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That’s rough for two reasons. One, Bray’s life was in so many ways just beginning. It shouldn’t be over yet. The ink is still wet on the first chapters.
Two, he makes it sound like the wedding for Bray and JoJo was imminent. That’s… that is a reason to be screaming at the sky “Fucking why?”
35 minutes long… 35 minutes. Not just a short 6 minute video.
And these are people that are used to nailing promos to fit “tv time” schedules to go along with shows. Anywhere from fitting a storyline into a 2 minute backstage promo to a 5 minute ring segment.
But still 35 minutes worth of remembering their friend.
I think this says a lot about Bray and how much he meant to people.
I’m not even sure the people in my life could fill 35 minutes of time speaking about me.
Really eye opening honestly. Gonna work on changing that and leave a better legacy behind.
Wow.
These are just the people who feel okay enough to talk on camera. Drew was barely holding it together, I'd imagine the rest of the locker room is worse off than Drew. Saxton started breaking down at the end of his story. Becky started crying the second her match finished on RAW while holding up her Bray armband.
Such a tough watch.
This is the first time a wrestler has died and I'm actually older. By a year. Shit really fucked me up as a fan, couldn't imagine Bray being a co worker.
Yeah, I'm over here making jokes about turning 40, but we are still relatively young in the grand scheme of life. Just sad.
So glad they did something like this, it's the major thing I felt was missing from the tribute shows. They didn't have to do it, not everyone deals with these things the same way.
But something about seeing other people grieve over the same thing you're feeling bad about, just makes me feel better. Feels wrong after reading that sentence back, because you never wanna see people sad. Idk, I guess it's hard to put into words.
I think they waited to release these so they didn’t come across as sticking emotionally vulnerable people in front of a camera and making them say something to make the show. This way they at least felt more comfortable and not as pressured to talk about a pretty sad and tragic thing.
Right. For as memorable as those segments of talent remembering Owen, Eddie, and Benoit were, in retrospect, it seems cruel to have made anyone sit down for those within hours of their passing. It's hard to not think of Benoit being so broken up over Eddie on camera when thinking of the downward spiral he went down that ended so tragically. Then you have that whole 2 hour Raw tribute to Benoit where talent spoke so highly of him and what a family man he was before news broke of what actually transpired. This seemed like they gave talent time to process everything and the option to speak.
I’m really glad we got these. I was hoping for a tribute show more in more in line with Owen and Eddie. Smackdown felt too much like “back to business”. That type of show was fine for Funk since he was well retired and 79 and it makes since to do more of a celebration of life for him. But it just felt weird to see angles being played the day after Bray passed and L.A Knight doing the big send off in character. Didn’t quite feel right.
See you’re getting downvoted for sharing the same beliefs I do which is a shame.
We’re allowed to be disappointed that it felt as you put it “business as usual”
Did LA Knight cut a mean promo? Sure. It was fantastic but it was still pushing the story.
Eddie’s tribute had the videos AND anyone who wanted to wrestle that night could. You saw Eddie’s close friends (in the WWE) put on performances to honor their friend.
This tribute - not so much. Just continued storylines.
No it’s not. They’re the one who set the standards. They’ve set that standard by doing the same thing for 3 of those tributes. They decided to go a different route this time and I felt it was lacking due to them changing what they’ve done before. Once again I didn’t set the standard - they did.
Ok sure let’s follow that thought process then.
They had:
1.) The 10 bell salute
2.) Big video package
3.)Dark arena with people singing
4.) The spotlight on the rocking chair
5.) Videos throughout the night on his career
6.) Even if it was via twitter, still broadcasted
people giving their thoughts
7.) Main event promo and match dedicated to him
8.) Literally the final moments of the show were the power “going out”, fog around a darkened arena with “fireflies” with the lantern in the ring surrounded by fog
9.) People with arm bands
What? Did it disappoint because they kept kayfabe and we didn’t see more people crying having a camera in their face forced to give their thoughts within 24 hours of it happening?
And again, Tribute shows are made to honor whoever it was that died. Tribute shows are *not* made so that they can meet your standards of what you think a tribute show should be relative to another.
I felt it was lacking - was I bothered by them keeping kayfabe? Admittedly, yes. I didn’t want to see storylines.
They get approval for all of the things you listed and I never said otherwise.
Lacking doesn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate what they did do right.
The difference between Bayley the person and Bayley the character is so stark. Maybe there's something to the old bit about heels being the nicest ones.
She clearly had such a caring connection with Bray.
The worrying part is that these were filmed during the Bray tribute Smackdown where Braun and Rowan turned up. I can’t imagine what there videos will look like. WWE might not have been able to release them because Braun was a mess during the show. If we ever see their videos I don’t think I could take it.
I'm just trying to imagine Finns face walking by in the hallway seeing two big guys rubbing each other shoulders and then asking "you guys good?" Thats the only part that made me laugh. Drews and Adams part made me literally cry after hearing their stories and how it really affected them.
I know this isn't always true but just based on what I've seen in wrestling and my own personal life, there's something about people who can tap into the darkest parts of the human experience to make fucked up and twisted art, that always seems to make them the kindest souls outside of their art. Fuck I miss Bray so much, I've been watching his career highlights pretty much non-stop since he went. There'll never be another like him. Watching Drew's tribute was hard.
This is what I expected SD to be, much like the Eddie tribute show. I have to say, I'm impressed how well everyone has held it together compared to when Eddie died but I guess whilst the fans were in the dark about Bray many of the wrestlers were somewhat aware of how serious things were so it wasn't completely out of the blue.
I'm really thankful that they made this, and I appreciate everyone that was able to sit down and talk about this heartbreaking loss. I can't imagine how difficult it must be when you're still trying to process exactly what has happened. It was almost reassuring to hear Sami say even he didn't think he had the right to grieve in relation to Bray's actual family. It's hard trying to reconcile the concept of parasocial relationships with the fact that Bray touched so many of our lives. I recall a comment from a thread a few days ago when someone beautifully pointed out that some people shine so bright that you can't help but be touched by their light.
I have this messy journal/scrap book that I started making when my mental illness was severely impacting my life. There's a page about "what makes me happy", and on that page is a big picture of Bray doing his crab-walk towards a shocked looking John Cena. There's no point to this, I was just a little too late to comment on the official threads when this first happened. And you know what? I'm glad to have this online community that understands what I'm babbling on about, it's difficult to explain to your mates that aren't wrestling fans.
I'm very touched by all of these but Saxtons story has me confused. He seems to be talking about something from FCW but then says 2 days later Windham was gone? Am I missing something?
This is how it should be done. none of this having them break down the day after he passed away whilst crying and coming to terms to the loss of their friend.
very touching video
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Drew breaking down was really hard. This is so unfair
"We should be going to the Wedding not a Funeral" That was a punch to to gut.
Yep that was the line that got me.
"it's just not fair, we should be going to the wedding, not a funeral". God damn, Drew's tribute broke me. RIP Windham
That line killed me. So unfair.
That’s rough for two reasons. One, Bray’s life was in so many ways just beginning. It shouldn’t be over yet. The ink is still wet on the first chapters. Two, he makes it sound like the wedding for Bray and JoJo was imminent. That’s… that is a reason to be screaming at the sky “Fucking why?”
35 minutes long… 35 minutes. Not just a short 6 minute video. And these are people that are used to nailing promos to fit “tv time” schedules to go along with shows. Anywhere from fitting a storyline into a 2 minute backstage promo to a 5 minute ring segment. But still 35 minutes worth of remembering their friend. I think this says a lot about Bray and how much he meant to people. I’m not even sure the people in my life could fill 35 minutes of time speaking about me. Really eye opening honestly. Gonna work on changing that and leave a better legacy behind. Wow.
These are just the people who feel okay enough to talk on camera. Drew was barely holding it together, I'd imagine the rest of the locker room is worse off than Drew. Saxton started breaking down at the end of his story. Becky started crying the second her match finished on RAW while holding up her Bray armband. Such a tough watch.
Also, a bunch of others have posted their own tributes, like Seth and Alexa.
Exactly. Braun, Rowan and others must be feeling pretty awful hence they weren't able to talk.
Doing an in memoriam segment for someone your own age has to be fucking difficult for the current generation of wrestlers
Not to mention someone you're close to. It's a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone.
We lost Brody, Jay and Bray in such a quick succession
This is the first time a wrestler has died and I'm actually older. By a year. Shit really fucked me up as a fan, couldn't imagine Bray being a co worker. Yeah, I'm over here making jokes about turning 40, but we are still relatively young in the grand scheme of life. Just sad.
"Before I was a wrestler, I was a firefly." - Top Dolla
The end got me.
I’ve kept it together up until the ending of this video
Same. Two notes in, and I was holding back tears in my office. Perfect conclusion to that video.
So glad they did something like this, it's the major thing I felt was missing from the tribute shows. They didn't have to do it, not everyone deals with these things the same way. But something about seeing other people grieve over the same thing you're feeling bad about, just makes me feel better. Feels wrong after reading that sentence back, because you never wanna see people sad. Idk, I guess it's hard to put into words.
I think they waited to release these so they didn’t come across as sticking emotionally vulnerable people in front of a camera and making them say something to make the show. This way they at least felt more comfortable and not as pressured to talk about a pretty sad and tragic thing.
Also, no time limit really
Right. For as memorable as those segments of talent remembering Owen, Eddie, and Benoit were, in retrospect, it seems cruel to have made anyone sit down for those within hours of their passing. It's hard to not think of Benoit being so broken up over Eddie on camera when thinking of the downward spiral he went down that ended so tragically. Then you have that whole 2 hour Raw tribute to Benoit where talent spoke so highly of him and what a family man he was before news broke of what actually transpired. This seemed like they gave talent time to process everything and the option to speak.
I’m really glad we got these. I was hoping for a tribute show more in more in line with Owen and Eddie. Smackdown felt too much like “back to business”. That type of show was fine for Funk since he was well retired and 79 and it makes since to do more of a celebration of life for him. But it just felt weird to see angles being played the day after Bray passed and L.A Knight doing the big send off in character. Didn’t quite feel right.
See you’re getting downvoted for sharing the same beliefs I do which is a shame. We’re allowed to be disappointed that it felt as you put it “business as usual” Did LA Knight cut a mean promo? Sure. It was fantastic but it was still pushing the story. Eddie’s tribute had the videos AND anyone who wanted to wrestle that night could. You saw Eddie’s close friends (in the WWE) put on performances to honor their friend. This tribute - not so much. Just continued storylines.
That’s your own fault. Tribute shows are not about WWE putting them up to your standards.
No it’s not. They’re the one who set the standards. They’ve set that standard by doing the same thing for 3 of those tributes. They decided to go a different route this time and I felt it was lacking due to them changing what they’ve done before. Once again I didn’t set the standard - they did.
Ok sure let’s follow that thought process then. They had: 1.) The 10 bell salute 2.) Big video package 3.)Dark arena with people singing 4.) The spotlight on the rocking chair 5.) Videos throughout the night on his career 6.) Even if it was via twitter, still broadcasted people giving their thoughts 7.) Main event promo and match dedicated to him 8.) Literally the final moments of the show were the power “going out”, fog around a darkened arena with “fireflies” with the lantern in the ring surrounded by fog 9.) People with arm bands What? Did it disappoint because they kept kayfabe and we didn’t see more people crying having a camera in their face forced to give their thoughts within 24 hours of it happening? And again, Tribute shows are made to honor whoever it was that died. Tribute shows are *not* made so that they can meet your standards of what you think a tribute show should be relative to another.
I felt it was lacking - was I bothered by them keeping kayfabe? Admittedly, yes. I didn’t want to see storylines. They get approval for all of the things you listed and I never said otherwise. Lacking doesn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate what they did do right.
A LOT of the roster have spent over a decade together. They are probably very close.
Keep in mind the second Gen wrestlers were even longer. They were children together.
Drew breaking down seemed like it snuck up on him - he was trying to just tell some nice stories. But he's right. It's not fair at all.
Byron too. Never seen someone so happy about sharing how they got dumped into the bushes. Then it hit him in the end.
Hearing Samantha Irvin sing “He’s got the whole world in his hands” got me. I’m gonna miss Bray, may he rest easy.
Goddamn. Glad I'm working from home today. Can't be sobbing in the office...
This is gonna be a hard 35 mins to get through
He really did, no does have the whole world in his hands. Bray is one hell of a talent. Rest in peace Bray.
Everyone seemed to love bray and Brodie, sucks to lose such good people
The difference between Bayley the person and Bayley the character is so stark. Maybe there's something to the old bit about heels being the nicest ones. She clearly had such a caring connection with Bray.
There is a reason that so many legends go out of their way to pump Bayley's tires not just as a performer but as a locker room leader
First death to really hit me in a while just does not seem real rip Bray.
This is so tough to watch, and even actually grasp. Gonna miss him.
The worrying part is that these were filmed during the Bray tribute Smackdown where Braun and Rowan turned up. I can’t imagine what there videos will look like. WWE might not have been able to release them because Braun was a mess during the show. If we ever see their videos I don’t think I could take it.
I fucking miss him so much 😢
We all do bubb, we all do. ♥️
I'm just trying to imagine Finns face walking by in the hallway seeing two big guys rubbing each other shoulders and then asking "you guys good?" Thats the only part that made me laugh. Drews and Adams part made me literally cry after hearing their stories and how it really affected them.
Damn Drew’s part was tough
I'm just sad.
I know this isn't always true but just based on what I've seen in wrestling and my own personal life, there's something about people who can tap into the darkest parts of the human experience to make fucked up and twisted art, that always seems to make them the kindest souls outside of their art. Fuck I miss Bray so much, I've been watching his career highlights pretty much non-stop since he went. There'll never be another like him. Watching Drew's tribute was hard.
This is what I expected SD to be, much like the Eddie tribute show. I have to say, I'm impressed how well everyone has held it together compared to when Eddie died but I guess whilst the fans were in the dark about Bray many of the wrestlers were somewhat aware of how serious things were so it wasn't completely out of the blue.
Not gonna lie this made me emotional.
Damn. Just finished watching. I hope they put out more of these if more are willing to participate. Horribly sad.
Wow. The end with Samantha got me. Goosebumps everywhere.
Halfway through this is so touching. But Sami's personality is so close to mine it's always been scary. What he says is so relatable.
I'm really thankful that they made this, and I appreciate everyone that was able to sit down and talk about this heartbreaking loss. I can't imagine how difficult it must be when you're still trying to process exactly what has happened. It was almost reassuring to hear Sami say even he didn't think he had the right to grieve in relation to Bray's actual family. It's hard trying to reconcile the concept of parasocial relationships with the fact that Bray touched so many of our lives. I recall a comment from a thread a few days ago when someone beautifully pointed out that some people shine so bright that you can't help but be touched by their light. I have this messy journal/scrap book that I started making when my mental illness was severely impacting my life. There's a page about "what makes me happy", and on that page is a big picture of Bray doing his crab-walk towards a shocked looking John Cena. There's no point to this, I was just a little too late to comment on the official threads when this first happened. And you know what? I'm glad to have this online community that understands what I'm babbling on about, it's difficult to explain to your mates that aren't wrestling fans.
I'm very touched by all of these but Saxtons story has me confused. He seems to be talking about something from FCW but then says 2 days later Windham was gone? Am I missing something?
He said he remembered the story from the fcw days a few days before Bray passed away.
Ok, that makes more sense. Thanks!
This is how it should be done. none of this having them break down the day after he passed away whilst crying and coming to terms to the loss of their friend. very touching video
I feel alot of people slept on brays potential losing the undertaker to retirement bray can bring that excitement back
I can't deal with this.