Written by: Ryan Frye

April 6, 2014 was a day that Daniel Bryan will never forget. A day that Bryan couldn't have anticipated coming throughout the peaks and valleys of his illustrious career. And with his admitted lack of ambition, Bryan would have been perfectly content with that. 

He was an independent wrestling lifer, one of the best wrestlers in the world. Whether it was competing in a rec hall, or in Japan, or in a burgeoning, young company known as Ring of Honor, he was just happy to be able to practice the craft he loved for a living.

He wasn't supposed to make it to the WWE. He was too small, he was never considered to be a very good talker, he just didn't possess the qualities to be anything more than a B+ player. Even once he got signed, he certainly was never considered to be a potential main eventer, but his talent and popularity simply couldn't be denied. No matter how hard the McMahon family tried, they failed to keep Bryan from reaching his destiny.

By Ryan Frye

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" is a phrase in the Book of Revelations in reference to Jesus Christ.

For further context, alpha (α) and omega (Ω) are literally the beginning and the end of the Greek alphabet, the language the Book of Revelations was originally written in. Thus, alpha and omega coming together is something of biblical proportions. And many wrestling fans might argue that, at WrestleKingdom 12, it will be no different when the alpha of the wrestling industry—Chris Jericho​—takes on the omega, Kenny Omega.

There is both a contradiction and perhaps a motive in the "Alpha versus Omega" tagline for Wrestle Kingdom's co-main event. Both of which are about to be explored.

By Ryan Frye

As a writer, I've often found that the more raw emotion you can find that you have about a topic, the better the article will be. But how about if that emotion is that of pure speechlessness?

What can I say? The Atlanta Falcons were up 28-3 over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI near the end of the third quarter. Then it all came crumbling down.

An epic, historic collapse was the icing on the cake of the city of Atlanta's long, tortured sports history. The 17-0 lead the Falcons gave up in the NFC Championship Game four years ago seems like mere child's play in comparison. As a result, Atlanta still only has one lone championship—the 1995 Atlanta Braves—and the Falcons have no Lombardi Trophies to their name.

A mere two years ago, the Atlanta Falcons were a franchise at a cross roads. Mike Smith was their winningest coach in their turbulent history. In fact, before Smith, the Falcons had never had back-to-back winning seasons. But from 2008 to 2012, they had five consecutive winning seasons. 

That final winning season in 2012 took them to an NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers. But after getting out to an early 17-0 lead, a second half collapse left them on the doorstep of the Super Bowl.

By Ryan Frye

Professional wrestling is an industry built on creating moments. But a moment would be nothing but a distant memory without a camera to capture the energy, emotion, and electricity of that moment forever. Perhaps that's why they've always claimed that a picture is worth a thousand words. And that very notion is the reason for the existence of this series: Picture Perfect. ​

You can read previous editions of Picture Perfect, like the one chronicling Ciampa vs. Gargano from the Cruiserweight Classic's first round, at this link.