The booking of Daniel Bryan going forward

[shoe]

I really have no idea how they're going to book him. Clearly the fans see him as the guy. Another thing that I think the WWE doesn't understand is the fan base feels cheated out of his big title run when he got hurt. The WWE might not have planned on a big run, but the fans didn't know that. The fans might have accepted Ziggler and to a lesser extent Ambrose winning the Rumble. They went with Reigns and we saw what happened. If Vince won't go with Bryan what's he going to do. Will he call Hulk Hogan in and ask how he was able to kill Sting and Flair when he 1st went to WCW. Look at Hogan in WCW from 94 -the before Hall showed up, trying to prop himself up he tried to kill them. At least Flair was like the phoenix. Which I think DB is in that role of being like Flair. If they tell him to stop doing the Yes chant it will be easy confirmation they're trying to squash him. Where do you see them going with him?

[The Chief]

I have a bad feeling they're going to revert him back to his 2012 character in an effort to kill him off once and for all.

[Blehschmidt]

Unfortunately, I see one of two directions coming for him, and both of them will not be good.

 

1) Losing streak gimmick. The look on his face when he was eliminated at the Rumble, combined with the "it was my fault, I failed" interview last night makes me think they might go in this direction. The fans will expect that the pay off will be him turning the corner and building himself back up to a title shot, while the company will probably hope that this will stop people from cheering him, thus continuing the "we don't care what you want" mentality that seem to the the current WWE MO.

 

2) They are going to trying and turn him heel, which will fail miserably, and just make him look like a jackass.

[Russellmania]

if they turn him heel it's only going to compound the problem because:

a. The fans love him

b. a turn right now would be incredibly transparent

c. the fans would be sympathetic to his kayfabe reasons for turning anyway.

[El-P]

He's booked in a casket match against Kane. Nuff said.

[Coffey]

Maybe Bryan and Kane can continue their feud until Wrestlemania & have a buried alive match, where Daniel Bryan can literally be buried on the biggest show.

[El-P]

Well, he *was* supposed to work with Kane after winning the title at Mania last year. Ponder that for a minute...

[Matt D]

The best way to neuter him would be to put him in a tag team with Ziggler and put the belts on them.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The best way to neuter him would be to put him in a tag team with Ziggler and put the belts on them.

That would be awesome! Dolph as the FIP and Bryan as the hot tag would actually be pretty damn sick. I'd buy in to that team. Give me Cesaro/Kidd vs Ziggler/Bryan all night baby!

[DMJ]

Talking about it with a friend tonight -

 

After Mania, Lesnar is most likely out (if he's not - he should retain there because he's the best thing going for the company today and the Rumble proved it). John Cena is either going to squash Rusev at Mania or lose...in which case, I think you're in a tough spot with Cena because he's already feuded with everyone on the roster and almost needs to take the same break Orton is now. If Rusev survives the Cena feud, he'll likely be fed to Reigns. Reigns is your top face, Rollins is your top heel, and who knows where Ambrose and Bray fall into things post-Mania (I'm not even going to mention guys like Cesaro or Ziggler because they certainly don't seem poised for any major pushes based on what I saw at the Rumble). Sting won't be around, though, I wonder how valuable he is even going to seem after the WWE Universe realizes that Sting in 2015 means a guy wit a receding hairline who wrestles in a tee-shirt. Daniel Bryan's momentum and idea of him being The Man will, unfortunately, after WrestleMania, probably be nothing but a fuzzy memory the same way Punk's run in 2011 seemed when he quit last year.

 

In summation, after WrestleMania = No Lesnar. No "main event" Bryan. Directionless Cena with 1-2 "fresh" matches in Reigns and Ambrose (who are both faces). Directionless Ziggler. Directionless Cesaro. Most likely a "tarnished" Rusev.

 

If the solution is a heel turn for Reigns, the WWE made the exact mistake we all said they shouldn't make - rushing Reigns to the title. You don't create "the next John Cena," the next mega-popular, kid-friendly babyface that will sell merch and grant kids' wishes well into the 2020s, by having him turn heel 12 months after he turned face. You'd be creating Randy Orton actually, which is fine and great and useful, but that's certainly not the bullseye they are aiming for.

 

The burial of Daniel Bryan is frustrating as a fan, but what lies ahead over the next 3 months is even more frustrating because what seems to be coming down the pike is a whole lot of protecting Reigns at all costs and keeping everyone else on the same hamster wheel they were on in 2014. And no Lesnar to at least make 2-3 PPVs a year "must see."

[Matt D]

Part of the problem in killing off Bryan is that they did the same thing they did with almost everyone in his spot before. They tossed Kane at him. It was looking like it'd be a lot like the Mysterio title reign until he got gobbled up by Lesnar. People had a year to dwell on that though, so I think he might be indestructible this time.

[Smack2k]

I am worried now with the 1 million subscribers on the Network that if WWE had ANY reservations after Sunday night's booing, that statistic and a rising stock will have them "See, we are good…they don't know want they want (Fans), we do…and it shows!!!"

 

Bryan will become Benoit post Summerslam 2004 in terms of place on the roster...

 

Before that stat I thought maybe they'd do another 2014 fix and put things right (remember, coming out of Mania last year, things looked GOOD and a BRIGHT FUTURE)….but now….who knows.

[Benbeeach]

The more I read, the more mind boggling it is that it ISN'T Bryan vs. Brock. I didn't think we were fantasy booking the whole time, I really thought it wrote itself. I don't know if I'm more intrigued or less intrigued now that it isn't. I'm almost glued to the fall out now.

. . . also, not a lot of people made the connection from what I saw, but I think it's possible that the person least upset about all this booking is Bryan himself. As a guy who knows, at the end of the day, just being there and being seen as valuable in any sort of way, is defying the odds and a blessing of sorts, it's possible he just doesn't care. He's yet to fail, no matter the role. The journey he went on in 2013-14 was in large part the fans doing. He has never struck me as a rebel rousing stir up the pot "why aren't you booking me THIS way" sort of guy. The "the WWE didn't feed me as a kid" line is about as passive aggressive a CM Punk like quip Bryan is ever really going to muster.

What if our hero has no fight left in him. what if he never really did

[goodhelmet]

What's fucked up is that they KNOW how easy it is to script Bryan vs. Brock. They know what kind of exciting match it would be. Bryan said it would be the perfect David vs. Goliath moment in his interview last night. They know it was sitting right there on the table just waiting for us to eat it up. That one line teasing Brock vs. Bryan either gives me hope or it is another fuck you directed our way.

[kjh]

I don't think there's any good answers because (a) WWE are bound and determined to stick with the top of the WrestleMania card as planned; and ( WWE have such a dearth of hated heels at the moment.

[Timbo Slice]

You actually wonder if Brock and Bryan have talked about it and might go to Vince hoping that they can make it happen at least once. I'd love to see it happen at Fast Lane if Brock would work it. But hey, gotta let Kane have a casket match.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Since Kane was the one who put Bryan out and cost him the belt, it makes sense to have them fight and since its a casket match, I'd imagine Bryan "shutting the lid" on Kane will also be the finish of their story.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Since Kane was the one who put Bryan out and cost him the belt, it makes sense to have them fight and since its a casket match, I'd imagine Bryan "shutting the lid" on Kane will also be the finish of their story.

 

What really makes sense is Bryan getting a title shot for the belt he never lost...

[shoe]

Johnny that's fine. That will finish his story with Kane on Smackdown. The question is do they push him as a top act. He also never got pinned by to lose his title. Are they going to go there? Will he be pinned by Reigns if he wins the title from Brock? I'm looking at a grand picture. Not how he's being booked in a week.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I wasn't talking about all that, bro. I'm just mentioning it cause it seems like everyone forgot about it. To me, it'd be bad booking for Bryan to NOT want to get revenge on Kane.

[Badlittlekitten]

No they shouldn't push him as a top act. How is his neck anyway? They don't want to miss the boat on the golden boy they've been pushing for two years now. The execution of the rumble was terrible but I can understand why they stuck with Reigns.

 

I would put Bryan against Rusev.

[Strummer]

Reigns push has been weird though. He certainly has been protected in terms of doing jobs but he has hardly been booked as dominant in the ring. It took him 5+ minutes to beat Fandango in his return match and the series of matches with Show left him looking equal at best. We know who's writing his promos but who is laying out his matches?

 

 

I really have no idea what they do with Bryan. Kayfabe wise he got his opportunity and blew it. A fact that will no doubt be repeated each week by .stephanie and Hunter in their weekly trolling sessions. He doesn't deserve a title shot in storyline unless they go back to "he never lost the belt" route which will not happen. There's no shortcut to get out of this mess this year. And that was done on purpose

[iamthedoctor]

I really have no idea how they're going to book him. Clearly the fans see him as the guy. Another thing that I think the WWE doesn't understand is the fan base feels cheated out of his big title run when he got hurt. The WWE might not have planned on a big run, but the fans didn't know that. The fans might have accepted Ziggler and to a lesser extent Ambrose winning the Rumble. They went with Reigns and we saw what happened. If Vince won't go with Bryan what's he going to do. Will he call Hulk Hogan in and ask how he was able to kill Sting and Flair when he 1st went to WCW. Look at Hogan in WCW from 94 -the before Hall showed up, trying to prop himself up he tried to kill them. At least Flair was like the phoenix. Which I think DB is in that role of being like Flair. If they tell him to stop doing the Yes chant it will be easy confirmation they're trying to squash him. Where do you see them going with him?

 

I was under the standing that because last year they couldnt do Bryan/Sheamus because of sulky fans they postponed it for a year so they can do it this year.

[overbooked]

Do we know just how recovered Bryan really is? Is there any chance that they've rushed him back and then realised that he is still too beat up and needs to be protected a little while longer?

 

Obviously there has been plenty of shitty booking, but I have no issue with Bryan first getting his revenge on Kane, as while that probably doesn't lead to a great match, it does make storyline sense.

 

I'm wondering if they are saving up Bryan/Lesnar for a few months from now. Wrestlemania will sell no matter what matches are booked, so there is a certain logic to saving 'money' matches for weaker shows.

 

Either that, or they just don't like Daniel Bryan and for better or worse want to properly see through the Reigns push.

[kjh]

Brock vs. Bryan is a natural program for SummerSlam IF Brock stays a heel and he re-signs with the company. But I think we should go under the working assumption he won't be with WWE after WrestleMania until we hear otherwise, because if the Royal Rumble proved anything, it is that WWE will willingly book themselves into a corner for short-term gain without thinking about the consequences.

 

Regarding Bryan's health, I wouldn't be surprised if WWE management are suspicious about whether his body holds up long term, because they don't trust the muscle activation treatment he's got from non-WWE doctors, but if they really saw him as the guy, it wouldn't stop them booking him that way.