Daniel Bryan as a star post-comeback: Pushes, Feuds, Matches and etc.

[KawadaSmile]

Folks were debating about this subject in quite a few threads, so I decided to make one, as it was suggested by other users.

What do you think about his push, matches, his current role in the WWE and what to they have in store for him???? 

[SteveJRogers]

I’ll say it again, other than dropping the Bryan part of the Shane-KO/Zain storyline like it never happened, what did you think would happen in terms of Bryan’s return?  Get inserted into the Styles-Nakamura match, and make it a Triple Threat?

The way the storyline had been going since the previous summer, heatless or not, there were only two logical ways it was going to go. 

The way they did with Bryan coming out of retirement in the feud ending match.  Or Bryan turning on Shane and continuing on as either a heel GM or just as a second for KO & Sami, wrestling again or not.

[Loss]

I think Bryan, Owens, and Zayn all would have been better off with that program continuing on Smackdown for another month or two. The incredible reaction the night they attacked him showed that there was a lot of interest in that feud. The heat KO and SZ got in that moment showed that it wasn't all just excitement for Bryan. Team Hell No vs KO-SZ would have been much better then what we got. Meanwhile, I'd have Styles transition into a feud with Miz and make Miz champion. Sure, they could wait until Wrestlemania, but I think that would be delaying what people are already ready for. I think it was misguided to try to do a long journey back to the top. He had already been sidelined for two years. The period from announcing his retirement to getting cleared was his long-term chase. No reason to do yet another chase when he returns.

[Stiva]

37 minutes ago, Charles (Loss) said:

I think Bryan, Owens, and Zayn all would have been better off with that program continuing on Smackdown for another month or two. The incredible reaction the night they attacked him showed that there was a lot of interest in that feud. The heat KO and SZ got in that moment showed that it wasn't all just excitement for Bryan. Team Hell No vs KO-SZ would have been much better then what we got. Meanwhile, I'd have Styles transition into a feud with Miz and make Miz champion. Sure, they could wait until Wrestlemania, but I think that would be delaying what people are already ready for. I think it was misguided to try to do a long journey back to the top. He had already been sidelined for two years. The period from announcing his retirement to getting cleared was his long-term chase. No reason to do yet another chase when he returns.

Yeah, when Bryan was cleared, I assumed that the plan was Miz/Styles in the spring with Miz getting the title which would lead to Miz-Bryan for the title at Summerslam with the big moment of Bryan winning the title after being gone for so long and then you build towards Styles-Bryan at the Rumble/Mania. I suppose in my head, I was assuming that the Nakamura heel turn would have legs as a main event gimmick and that they'd build some long-term heat onto Rusev, not to mention the Bryan vs Jeff Hardy "dream" match that could have easily been a hot match in order to sustain what, could have been, a really hot title run.

Of course, then you'd need 6 months of programs to keep Styles out of the title picture but that would mean giving him something else to work with other than being the champion or challenging for the championship and yeah, maybe I was expecting too much

[fxnj]

My interest in his comeback dropped a lot after Lesnar left as Lesnar/Bryan was the big dream match I was holding out for. Hell, I was under the assumption the main reason people wanted him back so bad was Brock/Bryan. I have no idea what sort of thought process leads to thinking having Lesnar/Reigns 3 times in one year is a better idea.

[Jmare007]

3 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said:

I think Bryan, Owens, and Zayn all would have been better off with that program continuing on Smackdown for another month or two. The incredible reaction the night they attacked him showed that there was a lot of interest in that feud. The heat KO and SZ got in that moment showed that it wasn't all just excitement for Bryan. Team Hell No vs KO-SZ would have been much better then what we got. Meanwhile, I'd have Styles transition into a feud with Miz and make Miz champion. Sure, they could wait until Wrestlemania, but I think that would be delaying what people are already ready for. I think it was misguided to try to do a long journey back to the top. He had already been sidelined for two years. The period from announcing his retirement to getting cleared was his long-term chase. No reason to do yet another chase when he returns.

I think that would've been the more interesting/fun scenario to watch, but I don't think Bryan's level of support after his return would've sustained either. I don't believe hardcore fans see him as "their wrestler" anymore, he's a legend/icon now, so there's no "us (with Bryan) vs WWE" feeling. I also don't think they see the company holding him down either - at least not nearly to the level of outrage of 2012 to 2014 - and those were the kind of things that made him teflon to WWE booking.

As you said in another thread, he can still be "Shawn Michaels, the icon" level over if pushed right. But for him to transcend that again, he's gonna need a bunch of stuff to happen, and just like 5 years ago, luck is a big part of that.

I do think he's gonna get more momentum eventually though, he's still the most popular male on his brand.

[FMKK]

To what extent do we think the contract situation, now resolved, held them back from going all in on pushing him to the title?

[Loss]

On 9/7/2018 at 8:54 PM, Jmare007 said:

I think that would've been the more interesting/fun scenario to watch, but I don't think Bryan's level of support after his return would've sustained either. I don't believe hardcore fans see him as "their wrestler" anymore, he's a legend/icon now, so there's no "us (with Bryan) vs WWE" feeling. I also don't think they see the company holding him down either - at least not nearly to the level of outrage of 2012 to 2014 - and those were the kind of things that made him teflon to WWE booking.

As you said in another thread, he can still be "Shawn Michaels, the icon" level over if pushed right. But for him to transcend that again, he's gonna need a bunch of stuff to happen, and just like 5 years ago, luck is a big part of that.

I do think he's gonna get more momentum eventually though, he's still the most popular male on his brand.

The interesting thing about this is that the Us vs WWE program is still going hard. There's just not a wrestler representing the fans in that struggle anymore. To an extent, NXT does and I suppose if they do an Invasion angle with the All In crew, they will be a short-term representation of that. But Bryan still seems like he would be well-positioned to be the babyface that represents that struggle since no one else is really doing it.

[Jmare007]

3 hours ago, Charles (Loss) said:

The interesting thing about this is that the Us vs WWE program is still going hard. There's just not a wrestler representing the fans in that struggle anymore. To an extent, NXT does and I suppose if they do an Invasion angle with the All In crew, they will be a short-term representation of that. But Bryan still seems like he would be well-positioned to be the babyface that represents that struggle since no one else is really doing it.

I don't think he can retake that role for the fans, at least not by booking/kayfabe. WWE would have to do something in real life against Bryan that pisses the fandom off to the point they once again believe he's "their champion".

[SirEdger]

18 hours ago, FMKK said:

To what extent do we think the contract situation, now resolved, held them back from going all in on pushing him to the title?

It certainly played a role in a way, with the possibility that Bryan wouldn't re-sign with the company. But the holdback is probably more about the uncertainty of how long will Bryan's body hold up - always being a bad bump away from going back on the shelf - that's being the main factor in his booking now. But the more Bryan proves he can adapt his style to a safer one, the less WWE will be worried about it. Right now, he's in a great program with The Miz; the 2nd most important on Smackdown Live. He's not fighting for the title but it's as close as he can get right now.

[Migs]

8 hours ago, SirEdger said:

It certainly played a role in a way, with the possibility that Bryan wouldn't re-sign with the company. But the holdback is probably more about the uncertainty of how long will Bryan's body hold up - always being a bad bump away from going back on the shelf - that's being the main factor in his booking now. But the more Bryan proves he can adapt his style to a safer one, the less WWE will be worried about it. Right now, he's in a great program with The Miz; the 2nd most important on Smackdown Live. He's not fighting for the title but it's as close as he can get right now.

And it feels like they are setting up the dominos for him to be involved in the title picture in the not too distant future. I think there was a lot of treading water in part because WWE books big show to big show now, so they needed to kill time to get to Bryan-Mix at Summerslam to kick that off. (The initial slow play also probably let them feel more comfortable that Bryan's body could hold up, as others have noted.) 

[DMJ]

I read two comments in a row in the Roman Reigns thread that "the fans will turn anyone who is at the top" and saw Bryan's name mentioned - that he eventually would've been turned on by the crowd.

I disagree.

The original plan seemed to be to have Bryan drop the title to Lesnar at SummerSlam (as Cena did). I'm even willing to believe that they would have had Lesnar do the same Suplex City beatdown and use it as an excuse to have Bryan not get a title rematch (because of "injury") and maybe have Cena come in as the knight in shining armor as Lesnar's next big challenger. 

But in that scenario, I don't think Bryan would've been booed against Lesnar (who had just ended the Streak) at Summerslam and I don't think Bryan getting his ass kicked in a complete mauling (the way Cena did) was going to hurt him after SummerSlam - if anything, he probably would've garnered even more sympathy from all the fans - the "smarts" that would've seen Lesnar squashing him as them continuing to hold Bryan down and the "marks" who would continue to view him as an underdog who got taken out by a bully (classic David v. Goliath). 

Similarly, and I know times are different (but how different?), I think Steve Austin is worth mentioning. His run at the top wasn't super long, but I'm not sure the fans would've turned on him. I actually googled "Steve Austin Booed" and this topic has been covered elsewhere, but basically, from what I gathered, while there are 3-5 instances of Austin getting a negative or 50/50 response, they are clearly outweighed by the hundreds of times he got the biggest pop of the night. Someone mentioned that in parts of 99' and during the build-up to WrestleMania XVII, Austin's reactions were lesser than they'd been in the past - and while I do think that's true, I think "turning on him" is a bit overdramatic.

[Strummer]

Yeah I don't think the fans would have turned on Bryan either.  I think him getting squashed by Lesnar makes his fans even angrier and then WWE is once again caught in a spot on whether they change plans or not.  They probably don't this time but it was another potential disaster

Edited September 14, 2018 by Strummer

[DMJ]

Yeah, it would've been interesting. Bryan was so over in 2013/2014 that even if he had lost to Lesnar, then lost to Lesnar again a month later, I still think it would've been kinda tricky getting to Cena/Lesnar and eventually Reigns/Lesnar because many fans would've really wanted that redemption arc (Bryan eventually avenging the losses) over rooting on someone else to do it. Compare that to, say, if Rey Mysterio or Punk had been in the position or what happened to Cena - fans would've or did readily accept them losing to Lesnar without too much grumbling. But Bryan? At his peak, he really was super over in a way that fans were really emotionally invested in him as "their guy" and were accepting no substitute. At least in 2013/14. He's cooled off since then, no doubt, but at that time, he was red hot.

[Jmare007]

It would've been a interesting scenario for sure. The Kane feud for Extreme Rules 2014 did hurt Bryan a bit in terms of crowd support, if he doesn't get injured who knows how long that program goes.

I do believe Lesnar squashing him at Summerslam would've been the 18 seconds loss to Sheamus at Mania 28, Part II though.

[Loss]

I also disagree that fans will turn on anyone at the top. They've turned on exactly two wrestlers to any important degree -- John Cena and Roman Reigns. AJ Styles doesn't get booed, and he's the best comparison to Bryan.

[Loss]

9 hours ago, DMJ said:

I read two comments in a row in the Roman Reigns thread that "the fans will turn anyone who is at the top" and saw Bryan's name mentioned - that he eventually would've been turned on by the crowd.

I disagree.

The original plan seemed to be to have Bryan drop the title to Lesnar at SummerSlam (as Cena did). I'm even willing to believe that they would have had Lesnar do the same Suplex City beatdown and use it as an excuse to have Bryan not get a title rematch (because of "injury") and maybe have Cena come in as the knight in shining armor as Lesnar's next big challenger. 

But in that scenario, I don't think Bryan would've been booed against Lesnar (who had just ended the Streak) at Summerslam and I don't think Bryan getting his ass kicked in a complete mauling (the way Cena did) was going to hurt him after SummerSlam - if anything, he probably would've garnered even more sympathy from all the fans - the "smarts" that would've seen Lesnar squashing him as them continuing to hold Bryan down and the "marks" who would continue to view him as an underdog who got taken out by a bully (classic David v. Goliath). 

Similarly, and I know times are different (but how different?), I think Steve Austin is worth mentioning. His run at the top wasn't super long, but I'm not sure the fans would've turned on him. I actually googled "Steve Austin Booed" and this topic has been covered elsewhere, but basically, from what I gathered, while there are 3-5 instances of Austin getting a negative or 50/50 response, they are clearly outweighed by the hundreds of times he got the biggest pop of the night. Someone mentioned that in parts of 99' and during the build-up to WrestleMania XVII, Austin's reactions were lesser than they'd been in the past - and while I do think that's true, I think "turning on him" is a bit overdramatic.

I always thought it would have played like Bret at Survivor Series '94 where he loses after being caught in the chicken wing for ten minutes. Great heat for the new champion and SO MUCH SYMPATHY for the old one.

[sek69]

WWE keeps saying in PR that they got where they were by listening to the fans, then put acts they want on top regardless of  if the fans accept it or not.  At this point, you have to think at least part of the resentment is more people seeing through the con. Hell, Steph even uses it as a way to get heat by doing the phony pandering to the crowd bit. 

[Loss]

I think in their minds, they do listen to the fans, but not live reactions so much as how they spend their money.

[Jmare007]

 

On 9/9/2018 at 4:47 PM, Jmare007 said:

I don't think he can retake that role for the fans, at least not by booking/kayfabe. WWE would have to do something in real life against Bryan that pisses the fandom off to the point they once again believe he's "their champion".

I'm not sure WWE will punish Bryan for not going to Saudi Arabia, I kinda don't think they will. But if he ends up in the doghouse after this, it might just be the thing that would reignite the "Bryan and us vs them" feeling.

[KawadaSmile]

Daniel Bryan. Still the man.

[SmartMark15]

1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said:

Daniel Bryan. Still the man.

This is a correct statement. Obviously my avatar reveals my huge bias but the guy has been (for me at least) the best wrestler of the millennium since the mid 2000s and he's back in a spot to help him highlight that.

[Jmare007]

[FMKK]

Big fan of Daniel Bryan just doing murders with the sole of his boots

[SirEdger]

Me love Psycho Bryan