The Seattle Central Library designed by OMA & LMN Architects. Saved from en.wikipedia.org

I don’t always have enough information on the buildings I’ve posted at the top of this column recently to prattle on about them. The Seattle Central Library allows me to do that though as Rem Koolhaas, whom I’ve admired since I was at Kent State, is one of the design heads at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Holland along with Joshua Prince-Ramus. Their firm has had all kinds of fantastic designs even if they are all very unconventional like the one above. They worked with LMN Architects who are based out of Seattle and were the architects of record, which is usually necessary when a foreign architect designs a building. The engineering by Magnusson Klemencic Associates with Arup Group Limited is quite impressive too. Never to be forgotten is the the crazed contractor, who isn’t listed by Wikipedia, that has to execute these designs. I could only wish that more architects had a little more freedom of design. Architecture lesson over. Let’s get to WWE Raw.

If this Daniel Bryan announcement is a work, the WWE is doing everything to make you think it’s real starting with the tribute to video to him.

Stephanie McMahon is in the ring to start the festivities though. Why they didn’t start with DB is a head scratcher but what do I know? I’m the smart ass who calls his own column Half Assed. (Next Day Note: I assumed the “Daniel Bryan” chants would keep popping up during the show. They did not.) Dean Ambrose hits up the ring as Stephanie hypes his Fastlane match. As Stephanie corrects Ambrose, Roman Reigns comes in through the crowd. Brock Lesnar gets formally introduced. Everyone signs peacefully and Stephanie exits the ring. Brock ends up staring down the brothers in arms. Ambrose goes after Lesnar. He gets tossed into Reigns. Lesnar tosses a table at Reigns to knock him out of the ring. Lesnar then F5s Ambrose. HHH comes out to stare down Lesnar.

Dean Ambrose wants to get Brock Lesnar. Reigns just nods.

I honestly don’t get the Dolph Ziggler/Daniel Bryan comparison. Ziggler isn’t that much smaller than the average competitor. (I’ll take that back after looking at the WWE’s page that notes only a two inch height and eight pound weight advantage for Ziggler. Would have guessed closer to a twenty pound difference.) Kevin Owens is wearing down Ziggler after the break. Ziggler dodges a charge. Ziggler starts a come back. Owens super kicks Ziggler for a two count. Ziggler turns it back around with a DDT. Ziggler gives Owens a Fame Asser from the apron to the floor. Nice tweak of a standard move. They exchange a missed charge and cannon ball. Ziggler puts his legs on the rope to get the win. Owens freaks out while Ziggler celebrates. (Next Day Note: The announcers did their normal dance about cheating afterwards. It was odd for Ziggler to cheat. I’m not sure if there’s more to come or it was just because Owens tried to do it earlier in the match.)

The Usos are doing their face paint when the Dudley Boyz show up. They try to weasel their way into the tables match. The Usos approve for reasons I won’t ever understand.

It really looks like they need to update Charlotte‘s entrance video. She looks like she just got into NXT in it. Alicia Fox is wrestling her again for those of you who “missed” Smackdown. Charlotte is wearing down Fox with the head leg lock.  Fox bridges into a pin. Charlotte flips her over and let’s go of the hold. Fox gets in some offense. Figure Eight shortly there after for the tap out win.

The Miz talks the about himself. Chris Jericho comes out so he can talk about himself. Neither of their shows are any different. The ring crew shows up to “change sets.” I don’t have the capabilities to make this segment entertaining in print. Jericho sings about Miz’s two front teeth. It was pretty clearly not his two front teeth. Why is this crowd into this segment? Are they watching something I’m not? AJ Styles shows up on the ramp. The Miz attacks Jericho. Styles makes the save on Jericho. They jointly boot Miz from the ring, twice. Styles & Jericho go at it. Miz pulls Jericho out of the ring only to get tossed over the announcer’s desk. Jericho decides to leave while staring down Styles.

The Wyatt Family comes to the ring while we get a recap of who they have assaulted recently. I’m quite sure that isn’t foreshadowing. Ryback gets “Goldberg” chants. Hasn’t he already had more time in wrestling than Goldberg? Ryback has also diversified his offense more than Goldberg ever did. Sister Abigail out of nowhere still makes no sense. Bray Wyatt has to stop them, kiss them then torque them the opposite direction. The out of nowhere moves use the opponent’s momentum into the move, not stop it. Big Show being a dick this week since Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns didn’t help him last week. Ryback gets a beat down from the Family. It ends with another Sister Abigail on the floor. (Next Day Note: This segment would help if Ryback were as over as he was, say, two years ago? The Wyatts got some boos but nothing vociferous.)

New Day has a segment with Renee Young. I’m not feeling them this week. They don’t want to have a fourth person on their team.

Dean Ambrose wants a piece of Brock alone tonight since Roman Reigns got a crack at him alone last year.

Titus O’Neil is set to take on Adam Rose. Heath Slater gets the mic first though. Rose name’s himself the Radical Mongoose. O’Neil uses his power quickly. JBL trying to compare the Social Outcasts to Leicester City in the Barclay’s Premier League is yet another terrible analogy on his part. The Social Outcasts need to be on a year long winning streak first for it to make sense. The Outcasts try to save Rose but get bowled over by O’Neil. He rolls Rose back into the ring. Slater distracts O’Neil. Rose rolls up O’Neil for the win. Rose literally had no offense but won. Kind of like the Denver Broncos. Wokka Wokka.

Dean Ambrose calls out Brock Lesnar. He even pulls out HHH lines. Lesnar finally shows up and is chuckling. Ambrose goes after him on the ramp. Ambrose keeps getting knocked down and keeps getting back up. Ambrose asks Lesnar back into the ring. He obliges. Roman Reigns shows up. Ambrose low blows Lesnar with the distraction. Ambrose crawls away. Reigns tells him he’s really crazy.

Sin Cara & Kalisto are taking on Rusev & Alberto Del Rio. King Barrett is along for the ride. To the surprise of those who are young or have never seen wrestling, Sin Cara takes the beat down. Kalisto gets the hot tag against Del Rio. Rusev saves Del Rio from a pin. Del Rio turns around a Salida Del Sol. Del Rio gives an enziguri. The World’s Stupidest Move connects for the Del Rio pin fall victory. Am I allowed to trade mark that saying? (Next Day Note: Kalisto has already avoided this move on a number of occasions so why, aww screw it, it’s the World’s Stupidest Move. No one should ever take it.)

I did not pick the EMP Museum as a land mark. I very well could have. Also designed by an architect I loved in college, Frank Gehry. I think his designs have blended together later in his design career though. All of my McDonald’s blend together so I’ve got no room to talk. R Truth & Goldust have their least entertaining segment so far.

Sasha Banks is on the head sets. Becky Lynch is taking on Tamina in the ring. Naomi is at ring side. Banks has to talk in circles with the announcers. Tamina distracts herself by yelling at Banks. Naomi clocks Banks. Naomi tosses Sasha into the stairs. Like an idiot, Lynch attacks Naomi while she has an advantage. When Lynch gets back in the ring, Tamina super kicks her for the win. We’ve gone from teams of three to teams of two in the Divas Division. Just mystifying.

Mark Henry tries on a unicorn horn and tests Francesca II. They get Henry to dance. No one explains why he would join them. Except for the reason everyone who reads this column thinks.

New Day with Mark Henry take on The Usos & Dudley Boyz. The baby face team was in charge before the break. It is quite the opposite after the break. Henry breaks up with them since they ordered him around. The Usos have a super kick party. Somewhere, The Young Bucks are pissed off. 3D on Big E thru a table. The Dudley Boyz do the only smart thing they could do to jump start their WWE run, attack the Usos. Again, the crowd is into it and I don’t know why. They’ve lost to everyone in their return. (Next Day Note: So did Seattle want to see a heel Dudley team all along? People loved when they came back as baby faces. I’m not sure facing the Usos and no one else will really help their longevity except for literally a feud. Lucha Dragons are toast unless Alberto “World’s Worst Finisher” Del Rio gets the US Title back at Fastlane. Darren Young has been MIA. The only other possible baby face team is R Truth & Goldust. I suppose a call up from NXT could happen but they’d need to go over on the Dudleys, right? I don’t see a lot of positives here with heel champions in New Day, even if they’re cheered.)

I could be like my fellow SG contributor Shahid and describe Daniel Bryan‘s speech thusly: “He’s going home to make babies with Brie. He enjoyed his life. The end.” It’s a succinct way of summing up a thirty minute segment. I’ll just try and type what I thought of Daniel Bryan without trying to do any comparisons. I was generally aware of his status as an extremely talented in ring performer in ROH but I didn’t really catch much of his run there. My main exposure to him was in the WWE starting in 2009 and I immediately understood the hype. I’ve enjoyed the ride he’s taken us on even if the WWE wasn’t exactly cooperative with what the fans wanted. It’s ironic that their stubbornness also led to him becoming the biggest star since the Attitude Era stars of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin & Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson. I’ll always be thankful that the allure of finally going to New Orleans got me to attend “Yeslemania.” Good luck in your future endeavors, Bryan Danielson. You deserve it. – Kevin