay focused and always bet wisely and not on emotion.

Conclusion: Why Play at a Live Casino?

The most significant advantage of live online betting is that it combines different aspects of traditional and online betting, providing a unique experience that you won't find anywhere else.
Although the dealer can't see the players at the table, you can clearly see the dealer playing roulette, dealing cards and interacting with the players at each table.
Be sure to follow our tips and guidelines as you begin your live casino journey. They are designed to help you get the most out of your experience.

Book report guy back, with the Bryan Danielson book from 2014 and it has some fun backstage stories from his time in WWE!
Solid wrestling book, though not super memorable in my opinion. Some solid detail and dirt like you expect, but honestly it felt like he was holding back.
As always, it's in chronological order as best as I could do that. Hope y'all enjoy!
Bryan is a weird dude, while describing his adolescence, he casually says that he has a lot of weird hypothesis on various subjects, and we should ask Nigel McGuinness about Bryan's theory on how a penis grows. He doesn't expand on this more. He just says that and moves back to talking about his childhood.
Bryan rants a bit about how modern medicine has stunted human evolution because kids who would have died off got to live and reproduce and pass their "defects" onto the next generation. He says that he is one of those defects, sick all his childhood and sick a lot as an adult. He says that his wife Brie is also a "defect" but says she can share the details in her own book if she ever writes one.
When Bryan was 16 years old, he contacted Dean Melanko's wrestling school and was told it would cost him $2,500, but he needed a $500 deposit to secure his spot. Bryan was scared that there were hundreds of people on the waiting list and worked extra shifts at McDonald's in order to get the cash together asap. He put $500 deposit down for a wrestling school he couldn't go to for 2 more years.
Three months before Bryan graduated high school, the Melanko Wrestling School contacted to inform Bryan that the school was shutting down permanently. When Bryan asked for his $500 back, he was told that they no longer had it and that he was SOL.
While watching Monday Night RAW, an ad flashed advertising a 900 number (an old pay-per-minute phone concept that was always a money drain on the caller), and it advertised Shawn Michaels opening up a wrestling school. After an expensive phone call, Bryan was told to pay $20 more for a package to be mailed to him with more info. He did, and when he got the package, it detailed how Michaels wrestling school would cost $3,900 dollars, and it had another 900 number to call if you're interested. Bryan was demoralized and almost didn't call. When he did, though, he was speaking to Shawm Michaels mom, who was helping Shawn run it. Bryan's mom ended up doing all the talking, and the two mothers helped Bryan get set up with a place in San Antonio where the school was. They agreed to let Bryan pay monthly to help him with the finances.
Bryan's first day of wrestling school went exactly like everyone else's first day of wrestling school, with 90% of the students gassed and vomiting. Bryan said out of the 10 guys there, only he and Lance Cade didn't end up vomiting.
Bryan remembers how much Shawn Michaels prioritized his training to Lance Cade. One of the first days, Lance did a basic jump and got so much air that Michaels loudly proclaimed, "I smell money!"
Even though it was Shawn's school, the primary instructor was Rudy Boy Gonzales, a pretty insignificant wrestler from the 80s and 90s. Bryan puts over Rudy as a passionate trainer who motivated him to try harder. Bryan said Rudy would show Bryan anything Bryan saw on a tape and wanted to try.
Bryan says that he and "The" Brian Kendrick became friends immediately as they were both around the same size in the training and had the same level of passion for wrestling.
I always heard that Shawn Michaels wasn't very present for this school, but Bryan tells a different tale, putting Shawn over as someone who was always around and always showing them how to be better.
Bryan does remember some days that Shawn would come in with his sunglasses on, sit at the back of the class, and then dip out early. Bryan didn't realize then that Shawn was in deep with a bad painkiller addiction, and so some days he wasn't as present. Since Bryan grew up with his dad's addiction issues, Bryan says seeing Shawn actually kick the addiction fully put Shawn on a pedestal in Bryan's eyes.
After a couple of months, Shawn was telling the students to start thinking of ring names, and when Bryan couldn't come up with one, he asked Shawn about using his real name. Shawn thought about it for a second before adding "The American Dragon" to it. When Bryan asked why that name, Shawn said it's because Bryan wrestled like a Japanese guy. Bryan took that as a massive compliment.
Bryan didn't tell Shawn, but Bryan initially hated "The American Dragon" name.
Bryan had trouble being expressive and emoting in the ring, so Shawn had him wrestle under a mask.
On October 4th, 1999, Bryan wrestled his first ever match for Shawn Michaels' small promotion, Texas Wrestling Alliance. His opponent was Brian Kendrick (then known as Spanky), and Bryan says as rotton as it was, everyone in the back was super excited for their performance, including Shawn.
Bryan confirms that Kendrick called himself "Spanky" as a masturbation reference.
Shawn arranged for Bryan and Lance Cade to head over to Japan and wrestle for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, a bit of a "mudshow" wrestling promotion. Shawn got Bryan and Lance a spot on their card by agreeing to referee a match for the company.
Bryan remembers seeing one guy shove a bottle rocket up his opponents butt and light it off at that FMW show. So yeah, some pretty outlaw stuff.
Bryan describes attempting a moonsalt to the outside of the ring during this Japan tour, but he slipped and cracked his head on the cement. Bryan says, "When I came to, I didn't even know where I was" before describing how he stumbled his way through the match. He notes how concussions have always been a problem for him.
Lance Cade was invited back to FMW later for a 2nd tour, but they didn't ask for Bryan back. That's when Bryan realized that at his size, he needs to get much, much better.
In February 2000, HBK got Bryan, Lance Cade, Brian Kendrick, and another student named Shooter Shultz, a dark match on an episode of Smackdown. He says they planned for a 15-minute tag match before being told last minute that it's been cut down to 6 minutes. Bryan says HBK went and yelled at some people about "his guys" until he got it bumped up to 10 minutes.
Bryan says he got his first documented concussion that match, because they weren't used to a literal ramp, and Bryan cracked his skull on it, doing a pointless dive. He says the WWE doctor backstage told him to just make sure he doesn't fall asleep.
Bryan says when they got backstage after their match, HBK was excited and pumping them up, telling everyone backstage that they should sign all 4 guys immediately. This was on Tuesday, and by Thursday, when WWE still hadn't contacted them, Shawn called them up and threatened to take the 4 to WCW where Kevin Nash would make sure they were signed. Bryan says WWE quickly offered all 4 guys developmental contracts for $500 per week. Bryan says HBK was a great guy to have in your corner.
Shortly after getting the developmental contract, Bryan and Kendrick wrestled a main event ladder match for Shawn's TWA promotion. At the time, Bryan believed that in order to stand out, he would need to wrestle a more daredevil style, so he did some dumb stuff in this match. He did some ridiculous spot that ended with Bryan separating his shoulder. After the match, he took a table bump that legitimately knocked him unconscious for a full minute.
A week or 2 later, the teams had a rematch in a steel cage where all 4 agreed to blade for the first time. Why is he doing this dumb shit right after being offered a WWE contract?
Bryan says those ladder and cage matches made him realize he needed to change his style up and become more mat based. He wouldn't have had a long career if he kept getting hurt. At this point, Bryan has only been wrestling for 6 or 8 months and already suffered maybe 3 concussions. At least 2 for sure.
Bryan Danielson, Lance Cade, Brian Kendrick, and Shooter Shultz all moved to Memphis, where WWE's development primarily opperated out of at the time. William Regal was also a developmental system at the time, trying to show he had kicked his addiction issues.
Memphis Championship Wrestling was the territory they wrestled for, and Bryan remembers wrestling in all sorts of crazy locations like a WalMart parking lot once.
Although Shawn eventually took the mask off Bryan in TWA, the guys at MCW immediately put the mask back on Bryan.
The only time Bryan thought he might get called up to the main roster was in January 2001, when he heard rumors that WWE wanted to start up a cruiserweight division and use Danielson and Kendrick That didn't happen, though, and Bryan never heard another rumor or wiff of him being called up.
In June 2001, someone from WWE talent relations came down to evaluate talent. Brian was let go and told that despite his talent, they just had no plans for him.
In October 2001, Bryan was offered a spot in California based All Pro Wrestling's annual King Of The Indies tournament. Danielson would beat Kendrick in the first round, and after the show, Nick Bockwinkle, who was there watching, loudly told promoter Roland Alexander, "If you don't put that guy over." Bockwinkle said while pointing directly at Bryan, "You're crazy!"
APW head trainer Donovan Morgan was scheduled to beat Bryan in the second round and go on to win the tournament, but promoter Roland made the call to have Bryan win instead.
Bryan says this that while this really pissed Donovan off, what really upset the guy was when Roland offered Danielson and Kendrick trainer positions alongside Donovan.
Kendrick turned the offer down, but Bryan took it and moved to California in January 2002, where he became the head trainer. Though Bryan says he was a lousy trainer and no good at motivating anyone.
On February 2002, Bryan sat down with Gabe Sapolsky, who, after being inspired by the Super 8 tournament Bryan won, wanted Bryan part of his new promotion, Ring of Honor.
Bryan remembers both William Regal and John Laurinaitis said they would try to get Bryan an in to Japan, but both came up short, and both eventually stopped returning Bryan's calls.
In March 2002, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and Brian Kendrick got a tryout with New Japan in Santa Monica. Antonio Inoki was actually there to oversee, but he literally had his back turned to the ring while Danielson and Kendrick wrestled. Inoki never bothered to turn around and watch them, instead watching someone stretch, Bryan says. Bryan later heard that New Japan never intended to hire anyone. They just wanted their dojo to look full for press.
After the "tryout," Bryan says that Inoki fell and had to be helped up by a bunch of people. Only the three of them didn't get up to help, with Kendrick saying loudly, "serves the motherfucker right."
Bryan kept making trips to the Santa Monica dojo every couple of weeks until Shinya "Togi" Makabe told him that if Bryan really wanted to be taken seriously, he had to be at the dojo every single day. Bryan took the advice seriously, quit his training job and moved to Santa Monica.
Bryan says he was offered to come tour with New Japan after only training at the dojo full time a few weeks. It was on this tour where Bryan first wrestled in the Tokyo Dome.
In May 2003, Bryan wrestled another Tokyo Dome show, where Bryan, Rocky Romero and TJ Perkins were all pulled aside in the hotel after the show, by Justin Cully. Cully literally slapped each man across the face, saying the slaps are from Inoki, who was disappointed in their proformances that night. Apparently Inoki expected them to wrestle more of a shoot style fight and was very upset.
In March 2004, Bryan won his first title with New Japan, the IWGP Junior Tag titles with Christopher Daniels, and Bryan would spend the majority of the year with New Japan where he wrestled 8 different tours.
Bryan pitched a 3 hour long match to Gabe Sapolsky for a ROH show and is disappointed they didn't go the full 3 hours.
Going into 2005, Bryan expected to wrestle his whole career in New Japan, but was startled when New Japan didn't get his visa renewed for the January tour like they always do. He was told it was a mistake and he would be back for March tour, but again he was told last minute they didn't have a visa for him. In May they contacted him last minute inviting him for a tour, but at a ridiculous pay cut down to $500 per week. Bryan turned the offer down and never went back to that Santa Monica dojo or work for New Japan again. He later heard that he was used as a pawn in a power struggle with the Dojo and New Japan.
In mid-2005 Bryan got an email from CM-Punk about a rumor suggesting that both WWE and TNA were interested in Bryan, Punk and Samoa Joe. Joe would quickly sign with TNA after this and Punk took a developmental deal with WWE. Bryan never heard from either company, and a few months later Gabe Sapolsky told Bryan he wanted to build ROH around Bryan but wanted a promise that Bryan wouldn't just leave to WWE or TNA. Great timing Gabe, because Bryan immediately said yes.
After winning the ROH World title in September 2005, Bryan says his title reign was falling flat until he started being cocky and cutting those "best in the world" promos. Bryan even shades Jericho and Punk a little by saying at the time no one else was saying it and that's why it worked so well for him.
Bryan puts over his matches with Nigel McGuinness in summer of 2006, but points out one in particular he regrets. Nigel had the idea for Bryan to pull Nigel's face into the steel ring post 3 times to get real blood. After 3 attempts and no blood, Nigel yelled, "One more time!" They got blood on the 4th time, and gave Nigel a severe concussion.
Five minutes into an hour long match with Colt Cabana in August 2006, Bryan landed bad on the outside of the ring, where he separated that same right shoulder as before and tore two tendons.
Three weeks later, Bryan defended his ROH title against KENTA of all people, who legitimately targeted his hurt shoulder all match. Then Bryan went to tour Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah where he and KENTA had a rematch.
Bryan would finally drop the ROH title in December 2006 and then take nearly 4 months off. This is the first time he took off since he started wrestling in 1999.
After doing a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah in April 2007, Bryan was excited to come back to ROH and signed a 2 year contract.
In June 2007, Bryan and Nigel wrestled an extremely physical match that featured a spot where the two traded headbutts. The match didn't air until September that year and in the mean time, the Chris Benoit double murdesuicide happened and the talk of concussions and safety concerns changed completely. The match was not recieved well and Gabe later told Bryan that they shouldn't have aired it at all.
ROH struggled after the Benoit incident and most everyone had to adapt and tone down their styles. Bryan wasn't one of those people, and actually refused to tone down his style. Later in 2007 he would rupture his ear drum exchanging open palm strikes with KENTA and he would suffer a detached retina in a match with Takeshi Morishima. To this day, he has trouble hearing from his left ear and has trouble with vision.
Bryan remembers being super late for a show and not even being able to meet his opponent beforehand. To Bryan's suprise, his opponent, who despite being green, was great to work with and the two had good chemistry. That was a young Jon Moxley.
In Summer of 2008, Shawn Michaels was fueding with Chris Jericho and they incorporated Lamce Cade on Jericho's side, since Shawn trained Lance. Shawn actually reached out to Bryan about also joining the WWE and being involved in the story.
Bryan met with Vince McMahon and remembers how taken back Vince seemed when they first met, and thinks it was because of Bryan's size and how plain he looked. Bryan also didn't sell himself well in the meeting, saying he is "just okay." Head of talent relations John Laurinaitis told Bryan that they would call him, but he never did.
When Bryan returned from a Japan tour in October 2008, he was shocked to find Gabe Sapolsky had been fired by ROH and replaced by Adam Pearce. Bryan details that while Gabe liked to book long shows with everyone on the card trying their hardest to steal the show, Pearce booked shorter shows and had the lower card guys preform well, but not to try everything under the sun to outshine the main event. You can see why Jim Cornette and Adam Pearce get along so well.
Bryan notes how he was fueding with Claudio Castignoli when Gabe was fired, but Pearce immediately ended that program to which Bryan says he and Claudio were disappointed.
After another failed attempt to get into WWE I'm early 2009, Bryan refocused his energies by moving to Las Vegas where he started training in kick boxing and other forms of mixed martial arts.
Bryan trained religiously for months under a former MMA fighter Neil Melanson. Neil is the one who taught Bryan the LaBell Lock.
When Bryan's ROH contract expired in May 2009, he called John Laurinaitis and left a message, but never heard back.
Bryan says in mid-2009, he was talking to Gabe Sapolsky about starting up a new promotion that would become Evolve. Bryan says that Paul Heyman was even involved with these talks.
Brian Kendrick called Danielson up to pitch Danielson coming to WWE as Kendrick's tag partner. Danielson even went and filmed a bunch of promos with Kendrick and fel optimistic. Unfortunately, Kendrick was fired just a few weeks later before any of those vignets aired and that opportunity was gone as well.
Bryan had given up ever going to WWE when John Laurinaitis called him in September 2009 offering him a main roster contract. Bryan was so excited he didn't have to go to developmental, that he would be right on the main roster immediately. Or so he thought, I guess they didn't bother telling Brilyan about NXT at that time, even though it sounds like he was signed with that in mind.
Nigel was also signed at the same time (probably also meant for NXT) but before either man could start, they had to pass WWE medical tests. They asked them both about past injuries, and Bryan just lied, saying he never had anything wrong and was fine. Didn't mention his shoulder being separated twice, or the detached retina, or any concussion. Nigel on the other hand, was very honest about his injuries, including a torn bicep that he didn't get worked on, he just rehabbed it. Nigel figured he was a lock and didn't see the need to lie.
WWE was concerned about Bryan's elevated liver enzymes, and wanted Nigel to get surgery on his bicep before they would sign him. Both guys were wrestling a farewell tour with ROH and both genuinely concerned they wouldn't actually be leaving. In their last match for ROH, Bryan accidentally gave Nigel a concussion, because apparently these guys only know how to wrestle at one speed!
Nigel couldn't afford the bicep surgery and his own doctor was telling him he is fine, so Nigel went to TNA instead. Nigel would only wrestle for another year before his body would break down too far on him and he would retire.
Bryan signed his WWE contract on October 2nd, 2009, nearly 10 years to the day of his debut match. William Regal actually told Bryan, "Your wrestling career came before this and is over now. Anything else that happens now is a bonus."
William Regal came up with the name "Daniel Bryan" for Bryan to use in WWE. Brian tried arguing to Laurinaitis to use his real name and citing John Cena as an example, Laurinaitis simply told Bryan, "We don't do that anymore."
In early 2010, Bryan and seven other guys were told one day about the NXT concept and how they would be used. Bryan found out who his NXT "pro" would be just like everyone else, when WWE posted it on their website. Bryan initially legit wanted Regal as his "pro" but soon realized being paired with Miz gives him a story immediately.
Bryan describes his time in NXT as the most unusual of his career. The "rookies" all legitimately didn't know what was going to happen on any show and everything they did was 100% unscripted and improvised.
The first night in NXT, all the "rookies" were told 15 minutes before the show, that their "pro" would cut a promo on them and they needed to react accordingly. Bryan had no idea that his pro, the Miz was going to tell him to head to the ring and cut a promo on himself, literally telling him on live TV to make the fans care about him. Bryan had no idea what to say, no real direction he was given to go in, and no tome to plan or rehearse. Miz also told him to come up with a catchphrase, and Bryan said he always hated catch phrases.
In the ring, Bryan cut a generic promo where he said he lost his train of thought and was super greatful when The Miz came out to finish the promo off. Bryan didn't know that would happen and Bryan definitely didn't know Miz was going to slap him at the end. Bryan says that later, The Miz confided to Bryan that he was worried Bryan would try to fight him over the slap.
Bryan credits Chris Jericho for getting him over in his first WWE match, and says that neither he, nor Miz knew that Miz was to beat up Brian after the match. Apparently, Miz was informed during the Jericho/Bryan match that he was to attack Bryan after the finish. Wild how much "flying by the seat of their pants" that WWE did with early NXT.
After the show, Jericho told Bryan that Vince was impressed, though he noted how Vince said, "Ugh, but he doesn't even eat meat!"
Bryan describes promo class with Vince as kinda insane to be honest. One time Bryan accidentally spilled a water bottle, and Vince asked everyone how that made them feel about Bryan. Stuff like that.
Bryan says the NXT rookies weren't allowed to use the regular dressing room and had to use some tarped off part of the backstage area.
Bryan notes how most of the NXT season, the NXT rookies never really knew what was going to happen. The 2nd week Bryan lost to Wade Barret and wasn't told that Chris Jericho would be attacking him after the match.
Bryan says his initial storyline with The Miz wasn't a losing streak idea, but something where each loss had meaning and was being built with purpose. Miz was very hands on with each show and helped to put over Bryan and the storyline, but when Miz missed 2 weeks in a row, the producers left in charge basically just turned it into a losing streak storyline, which Bryan says, "never works."
One time on a plane, Ezekiel Jackson asked "which rookie has an isle seat?" Bryan raised his had and Ezekiel said, "Not anymore." Bryan stood his ground and refused, offering his seat to anyone but Ezekiel. Ezekiel got pissed but William Regal came over and chastised Jackson, saying Bryan is like a son to him and how Bryan has more talent in his pinky ginger than Jackson has in his whole body.
Bryan says the NXT "Pros Polls" were legitimate voting done by the pros. That's why Bryan ended up in first place, despite losing every match.
A week after Wrestlemania in 2010, NXT's direction and purpose shifted away from being serious to silly, and Bryan says they were suddenly doing dumb game show competitions and putting over how demoralizing it was.
Bryan says Skip Shepfield (Ryback) was the only rookie taking the competitions seriously and trying to win each game. Sounds on brand for the big guy.
Bryan says he was trying to be humble when asked who should be eliminated and he said himself. He figured since he lost to everyone he didn't have a right to say any of them. Backstage Miz told him he made a mistake and shouldn't have put that perception out there.
A week later they liked the rookies up on TV (an hour before it goes live) and informed Bryan and fellow rookie Michael Tarver that they are both eliminated, without telling them beforehand. Bryan felt this validated all the warnings guys like Colt Cabana and other gave him about WWE.
Right after Matt Striker interviewed him backstage and when asked an insulting question, Bryan snapped and started talking down about "Daniel Bryan" and started to put over "Bryan Danielson!" Bryan says he could hear Vince screaming into Striker's ear piece and apparently Vince threw his headset when Bryan said his real name.
They made Bryan retape the interview without saying that, but still aired his original interview.
Bryan was surprisingly called back to NXT the following week to start a rivalry with Micheal Cole, who had been verbally obliterating Bryan on commentary since Bryan debuted. Bryan seems to be greatful for that program since it kept him on tv and made him confident that he would keep his job.
The RAW after NXT season 1 ended, all the rookies were pulled into Vince's office and told about Nexus and the attack in the main event. They were told not to tell anyone or else they will be fired. Bryan says he even lied to William Regal, when asked why he was dressed to wrestle.
They were supposed to attack John Cena and Rey Mysterio in the main event, because WWE let the fans vote on Cena's opponent and they assumed Rey would get it. Surprisingly it was CM Punk, and Bryan isn't sure how much Punk was told about the angle.
Bryan legit choked Justin Roberts during the melee, leaving red marks on his skin with his tie. Bryan said he doesn't trust non-wrestlers to sell good so he did it for real, with Justin going purple on Tv. Later during the brawl, Bryan was grabbing a cable to choke someone else when a cameraman told him "no choking!" Bryan does note that he thinks Justin Roberts found it pretty cool to be involved. And later Heath Slater grabbed the dismantled ring ropes to choke Cena, but Cena told him as well, "No choking."
Cena told Bryan before the angle, "It's not the hit you do that's important, it's what you do before the hit that matters." This is why Bryan spit in Cena's face before kicking him in the head.
Backstage, Bryan was reprimanded twice, for choking and spitting. Two days later Vince McMahon personally called Bryan to tell him he was let go and apologized to Bryan for it. Bryan, arrogant as all hell, responded with, "Don't apologize, I'll make more money this year on the independents than I would have working for you."
Bryan called John Laurinaitis to clear up details and Laurinaitis was shocked to hear Bryan was fired. Apparently Vince didn't tell anyone, just called Laurinaitis up and asked for Bryan's number. The comment Bryan made about money seemed to get to Vince since Laurinaitis called Bryan back and asked about it. Laurinaitis actually told Bryan that he can start working independent dates immediately if he wasn't on TV.
After working several shows and making good money off merchandise for several weeks, Bryan was shocked when John Laurinaitis called him in August and asked him to come back for a big angle leading into SummerSlam. Bryan sheepishly asked for a raise and made sure he could make all his already planned independent bookings.
Bryan says Nexas should have won at SummerSlam, noting how they went from dangerous to jobbers in one night.
Bryan remembers a taped RAW after SummerSlam where he did an angle with The Miz. When he got backstage Vince was so mad at how it came off that he made Bryan and others go back out there and do it again. It was the first time Bryan ever had to redo something like that and he said he felt humiliated.
Bryan didnt seem to see much value in being US Champion outside of how it would keep him on tv and maybe monthly ppv matches.
At Hell in a Cell 2010 ppv, Bryan had a good match with Miz and John Morrison, but was scolded after that match for a spot where Bryan threw Miz's stoog Alex Riley off the stage where he landed on cameraman. They showed the two guys the footage and accused them of doing it on purpose to get themselves over. Bryan started regretting coming back and really hating his time in WWE.
Bryan was paired with the Bella Twins in a storyline he hated, that was based on the Twins confusing the word "vegan" for "virgin" and competing to sleep with Bryan. Despite how bad that storyline was, Bryan and Brie would develop a relationship and would start dating in February 2011.
Sheamus was given a choice of Wrestlemania opponents that year between Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan, and Sheamus chose Bryan. Bryan was greatful but concerned Sheamus chose wrong and their match would be cut but Sheamus wasn't worried at all. A week before Mania they were informed their match was on the pre-show at a meeting with literally every other wrestler. Bryan says Sheamus buried his face in his hands and remembers how Rey Mysterio got on the card in a match with Cody Rhodes. Bryan says Sheamus picked the wrong guy.
Bryan got some details in his book messed up where he talks about Miz winning the WWE title off Cena at Wrestlemania 27 and he talks about how Miz was WWE Champion going into Over The Limit ppv 2011, but Miz lost the title by then. It's notable because he says he pitched hard for a "Rocky style" storyline where he would challenge Miz for the WWE title at the Over The Limit ppv.
Bryan says the 2011 Smackdown Money in the Bank winner wasn't decided until the day of the show but it was always between Wade Barret, Cody Rhodes and Bryan. He says despite winning the briefcase, his tv time tricked down and eventually he was spending weeks off tv, until he was randomly inserted into the World title program between Mark Henry and Big Show in late 2011.
Bryan was being left at home and off shows, even watching Survivor Series 2011 from home and was suprised when WWE had him come to the December TLC ppv show, last minute. The day of the show he was told he was cashing in and winning the title and the only direction Vince McMahon gave him was to act like he won the superbowl, so that's where Bryan's over the top celebration came from. He didn't even tell his girlfriend Brie Bella about the plan and says she was shocked when he came backstage afterwards.
The only direction Vince gave Bryan as champion is to celebrate every appearance like he won the lottery, saying, "there is no too over the top here."
Bryan said he adapted his "Yes" chants from MMA fighter Diego Sanchez who was celebrating in a similar way at the time.
Bryan's favorite moment from that first world title run was the closing sequence in the 2012 Elimination Chamber match with him and Santino Marella.
Bryan originally expected he and Sheamus to get 15 minutes or so at Wrestlemania for their match, but was shocked when Chris Jericho told him he heard it would be 8 minutes, including the pre & post match stuff. A week later Arn Anderson confirmed to Bryan that he would lose a 1-move match, dropping the world title to Sheamus at Wrestlemania that year. Bryan and Sheamus were both pissed, to say the least.
Sheamus expressed concern that the short match would turn fans against him as a new champion. Smart man.
Bryan says a bunch of guys came up to him after his Mania loss and were pissed at what they did to Bryan out there. Great Khali even came up and told Bryan that it was bullshit in his broken English.
Originally Sheamus was planned to move into a fued with Alberto Del-rio right after Mania, but the crazy crowd support for Bryan forced them to extend they story another month. Bryan says his Extreme Rules ppv match with Sheamus in 2012 is one of his favorites. Mine too!
Bryan acknowledged the weird booking of Punk as champion in 2012, noting how heels would face John Cena, lose, then be sent to face Punk with no momentum. Interesting take on the situation.
Bryan mentions how when he and Punk fueded in 2012, they never got main event spots outside of non-televised events. One time at a house show, Bryan and Punk veered too far into comedy and after the match John Cena chastised Bryan by pointing out that they didn't wrestle a "main event style" match. Apparently the next house show, Cena was moved into the main event spot with Punk/Bryan being before the intermission. An enraged Punk went and yelled at people until he got his main event spot back. This time, no comedy spots were done and they stayed the main event for the circuit.
Bryan had brand new, edgier gear made up prior to Money in the Bank 2012 and didn't tell anyone backstage. He wore shorts over his trunk and hid the jacket until he had to go out. When he got to the ring, the ref told him to lose the jacket, because I guess Vince was in gorilla position freaking out over how Bryan looked. Dean Melanko was the producer for the match, and Bryan felt bad when Vince blamed him for allowing Bryan to wear it.
Bryan was originally planned to wrestle Charlie Sheen at SummerSlam 2012 in a celebrity match, but Charlie "bailed" as Bryan put it.
Bryan was trying to be "Mr Small Package" by winning matches with Small Package and then boasting about how he has an "inescapable small package!" It didn't get over.
Bryan thought his anger management vignets with Kane and Dr Shelby were going to be terrible.
The only reason they stopped using Dr Shelby is because he had limited days off from his regular teaching job.
Bryan and Kane really wanted their team name to be "Team Friendship" and they even had shirt ideas but Vince let the fans vote and he always kept those votes legit, so their team name was "Team Hell No" which Bryan brings up a good point about. He said as a team primarily appealing to kids, a name with "Hell" in it would be hard to sell merchandise to those kids.
The plan was to break up their team so they could have a good heated fued together, but they were so popular that they kept teaming for 9 months.
Bryan says his first good Wrestlemania experience was in 2013 when he teamed with Kane.
One night after Mania in 2013, when Bryan tagged with Kane and Undertaker to face The Shield, Vince McMahon told Bryan that he would pay him several thousand dollars if he could get Undertaker to hug Bryan in the ring. After the show Bryan got on the mic and tried his hardest to get the hug but couldn't quite do it.
Bryan says that both he and Kane agree that teaming together was some of the most fun in either man's career.
Bryan was scheduled to win the biggest match of his career up to that point, he would be beating Randy Orton clean on RAW. Bryan would botch a dive that left both arms nunb and him unable to stand. He got feeling back in one arm but eventually the doctor called the match off. Backstage Bryan started screaming at Triple H for calling the match and called him a hypocrite for doing so, citing his own injuries in matches. At one point Orton tried to calm Bryan down, but Bryan snapped at him and Orton started yelling too. Brie got Bryan away to calm down, but when Vince came to talk to Bryan, the shouting started again. Much later, William Regal advised Bryan to apologize to both Vince and Triple H, to which Bryan took his advice. The next week, Bryan would get his win over Orton and he says that that drama over everything made that win matter more.
An MRI showed that one of Bryan's disks was pushing into his nerves and eventually he would need surgery. With his momentum starting to rise, Bryan opted to put surgery off.
John Cena pitched facing Daniel Bryan at Money in the Bank 2013 ppv. When Vince asked why, Cena said because it's the biggest match they could do at that time. Vince ended up agreeing, but deciding that it belongs at SummerSlam that year instead!
As proud as Bryan is of the build to and match with Cena at SummerSlam, he acknowledges that the ppv didn't do good numbers, nor did the house show business the following 2 months when Bryan was the main protagonist. He thinks a lot the the Authority promos on him stemmed from some truth.
Bryan isn't satisfied with the quality of matches he was putting out in the latter half of 2013 amd he specifically calls out the series of bad finishes he had with Randy Orton in ppv main events. From the fast counting crooked ref, to that terrible one with Big Show knocking everyone out, and then to Shawn Michaels betraying Bryan at Hell in a Cell ppv.
Bryan initially thought he was getting a Wrestlemania match with Shawn Michaels after that Hell in a Cell finish, but after talking with HBK, it was clear that was never in the cards.
Bryan feels he failed as a main eventer in the 2nd half of 2013, regardless of match quality. He didn't move business and that's all that matters.
The Slammy's were fan votes and Vince didn't think Bryan would win and almost laughed when Bryan asked him what he should say if he does win. Vince said, "whatever you want." I wish I could have seen Vince's face when Bryan won later that night.
When Bryan started fueding with Wyatt Family in late-2013, Bryan was pitching for him to be "brainwashed" and join the group. He suspects that his rising popularity in early 2014 is what convinced WWE to have Bryan turn on Bray and leave the group. At the time, Bryan was hoping to stay with the group and be involved in the planned Cena/Wyatt Wrestlemania program since Bryan had no plans for Mania at that time.
Bryan says he was disappointed when Vince told him he would be facing Sheamus again at Wrestlemania 2014. No disrespect to Sheamus, but Bryan felt he belonged in a higher spot.
Bryan felt bad for the way Rey Mysterio was boo'd at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
When Punk quit WWE after Rumble that year, Bryan remembers how plans didn't change too much for a few weeks, and he assumes Vince expected Punk to come back and for Batista to win the crowds over, and neither happened.
Triple H was being vocal about wanting to face Bryan at Mania that year, but Bryan was trying to not get his hopes up since he had seen Triple H try and fail to get his ideas on screen.
Bryan and Brie only agreed to let Total Divas shoot their wedding, because Total Divas agreed to pay for the whole wedding! Hard to say no to that!
Bryan is very satisfied with his matches at Wrestlemania 30 and says he was so focused between matches that he missed Undertaker losing to Lesnar. He heard the ring bell and looked up at the monitor in shock. He says they cameras should have filmed the guys and girls in the back because their reactions were wild, apparently.
Five days after Wrestlemania 30, Bryan and Brie got married, but 2 days after their honeymoon ended, Bryan's dad unexpectedly passed away at the age of 57. Bryan was devastated and described how he was crying still as he was writing about it.
The book ends on a complete downer, very unlike most other wrestling books. Bryan says that as long as he wrestled when asked if everything he was missing or sacrificing was worth it, Bryan always said yes. He assumed he would have more time when he was done and could catch up on what he missed, but his dad is gone and Bryan openly admits that it wasn't worth it. If he could, Bryan would change a lot of his decisions if it meant more time with his dad.
He says he is still wrestling though because he literally doesn't know what else to do or what comes after. This is especially depressing 10 years later, when Bryan is still wrestling despite having started a family of his own. I hope he doesn't regret any time missed with his daughter.
He ends the book by describing the last time he saw his dad, on Christmas in 2013, where his dad dressed up as Santa. Fuck. I'm sad now.

Solid wrestling book, though not super memorable in my opinion. Some solid detail and dirt like you expect, but honestly it felt like he was holding back.
As always, it's in chronological order as best as I could do that. Hope y'all enjoy!
Bryan is a weird dude, while describing his adolescence, he casually says that he has a lot of weird hypothesis on various subjects, and we should ask Nigel McGuinness about Bryan's theory on how a penis grows. He doesn't expand on this more. He just says that and moves back to talking about his childhood.
Bryan rants a bit about how modern medicine has stunted human evolution because kids who would have died off got to live and reproduce and pass their "defects" onto the next generation. He says that he is one of those defects, sick all his childhood and sick a lot as an adult. He says that his wife Brie is also a "defect" but says she can share the details in her own book if she ever writes one.
When Bryan was 16 years old, he contacted Dean Melanko's wrestling school and was told it would cost him $2,500, but he needed a $500 deposit to secure his spot. Bryan was scared that there were hundreds of people on the waiting list and worked extra shifts at McDonald's in order to get the cash together asap. He put $500 deposit down for a wrestling school he couldn't go to for 2 more years.
Three months before Bryan graduated high school, the Melanko Wrestling School contacted to inform Bryan that the school was shutting down permanently. When Bryan asked for his $500 back, he was told that they no longer had it and that he was SOL.
While watching Monday Night RAW, an ad flashed advertising a 900 number (an old pay-per-minute phone concept that was always a money drain on the caller), and it advertised Shawn Michaels opening up a wrestling school. After an expensive phone call, Bryan was told to pay $20 more for a package to be mailed to him with more info. He did, and when he got the package, it detailed how Michaels wrestling school would cost $3,900 dollars, and it had another 900 number to call if you're interested. Bryan was demoralized and almost didn't call. When he did, though, he was speaking to Shawm Michaels mom, who was helping Shawn run it. Bryan's mom ended up doing all the talking, and the two mothers helped Bryan get set up with a place in San Antonio where the school was. They agreed to let Bryan pay monthly to help him with the finances.
Bryan's first day of wrestling school went exactly like everyone else's first day of wrestling school, with 90% of the students gassed and vomiting. Bryan said out of the 10 guys there, only he and Lance Cade didn't end up vomiting.
Bryan remembers how much Shawn Michaels prioritized his training to Lance Cade. One of the first days, Lance did a basic jump and got so much air that Michaels loudly proclaimed, "I smell money!"
Even though it was Shawn's school, the primary instructor was Rudy Boy Gonzales, a pretty insignificant wrestler from the 80s and 90s. Bryan puts over Rudy as a passionate trainer who motivated him to try harder. Bryan said Rudy would show Bryan anything Bryan saw on a tape and wanted to try.
Bryan says that he and "The" Brian Kendrick became friends immediately as they were both around the same size in the training and had the same level of passion for wrestling.
I always heard that Shawn Michaels wasn't very present for this school, but Bryan tells a different tale, putting Shawn over as someone who was always around and always showing them how to be better.
Bryan does remember some days that Shawn would come in with his sunglasses on, sit at the back of the class, and then dip out early. Bryan didn't realize then that Shawn was in deep with a bad painkiller addiction, and so some days he wasn't as present. Since Bryan grew up with his dad's addiction issues, Bryan says seeing Shawn actually kick the addiction fully put Shawn on a pedestal in Bryan's eyes.
After a couple of months, Shawn was telling the students to start thinking of ring names, and when Bryan couldn't come up with one, he asked Shawn about using his real name. Shawn thought about it for a second before adding "The American Dragon" to it. When Bryan asked why that name, Shawn said it's because Bryan wrestled like a Japanese guy. Bryan took that as a massive compliment.
Bryan didn't tell Shawn, but Bryan initially hated "The American Dragon" name.
Bryan had trouble being expressive and emoting in the ring, so Shawn had him wrestle under a mask.
On October 4th, 1999, Bryan wrestled his first ever match for Shawn Michaels' small promotion, Texas Wrestling Alliance. His opponent was Brian Kendrick (then known as Spanky), and Bryan says as rotton as it was, everyone in the back was super excited for their performance, including Shawn.
Bryan confirms that Kendrick called himself "Spanky" as a masturbation reference.
Shawn arranged for Bryan and Lance Cade to head over to Japan and wrestle for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, a bit of a "mudshow" wrestling promotion. Shawn got Bryan and Lance a spot on their card by agreeing to referee a match for the company.
Bryan remembers seeing one guy shove a bottle rocket up his opponents butt and light it off at that FMW show. So yeah, some pretty outlaw stuff.
Bryan describes attempting a moonsalt to the outside of the ring during this Japan tour, but he slipped and cracked his head on the cement. Bryan says, "When I came to, I didn't even know where I was" before describing how he stumbled his way through the match. He notes how concussions have always been a problem for him.
Lance Cade was invited back to FMW later for a 2nd tour, but they didn't ask for Bryan back. That's when Bryan realized that at his size, he needs to get much, much better.
In February 2000, HBK got Bryan, Lance Cade, Brian Kendrick, and another student named Shooter Shultz, a dark match on an episode of Smackdown. He says they planned for a 15-minute tag match before being told last minute that it's been cut down to 6 minutes. Bryan says HBK went and yelled at some people about "his guys" until he got it bumped up to 10 minutes.
Bryan says he got his first documented concussion that match, because they weren't used to a literal ramp, and Bryan cracked his skull on it, doing a pointless dive. He says the WWE doctor backstage told him to just make sure he doesn't fall asleep.
Bryan says when they got backstage after their match, HBK was excited and pumping them up, telling everyone backstage that they should sign all 4 guys immediately. This was on Tuesday, and by Thursday, when WWE still hadn't contacted them, Shawn called them up and threatened to take the 4 to WCW where Kevin Nash would make sure they were signed. Bryan says WWE quickly offered all 4 guys developmental contracts for $500 per week. Bryan says HBK was a great guy to have in your corner.
Shortly after getting the developmental contract, Bryan and Kendrick wrestled a main event ladder match for Shawn's TWA promotion. At the time, Bryan believed that in order to stand out, he would need to wrestle a more daredevil style, so he did some dumb stuff in this match. He did some ridiculous spot that ended with Bryan separating his shoulder. After the match, he took a table bump that legitimately knocked him unconscious for a full minute.
A week or 2 later, the teams had a rematch in a steel cage where all 4 agreed to blade for the first time. Why is he doing this dumb shit right after being offered a WWE contract?
Bryan says those ladder and cage matches made him realize he needed to change his style up and become more mat based. He wouldn't have had a long career if he kept getting hurt. At this point, Bryan has only been wrestling for 6 or 8 months and already suffered maybe 3 concussions. At least 2 for sure.
Bryan Danielson, Lance Cade, Brian Kendrick, and Shooter Shultz all moved to Memphis, where WWE's development primarily opperated out of at the time. William Regal was also a developmental system at the time, trying to show he had kicked his addiction issues.
Memphis Championship Wrestling was the territory they wrestled for, and Bryan remembers wrestling in all sorts of crazy locations like a WalMart parking lot once.
Although Shawn eventually took the mask off Bryan in TWA, the guys at MCW immediately put the mask back on Bryan.
The only time Bryan thought he might get called up to the main roster was in January 2001, when he heard rumors that WWE wanted to start up a cruiserweight division and use Danielson and Kendrick That didn't happen, though, and Bryan never heard another rumor or wiff of him being called up.
In June 2001, someone from WWE talent relations came down to evaluate talent. Brian was let go and told that despite his talent, they just had no plans for him.
In October 2001, Bryan was offered a spot in California based All Pro Wrestling's annual King Of The Indies tournament. Danielson would beat Kendrick in the first round, and after the show, Nick Bockwinkle, who was there watching, loudly told promoter Roland Alexander, "If you don't put that guy over." Bockwinkle said while pointing directly at Bryan, "You're crazy!"
APW head trainer Donovan Morgan was scheduled to beat Bryan in the second round and go on to win the tournament, but promoter Roland made the call to have Bryan win instead.
Bryan says this that while this really pissed Donovan off, what really upset the guy was when Roland offered Danielson and Kendrick trainer positions alongside Donovan.
Kendrick turned the offer down, but Bryan took it and moved to California in January 2002, where he became the head trainer. Though Bryan says he was a lousy trainer and no good at motivating anyone.
On February 2002, Bryan sat down with Gabe Sapolsky, who, after being inspired by the Super 8 tournament Bryan won, wanted Bryan part of his new promotion, Ring of Honor.
Bryan remembers both William Regal and John Laurinaitis said they would try to get Bryan an in to Japan, but both came up short, and both eventually stopped returning Bryan's calls.
In March 2002, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and Brian Kendrick got a tryout with New Japan in Santa Monica. Antonio Inoki was actually there to oversee, but he literally had his back turned to the ring while Danielson and Kendrick wrestled. Inoki never bothered to turn around and watch them, instead watching someone stretch, Bryan says. Bryan later heard that New Japan never intended to hire anyone. They just wanted their dojo to look full for press.
After the "tryout," Bryan says that Inoki fell and had to be helped up by a bunch of people. Only the three of them didn't get up to help, with Kendrick saying loudly, "serves the motherfucker right."
Bryan kept making trips to the Santa Monica dojo every couple of weeks until Shinya "Togi" Makabe told him that if Bryan really wanted to be taken seriously, he had to be at the dojo every single day. Bryan took the advice seriously, quit his training job and moved to Santa Monica.
Bryan says he was offered to come tour with New Japan after only training at the dojo full time a few weeks. It was on this tour where Bryan first wrestled in the Tokyo Dome.
In May 2003, Bryan wrestled another Tokyo Dome show, where Bryan, Rocky Romero and TJ Perkins were all pulled aside in the hotel after the show, by Justin Cully. Cully literally slapped each man across the face, saying the slaps are from Inoki, who was disappointed in their proformances that night. Apparently Inoki expected them to wrestle more of a shoot style fight and was very upset.
In March 2004, Bryan won his first title with New Japan, the IWGP Junior Tag titles with Christopher Daniels, and Bryan would spend the majority of the year with New Japan where he wrestled 8 different tours.
Bryan pitched a 3 hour long match to Gabe Sapolsky for a ROH show and is disappointed they didn't go the full 3 hours.
Going into 2005, Bryan expected to wrestle his whole career in New Japan, but was startled when New Japan didn't get his visa renewed for the January tour like they always do. He was told it was a mistake and he would be back for March tour, but again he was told last minute they didn't have a visa for him. In May they contacted him last minute inviting him for a tour, but at a ridiculous pay cut down to $500 per week. Bryan turned the offer down and never went back to that Santa Monica dojo or work for New Japan again. He later heard that he was used as a pawn in a power struggle with the Dojo and New Japan.
In mid-2005 Bryan got an email from CM-Punk about a rumor suggesting that both WWE and TNA were interested in Bryan, Punk and Samoa Joe. Joe would quickly sign with TNA after this and Punk took a developmental deal with WWE. Bryan never heard from either company, and a few months later Gabe Sapolsky told Bryan he wanted to build ROH around Bryan but wanted a promise that Bryan wouldn't just leave to WWE or TNA. Great timing Gabe, because Bryan immediately said yes.
After winning the ROH World title in September 2005, Bryan says his title reign was falling flat until he started being cocky and cutting those "best in the world" promos. Bryan even shades Jericho and Punk a little by saying at the time no one else was saying it and that's why it worked so well for him.
Bryan puts over his matches with Nigel McGuinness in summer of 2006, but points out one in particular he regrets. Nigel had the idea for Bryan to pull Nigel's face into the steel ring post 3 times to get real blood. After 3 attempts and no blood, Nigel yelled, "One more time!" They got blood on the 4th time, and gave Nigel a severe concussion.
Five minutes into an hour long match with Colt Cabana in August 2006, Bryan landed bad on the outside of the ring, where he separated that same right shoulder as before and tore two tendons.
Three weeks later, Bryan defended his ROH title against KENTA of all people, who legitimately targeted his hurt shoulder all match. Then Bryan went to tour Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah where he and KENTA had a rematch.
Bryan would finally drop the ROH title in December 2006 and then take nearly 4 months off. This is the first time he took off since he started wrestling in 1999.
After doing a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah in April 2007, Bryan was excited to come back to ROH and signed a 2 year contract.
In June 2007, Bryan and Nigel wrestled an extremely physical match that featured a spot where the two traded headbutts. The match didn't air until September that year and in the mean time, the Chris Benoit double murdesuicide happened and the talk of concussions and safety concerns changed completely. The match was not recieved well and Gabe later told Bryan that they shouldn't have aired it at all.
ROH struggled after the Benoit incident and most everyone had to adapt and tone down their styles. Bryan wasn't one of those people, and actually refused to tone down his style. Later in 2007 he would rupture his ear drum exchanging open palm strikes with KENTA and he would suffer a detached retina in a match with Takeshi Morishima. To this day, he has trouble hearing from his left ear and has trouble with vision.
Bryan remembers being super late for a show and not even being able to meet his opponent beforehand. To Bryan's suprise, his opponent, who despite being green, was great to work with and the two had good chemistry. That was a young Jon Moxley.
In Summer of 2008, Shawn Michaels was fueding with Chris Jericho and they incorporated Lamce Cade on Jericho's side, since Shawn trained Lance. Shawn actually reached out to Bryan about also joining the WWE and being involved in the story.
Bryan met with Vince McMahon and remembers how taken back Vince seemed when they first met, and thinks it was because of Bryan's size and how plain he looked. Bryan also didn't sell himself well in the meeting, saying he is "just okay." Head of talent relations John Laurinaitis told Bryan that they would call him, but he never did.
When Bryan returned from a Japan tour in October 2008, he was shocked to find Gabe Sapolsky had been fired by ROH and replaced by Adam Pearce. Bryan details that while Gabe liked to book long shows with everyone on the card trying their hardest to steal the show, Pearce booked shorter shows and had the lower card guys preform well, but not to try everything under the sun to outshine the main event. You can see why Jim Cornette and Adam Pearce get along so well.
Bryan notes how he was fueding with Claudio Castignoli when Gabe was fired, but Pearce immediately ended that program to which Bryan says he and Claudio were disappointed.
After another failed attempt to get into WWE I'm early 2009, Bryan refocused his energies by moving to Las Vegas where he started training in kick boxing and other forms of mixed martial arts.
Bryan trained religiously for months under a former MMA fighter Neil Melanson. Neil is the one who taught Bryan the LaBell Lock.
When Bryan's ROH contract expired in May 2009, he called John Laurinaitis and left a message, but never heard back.
Bryan says in mid-2009, he was talking to Gabe Sapolsky about starting up a new promotion that would become Evolve. Bryan says that Paul Heyman was even involved with these talks.
Brian Kendrick called Danielson up to pitch Danielson coming to WWE as Kendrick's tag partner. Danielson even went and filmed a bunch of promos with Kendrick and fel optimistic. Unfortunately, Kendrick was fired just a few weeks later before any of those vignets aired and that opportunity was gone as well.
Bryan had given up ever going to WWE when John Laurinaitis called him in September 2009 offering him a main roster contract. Bryan was so excited he didn't have to go to developmental, that he would be right on the main roster immediately. Or so he thought, I guess they didn't bother telling Brilyan about NXT at that time, even though it sounds like he was signed with that in mind.
Nigel was also signed at the same time (probably also meant for NXT) but before either man could start, they had to pass WWE medical tests. They asked them both about past injuries, and Bryan just lied, saying he never had anything wrong and was fine. Didn't mention his shoulder being separated twice, or the detached retina, or any concussion. Nigel on the other hand, was very honest about his injuries, including a torn bicep that he didn't get worked on, he just rehabbed it. Nigel figured he was a lock and didn't see the need to lie.
WWE was concerned about Bryan's elevated liver enzymes, and wanted Nigel to get surgery on his bicep before they would sign him. Both guys were wrestling a farewell tour with ROH and both genuinely concerned they wouldn't actually be leaving. In their last match for ROH, Bryan accidentally gave Nigel a concussion, because apparently these guys only know how to wrestle at one speed!
Nigel couldn't afford the bicep surgery and his own doctor was telling him he is fine, so Nigel went to TNA instead. Nigel would only wrestle for another year before his body would break down too far on him and he would retire.
Bryan signed his WWE contract on October 2nd, 2009, nearly 10 years to the day of his debut match. William Regal actually told Bryan, "Your wrestling career came before this and is over now. Anything else that happens now is a bonus."
William Regal came up with the name "Daniel Bryan" for Bryan to use in WWE. Brian tried arguing to Laurinaitis to use his real name and citing John Cena as an example, Laurinaitis simply told Bryan, "We don't do that anymore."
In early 2010, Bryan and seven other guys were told one day about the NXT concept and how they would be used. Bryan found out who his NXT "pro" would be just like everyone else, when WWE posted it on their website. Bryan initially legit wanted Regal as his "pro" but soon realized being paired with Miz gives him a story immediately.
Bryan describes his time in NXT as the most unusual of his career. The "rookies" all legitimately didn't know what was going to happen on any show and everything they did was 100% unscripted and improvised.
The first night in NXT, all the "rookies" were told 15 minutes before the show, that their "pro" would cut a promo on them and they needed to react accordingly. Bryan had no idea that his pro, the Miz was going to tell him to head to the ring and cut a promo on himself, literally telling him on live TV to make the fans care about him. Bryan had no idea what to say, no real direction he was given to go in, and no tome to plan or rehearse. Miz also told him to come up with a catchphrase, and Bryan said he always hated catch phrases.
In the ring, Bryan cut a generic promo where he said he lost his train of thought and was super greatful when The Miz came out to finish the promo off. Bryan didn't know that would happen and Bryan definitely didn't know Miz was going to slap him at the end. Bryan says that later, The Miz confided to Bryan that he was worried Bryan would try to fight him over the slap.
Bryan credits Chris Jericho for getting him over in his first WWE match, and says that neither he, nor Miz knew that Miz was to beat up Brian after the match. Apparently, Miz was informed during the Jericho/Bryan match that he was to attack Bryan after the finish. Wild how much "flying by the seat of their pants" that WWE did with early NXT.
After the show, Jericho told Bryan that Vince was impressed, though he noted how Vince said, "Ugh, but he doesn't even eat meat!"
Bryan describes promo class with Vince as kinda insane to be honest. One time Bryan accidentally spilled a water bottle, and Vince asked everyone how that made them feel about Bryan. Stuff like that.
Bryan says the NXT rookies weren't allowed to use the regular dressing room and had to use some tarped off part of the backstage area.
Bryan notes how most of the NXT season, the NXT rookies never really knew what was going to happen. The 2nd week Bryan lost to Wade Barret and wasn't told that Chris Jericho would be attacking him after the match.
Bryan says his initial storyline with The Miz wasn't a losing streak idea, but something where each loss had meaning and was being built with purpose. Miz was very hands on with each show and helped to put over Bryan and the storyline, but when Miz missed 2 weeks in a row, the producers left in charge basically just turned it into a losing streak storyline, which Bryan says, "never works."
One time on a plane, Ezekiel Jackson asked "which rookie has an isle seat?" Bryan raised his had and Ezekiel said, "Not anymore." Bryan stood his ground and refused, offering his seat to anyone but Ezekiel. Ezekiel got pissed but William Regal came over and chastised Jackson, saying Bryan is like a son to him and how Bryan has more talent in his pinky ginger than Jackson has in his whole body.
Bryan says the NXT "Pros Polls" were legitimate voting done by the pros. That's why Bryan ended up in first place, despite losing every match.
A week after Wrestlemania in 2010, NXT's direction and purpose shifted away from being serious to silly, and Bryan says they were suddenly doing dumb game show competitions and putting over how demoralizing it was.
Bryan says Skip Shepfield (Ryback) was the only rookie taking the competitions seriously and trying to win each game. Sounds on brand for the big guy.
Bryan says he was trying to be humble when asked who should be eliminated and he said himself. He figured since he lost to everyone he didn't have a right to say any of them. Backstage Miz told him he made a mistake and shouldn't have put that perception out there.
A week later they liked the rookies up on TV (an hour before it goes live) and informed Bryan and fellow rookie Michael Tarver that they are both eliminated, without telling them beforehand. Bryan felt this validated all the warnings guys like Colt Cabana and other gave him about WWE.
Right after Matt Striker interviewed him backstage and when asked an insulting question, Bryan snapped and started talking down about "Daniel Bryan" and started to put over "Bryan Danielson!" Bryan says he could hear Vince screaming into Striker's ear piece and apparently Vince threw his headset when Bryan said his real name.
They made Bryan retape the interview without saying that, but still aired his original interview.
Bryan was surprisingly called back to NXT the following week to start a rivalry with Micheal Cole, who had been verbally obliterating Bryan on commentary since Bryan debuted. Bryan seems to be greatful for that program since it kept him on tv and made him confident that he would keep his job.
The RAW after NXT season 1 ended, all the rookies were pulled into Vince's office and told about Nexus and the attack in the main event. They were told not to tell anyone or else they will be fired. Bryan says he even lied to William Regal, when asked why he was dressed to wrestle.
They were supposed to attack John Cena and Rey Mysterio in the main event, because WWE let the fans vote on Cena's opponent and they assumed Rey would get it. Surprisingly it was CM Punk, and Bryan isn't sure how much Punk was told about the angle.
Bryan legit choked Justin Roberts during the melee, leaving red marks on his skin with his tie. Bryan said he doesn't trust non-wrestlers to sell good so he did it for real, with Justin going purple on Tv. Later during the brawl, Bryan was grabbing a cable to choke someone else when a cameraman told him "no choking!" Bryan does note that he thinks Justin Roberts found it pretty cool to be involved. And later Heath Slater grabbed the dismantled ring ropes to choke Cena, but Cena told him as well, "No choking."
Cena told Bryan before the angle, "It's not the hit you do that's important, it's what you do before the hit that matters." This is why Bryan spit in Cena's face before kicking him in the head.
Backstage, Bryan was reprimanded twice, for choking and spitting. Two days later Vince McMahon personally called Bryan to tell him he was let go and apologized to Bryan for it. Bryan, arrogant as all hell, responded with, "Don't apologize, I'll make more money this year on the independents than I would have working for you."
Bryan called John Laurinaitis to clear up details and Laurinaitis was shocked to hear Bryan was fired. Apparently Vince didn't tell anyone, just called Laurinaitis up and asked for Bryan's number. The comment Bryan made about money seemed to get to Vince since Laurinaitis called Bryan back and asked about it. Laurinaitis actually told Bryan that he can start working independent dates immediately if he wasn't on TV.
After working several shows and making good money off merchandise for several weeks, Bryan was shocked when John Laurinaitis called him in August and asked him to come back for a big angle leading into SummerSlam. Bryan sheepishly asked for a raise and made sure he could make all his already planned independent bookings.
Bryan says Nexas should have won at SummerSlam, noting how they went from dangerous to jobbers in one night.
Bryan remembers a taped RAW after SummerSlam where he did an angle with The Miz. When he got backstage Vince was so mad at how it came off that he made Bryan and others go back out there and do it again. It was the first time Bryan ever had to redo something like that and he said he felt humiliated.
Bryan didnt seem to see much value in being US Champion outside of how it would keep him on tv and maybe monthly ppv matches.
At Hell in a Cell 2010 ppv, Bryan had a good match with Miz and John Morrison, but was scolded after that match for a spot where Bryan threw Miz's stoog Alex Riley off the stage where he landed on cameraman. They showed the two guys the footage and accused them of doing it on purpose to get themselves over. Bryan started regretting coming back and really hating his time in WWE.
Bryan was paired with the Bella Twins in a storyline he hated, that was based on the Twins confusing the word "vegan" for "virgin" and competing to sleep with Bryan. Despite how bad that storyline was, Bryan and Brie would develop a relationship and would start dating in February 2011.
Sheamus was given a choice of Wrestlemania opponents that year between Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan, and Sheamus chose Bryan. Bryan was greatful but concerned Sheamus chose wrong and their match would be cut but Sheamus wasn't worried at all. A week before Mania they were informed their match was on the pre-show at a meeting with literally every other wrestler. Bryan says Sheamus buried his face in his hands and remembers how Rey Mysterio got on the card in a match with Cody Rhodes. Bryan says Sheamus picked the wrong guy.
Bryan got some details in his book messed up where he talks about Miz winning the WWE title off Cena at Wrestlemania 27 and he talks about how Miz was WWE Champion going into Over The Limit ppv 2011, but Miz lost the title by then. It's notable because he says he pitched hard for a "Rocky style" storyline where he would challenge Miz for the WWE title at the Over The Limit ppv.
Bryan says the 2011 Smackdown Money in the Bank winner wasn't decided until the day of the show but it was always between Wade Barret, Cody Rhodes and Bryan. He says despite winning the briefcase, his tv time tricked down and eventually he was spending weeks off tv, until he was randomly inserted into the World title program between Mark Henry and Big Show in late 2011.
Bryan was being left at home and off shows, even watching Survivor Series 2011 from home and was suprised when WWE had him come to the December TLC ppv show, last minute. The day of the show he was told he was cashing in and winning the title and the only direction Vince McMahon gave him was to act like he won the superbowl, so that's where Bryan's over the top celebration came from. He didn't even tell his girlfriend Brie Bella about the plan and says she was shocked when he came backstage afterwards.
The only direction Vince gave Bryan as champion is to celebrate every appearance like he won the lottery, saying, "there is no too over the top here."
Bryan said he adapted his "Yes" chants from MMA fighter Diego Sanchez who was celebrating in a similar way at the time.
Bryan's favorite moment from that first world title run was the closing sequence in the 2012 Elimination Chamber match with him and Santino Marella.
Bryan originally expected he and Sheamus to get 15 minutes or so at Wrestlemania for their match, but was shocked when Chris Jericho told him he heard it would be 8 minutes, including the pre & post match stuff. A week later Arn Anderson confirmed to Bryan that he would lose a 1-move match, dropping the world title to Sheamus at Wrestlemania that year. Bryan and Sheamus were both pissed, to say the least.
Sheamus expressed concern that the short match would turn fans against him as a new champion. Smart man.
Bryan says a bunch of guys came up to him after his Mania loss and were pissed at what they did to Bryan out there. Great Khali even came up and told Bryan that it was bullshit in his broken English.
Originally Sheamus was planned to move into a fued with Alberto Del-rio right after Mania, but the crazy crowd support for Bryan forced them to extend they story another month. Bryan says his Extreme Rules ppv match with Sheamus in 2012 is one of his favorites. Mine too!
Bryan acknowledged the weird booking of Punk as champion in 2012, noting how heels would face John Cena, lose, then be sent to face Punk with no momentum. Interesting take on the situation.
Bryan mentions how when he and Punk fueded in 2012, they never got main event spots outside of non-televised events. One time at a house show, Bryan and Punk veered too far into comedy and after the match John Cena chastised Bryan by pointing out that they didn't wrestle a "main event style" match. Apparently the next house show, Cena was moved into the main event spot with Punk/Bryan being before the intermission. An enraged Punk went and yelled at people until he got his main event spot back. This time, no comedy spots were done and they stayed the main event for the circuit.
Bryan had brand new, edgier gear made up prior to Money in the Bank 2012 and didn't tell anyone backstage. He wore shorts over his trunk and hid the jacket until he had to go out. When he got to the ring, the ref told him to lose the jacket, because I guess Vince was in gorilla position freaking out over how Bryan looked. Dean Melanko was the producer for the match, and Bryan felt bad when Vince blamed him for allowing Bryan to wear it.
Bryan was originally planned to wrestle Charlie Sheen at SummerSlam 2012 in a celebrity match, but Charlie "bailed" as Bryan put it.
Bryan was trying to be "Mr Small Package" by winning matches with Small Package and then boasting about how he has an "inescapable small package!" It didn't get over.
Bryan thought his anger management vignets with Kane and Dr Shelby were going to be terrible.
The only reason they stopped using Dr Shelby is because he had limited days off from his regular teaching job.
Bryan and Kane really wanted their team name to be "Team Friendship" and they even had shirt ideas but Vince let the fans vote and he always kept those votes legit, so their team name was "Team Hell No" which Bryan brings up a good point about. He said as a team primarily appealing to kids, a name with "Hell" in it would be hard to sell merchandise to those kids.
The plan was to break up their team so they could have a good heated fued together, but they were so popular that they kept teaming for 9 months.
Bryan says his first good Wrestlemania experience was in 2013 when he teamed with Kane.
One night after Mania in 2013, when Bryan tagged with Kane and Undertaker to face The Shield, Vince McMahon told Bryan that he would pay him several thousand dollars if he could get Undertaker to hug Bryan in the ring. After the show Bryan got on the mic and tried his hardest to get the hug but couldn't quite do it.
Bryan says that both he and Kane agree that teaming together was some of the most fun in either man's career.
Bryan was scheduled to win the biggest match of his career up to that point, he would be beating Randy Orton clean on RAW. Bryan would botch a dive that left both arms nunb and him unable to stand. He got feeling back in one arm but eventually the doctor called the match off. Backstage Bryan started screaming at Triple H for calling the match and called him a hypocrite for doing so, citing his own injuries in matches. At one point Orton tried to calm Bryan down, but Bryan snapped at him and Orton started yelling too. Brie got Bryan away to calm down, but when Vince came to talk to Bryan, the shouting started again. Much later, William Regal advised Bryan to apologize to both Vince and Triple H, to which Bryan took his advice. The next week, Bryan would get his win over Orton and he says that that drama over everything made that win matter more.
An MRI showed that one of Bryan's disks was pushing into his nerves and eventually he would need surgery. With his momentum starting to rise, Bryan opted to put surgery off.
John Cena pitched facing Daniel Bryan at Money in the Bank 2013 ppv. When Vince asked why, Cena said because it's the biggest match they could do at that time. Vince ended up agreeing, but deciding that it belongs at SummerSlam that year instead!
As proud as Bryan is of the build to and match with Cena at SummerSlam, he acknowledges that the ppv didn't do good numbers, nor did the house show business the following 2 months when Bryan was the main protagonist. He thinks a lot the the Authority promos on him stemmed from some truth.
Bryan isn't satisfied with the quality of matches he was putting out in the latter half of 2013 amd he specifically calls out the series of bad finishes he had with Randy Orton in ppv main events. From the fast counting crooked ref, to that terrible one with Big Show knocking everyone out, and then to Shawn Michaels betraying Bryan at Hell in a Cell ppv.
Bryan initially thought he was getting a Wrestlemania match with Shawn Michaels after that Hell in a Cell finish, but after talking with HBK, it was clear that was never in the cards.
Bryan feels he failed as a main eventer in the 2nd half of 2013, regardless of match quality. He didn't move business and that's all that matters.
The Slammy's were fan votes and Vince didn't think Bryan would win and almost laughed when Bryan asked him what he should say if he does win. Vince said, "whatever you want." I wish I could have seen Vince's face when Bryan won later that night.
When Bryan started fueding with Wyatt Family in late-2013, Bryan was pitching for him to be "brainwashed" and join the group. He suspects that his rising popularity in early 2014 is what convinced WWE to have Bryan turn on Bray and leave the group. At the time, Bryan was hoping to stay with the group and be involved in the planned Cena/Wyatt Wrestlemania program since Bryan had no plans for Mania at that time.
Bryan says he was disappointed when Vince told him he would be facing Sheamus again at Wrestlemania 2014. No disrespect to Sheamus, but Bryan felt he belonged in a higher spot.
Bryan felt bad for the way Rey Mysterio was boo'd at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
When Punk quit WWE after Rumble that year, Bryan remembers how plans didn't change too much for a few weeks, and he assumes Vince expected Punk to come back and for Batista to win the crowds over, and neither happened.
Triple H was being vocal about wanting to face Bryan at Mania that year, but Bryan was trying to not get his hopes up since he had seen Triple H try and fail to get his ideas on screen.
Bryan and Brie only agreed to let Total Divas shoot their wedding, because Total Divas agreed to pay for the whole wedding! Hard to say no to that!
Bryan is very satisfied with his matches at Wrestlemania 30 and says he was so focused between matches that he missed Undertaker losing to Lesnar. He heard the ring bell and looked up at the monitor in shock. He says they cameras should have filmed the guys and girls in the back because their reactions were wild, apparently.
Five days after Wrestlemania 30, Bryan and Brie got married, but 2 days after their honeymoon ended, Bryan's dad unexpectedly passed away at the age of 57. Bryan was devastated and described how he was crying still as he was writing about it.
The book ends on a complete downer, very unlike most other wrestling books. Bryan says that as long as he wrestled when asked if everything he was missing or sacrificing was worth it, Bryan always said yes. He assumed he would have more time when he was done and could catch up on what he missed, but his dad is gone and Bryan openly admits that it wasn't worth it. If he could, Bryan would change a lot of his decisions if it meant more time with his dad.
He says he is still wrestling though because he literally doesn't know what else to do or what comes after. This is especially depressing 10 years later, when Bryan is still wrestling despite having started a family of his own. I hope he doesn't regret any time missed with his daughter.
He ends the book by describing the last time he saw his dad, on Christmas in 2013, where his dad dressed up as Santa. Fuck. I'm sad now.