DISCUSSION - The WWE are booking Daniel Bryan perfectly (RR spoilers)

[Heyman]

DISCUSSION - The WWE are booking Daniel Bryan perfectly (RR spoilers)

I'm going to go out on a limb and state that the WWE are booking Daniel Bryan almost perfectly right now and I'll tell you why:

IF the WWE had gone the "traditional" route and had Bryan win the Rumble.....to then be followed by a victory at Mania........it would be extremely predictable and formulaic.

What I believe the WWE will do, is have Daniel Bryan win his next few matches on RAW over Bray Wyatt, Sheamus, and perhaps another guy (Reigns?), which will earn him a title match against Orton at the February PPV. Bryan will either go over Orton at the Feb PPV or the next night on RAW, which will then set up a title match and eventual victory over Batista in the main-event.


Daniel Bryan marks need to relax in my opinion. The WWE aren't THAT stupid...........I think?

[Fignuts]

Wouldn't put it past them, but I'm still waiting to see where it goes.

[Heyman]

I think the matches at Wrestlemania will be as follows:

-World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan vs. Dave Batista
-Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
-Triple H vs. CM Punk
-John Cena and Hulk Hogan vs. The Wyatt Family
-Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
-Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust
-Usos vs. New Age Outlaws

And then some other matches involving Orton, etc.,

[Heyman]

Wouldn't put it past them, but I'm still waiting to see where it goes.

Same here.

Perhaps I'm giving the WWE too much credit, but I highly doubt that they're THAT stupid.

My best guess is that they are simply trying to avoid being too predictable......and lets face it: Bryan winning the rumble last night would have been VERY predictable.

The WWE have both marks AND smarks pissed off and guessing right now. In a weird sort of way, this could be a good thing.

Controversy sells.

I'll be tuning in to RAW tonight for what I expect to be an extremely hostile crowd.

[The Rogerer]

Nope. There was no reason or explanation as to why Bryan wasn't in the rumble. There was no explanation that Bryan was sacrifing his rumble spot to fight Wyatt. The WWE Championship doesn't exist in Bryan's mind right now, nor does the royal rumble. When does he suddenly remember?

[Heyman]

Nope. There was no reason or explanation as to why Bryan wasn't in the rumble. There was no explanation that Bryan was sacrifing his rumble spot to fight Wyatt. The WWE Championship doesn't exist in Bryan's mind right now, nor does the royal rumble. When does he suddenly remember?

Bryan did give an explanation on Twitter that "The Machine" prevented him from entering the rumble, and so I don't know if that answers that question.

Again - I just can't see the WWE being this stupid or naive. They just can't be.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and am assuming that they are simply trying to not be overly predictable.

[BigCrippyZ]

The problem is, outside of a couple of tweets by Bryan himself, there was no focus put on why he was not going to be a part of the Rumble, let alone win it.

Does anyone think that Rock, Foley, Taker, HHH, Cena or Austin would have not been included in the Rumble during their respective main event runs or even ascents to main event status, without a reason or storyline behind it being the focus of their television time? Absolutely not.

If Bray vs Bryan was going to be on the card at RR and Bryan was not going to be a part of the Rumble, then they should have had a reason established for it, as opposed to Bryan randomly joining and then turning on the Wyatts on RAW.

Bray/the Wyatts could have cost Bryan a match that would have guaranteed him entry into the Rumble. He could have then chosen to join them or not leading to the match and a viable explanation as to why Bryan was not in the Rumble. This could have been a major focus of DB, the Authority and the Wyatts on RAW and Smackdown leading into the Rumble. Instead, he was just randomly thrown into a new feud with Bray Wyatt that also was just as quickly scheduled to end, and for no reason and no planning around it.

A year or two ago, I would've said there's no way Bryan deserves to win the Rumble and/or headline a WM for the World Title. I also said 5 months ago, after the Summerslam finish, nobody panic, let's see how this plays out, surely WWE will give Bryan his well deserved moment and title run in the long run. I figured worst case, he's SO over that he'd at least win the Rumble and go on to WM.

[Bad News Gertner]

I'll tell you what, to all those fans saying this killed the company, check Tuesday when Raw's ratings come in. I'm betting on a 3.7 rating.

Let's say Bryan was in the Rumble and Batista still won? You don't have the reaction that Bryan not being in the Rumble did. I'll be watching Raw for sure and I hardly ever watch a full Raw anymore. Should be interesting to see where they go with this. I'm telling you if Bryan ends up in the title match at Wrestlemania, then the WWE is genius for doing what they did last night. They got everybody talking and even more behind one of their wrestlers. This is either going to go two ways: a disaster or one of the more brilliant moves in the history of the company.

[BigCrippyZ]

I'll tell you what, to all those fans saying this killed the company, check Tuesday when Raw's ratings come in. I'm betting on a 3.7 rating.

Who's saying that this will or has killed the company?

I'm just saying that as a loyal fan for the last 20 some odd years, when someone is as over as DB is, it's kind of weird when they're not in the Rumble and outside of 2 tweets from DB himself, no reason or focus is really given as to why.

[BigCrippyZ]

I'm telling you if Bryan ends up in the title match at Wrestlemania, then the WWE is genius for doing what they did last night. They got everybody talking and even more behind one of their wrestlers. This is either going to go two ways: a disaster or one of the more brilliant moves in the history of the company.

I agree. If they come up with a cool way to put Bryan in the main event, that makes sense and doesn't just discount the validity, history or importance of the Rumble match leading into the main event at WM, then yes, that would be genius. However, they could JUST as easily flounder this and make it a disaster. We shall see.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I just want to know how it's OK for El Torito to earn a spot in the illustrious Royal Rumble match, but not Daniel Bryan.

[The Rogerer]

Bryan did give an explanation on Twitter that "The Machine" prevented him from entering the rumble, and so I don't know if that answers that question.

Again - I just can't see the WWE being this stupid or naive. They just can't be.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and am assuming that they are simply trying to not be overly predictable.After the fact.

It's pretty easy not to be predictable.

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol all the smarks on the internet claiming they are done watching. It's b.s. They'll tune in Monday and if this is played out correctly it's an ingenius move.

The "no reason or focus", makes people pissed, but they'll tune in to voice their opinion even more.. They've got something potentially huge on their hands. Like I said, I could be wrong and it's a disaster. Not really giving my opinion yet, gonna see how they handle this.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

If Bryan eventually gets to where we believe he should be, I'm not sure it was worth sending all those PPV crowds home disappointed to get there. It's seriously dragging on.

There's long-term booking, and then there's just being silly.

It's like fooling a child into thinking he didn't get any Christmas presents, but not actually pulling out the sack and surprising him until June.

[Bad News Gertner]

I just want to know how it's OK for El Torito to earn a spot in the illustrious Royal Rumble match, but not Daniel Bryan.

It's not ok, but if in the storyline Bryan ends up in the title match, they've created a fanbase who is foaming at the mouth over this "injustice" and behind a character like we haven't seen in years. HUGE potential with this.

[Heyman]

Does anyone think that Rock, Foley, Taker, HHH, Cena or Austin would have not been included in the Rumble during their respective main event runs or even ascents to main event status, without a reason or storyline behind it being the focus of their television time? Absolutely not.


That's the thing though:

Perhaps the WWE is simply trying to avoid being formulaic.

A large part of Daniel Bryan's appeal is that he's an underdog face that is being held down by "The Machine." Fans can relate to that and that is why they are extremely angry right now.

Guys like Austin, Cena, HHH, Taker, and The Rock are all 'alpha males.' Bryan is not.

The fact that Bryan was held back from competing in the rumble by "The Machine" fits into his character, gimmick, and how the WWE want to position him, perfectly.

But again though - time will tell.

If Daniel Bryan does not win the World title at Wrestlemania, I take back everything I said.

For now though, I am going to go out on a limb and assume that the WWE are showing tremendous creativity right now. Bryan entering and winning the rumble would have been too predictable.

[Bad News Gertner]

If Bryan eventually gets to where we believe he should be, I'm not sure it was worth sending all those PPV crowds home disappointed to get there. It's seriously dragging on.

There's long-term booking, and then there's just being silly.

It's like fooling a child into thinking he didn't get any Christmas presents, but not actually pulling out the sack and surprising him until June.

Yes, but he was never advertised to be in it to begin with. Wrestlemania for ever has be THE event, so how huge would the lead up to this event if Bryan goes in and wins the belt. Huge, just massive.

[Heyman]

It's not ok, but if in the storyline Bryan ends up in the title match, they've created a fanbase who is foaming at the mouth over this "injustice" and behind a character like we haven't seen in years. HUGE potential with this.

Bad news Gertner nailed it too a fucking tee. :cool:

The true tragedy however, is that both of our hockey teams suck balls. :'(

[Anybody Thrilla]

Yeah, I'm not completely sour on it. I'm still watching. I've just never really been a Batista fan outside of his initial face turn and his Douchetista schtick before he left four years ago. He still has time to turn heel if they really want to do that, and he'd probably be decent in that role.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

It's not too late for them to "salvage" this whole angle, but I think they've passed the point of optimum return.

[Bad News Gertner]

Batista is just a natural heel. He'd play well against Bryan.

[Anybody Thrilla]

If this somehow turns into heel Batista v. Bryan for the title at Mania, that would be kinda awesome, I feel.

[Heisenberg]

The travesty missed was that I didn't get a goddamn motherfucking Chokeslam til late in the Rumble. Big Show could've supplied one but no, WWE doesn't listen to the fans!!!!!!wahhhhhhhh

It was a glorious choke slam, right through the table

[Bad News Gertner]

It's not too late for them to "salvage" this whole angle, but I think they've passed the point of optimum return.

We have to remember that this is wrestling and things can turn in a blink of an eye. I can't. Remember hearing anything like this. This is the point though. If they don't go through with this then it's a gigantic waste, because the Wrestlemania crowd will dump all over it. Rumble and Mania are huge "smark" crowds. They'll either make it one of the best in history or destroy it.

[Heyman]

If Bryan eventually gets to where we believe he should be, I'm not sure it was worth sending all those PPV crowds home disappointed to get there. It's seriously dragging on.

There's long-term booking, and then there's just being silly.

It's like fooling a child into thinking he didn't get any Christmas presents, but not actually pulling out the sack and surprising him until June.

Completely agree.

Perhaps I'm giving the WWE too much benefit of the doubt, but I do think they'll 'strike' with Bryan at Wrestlemania.


Think about this: The WWE "busted a nut" and prematurely ejaculated with both Lesnar and Orton at Summerslam back in 2002 and 2004 respectively. A little while later however, both wrestlers lost their momentum to varying degrees.

Bryan chasing the belt has been a good thing for the WWE.

Bryan vs. The Authority, in a very indirect way, has been the subtle main storyline in the WWE and I think they have delivered big time. The fact that the WWE has both marks AND smarks so pissed off is a testament.

Again though - I take this ALL back if Bryan does not win the title at Mania.

If this doesn't happen, then I pretty much agree with your stance.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Remember when Cena won last year, and it was just like, 'oh whatever'?

At least there's a buzz right now.

[Bad News Gertner]

If this somehow turns into heel Batista v. Bryan for the title at Mania, that would be kinda awesome, I feel.

Batista is a huge shit talker, so riling up the Bryan fans going into it would build this thing up. Batista isn't the greatest, but he plays a great heel character. A big loudmouth heel against a Bryan crowd who is behind him more than ever would be big.

[Bad News Gertner]

Remember when Cena won last year, and it was just like, 'oh whatever'?

At least there's a buzz right now.

Exactly, and when has there been a buzz like this that draws in the marks and smarks? Been quite a while. You could have a Hogan vs Rock type crowd reaction for this. Time will tell though.

[Heisenberg]

I would've booked Ultimate Warrior clotheslining 3 ppl out and shaking the ropes catapulting himself onto Chris Benoit's casket busting it open and having Bryan put his remains in the Yes Lock.

[Heyman]

Yeah, I'm not completely sour on it. I'm still watching. I've just never really been a Batista fan outside of his initial face turn and his Douchetista schtick before he left four years ago. He still has time to turn heel if they really want to do that, and he'd probably be decent in that role.

Of course you'll watch tonight. :cool:

In a weird sort of way, I think the WWE delivered big time last night since the fans are so pissed off.........and it has everyone talking. Marks AND smarks.

We will very likely see some extremely hostile crowd reactions tonight.

I honestly a tournament being held to see who will be #1 contender for Orton's belt at the February PPV. Bryan will win said tournament, and will go against Orton.

My guess is that the WWE will throw yet another curve ball where Orton defeats Bryan with HHH's help......pissing off the fans even more.

The next night on RAW, someone like Vince or Shane 'flexes their corporate' muscle and gives Bryan another shot at Orton........a clean one on one.

HHH tries to interfere during the match, but CM Punk decks him. Bryan beats Orton cleanly and goes onto face Batista.


That is EXACTLY how I see things playing out.

[Mr. Pierre]

Heyman, I hope you're right that the WWE isn't that stupid, and they indeed have an un-traditional plan to get Bryan into the main event. Was thinking about it myself after the show.

In the closing segment tonight, Orton and HHH have their typical promo. Out comes Batista, "I'm going to Mania, etc etc". Batista plays up the history he's had with both Triple H and Orton in the past. Batista challenges Orton to start Mania early. Orton and Triple H refuse and go backstage. Batista poses in the ring for a bit, then makes his way up the ramp and to the back to close the show.

Next week, as Orton, Batista, and Triple H are set to have another segment, Bryan interrupts on the ramp and says that he came across some really confusing footage last week. The titantron cuts to a "found footage camera" that contains a clip after Raw went off the air the week prior. It's a 30 second spot of Batista walking through the curtain, meeting Orton and Hunter with big smiles on their faces, handshakes, hugs, etc.

Everyone is now completely confused. Orton, Hunter, and Bats are looking at each other, not sure what to say next. Finally Hunter grabs the mic and snaps and admits his entire plan.

He admits that he purposely excluded Bryan from the Rumble, that he gave Batista a late entry to increase his Rumble chances, and that his entire plan has worked. Now the WrestleMania main event stays within the Authority's jurisdiction no matter who wins. It's been planned that regardless of which superstar wins at Mania, the other will respectfully grant a rematch at numerous pay-per-view events following WrestleMania. Batista and Orton have been his two hand-picked Champions for 10 years, and it's his dream to see them compete for the Championship at Mania, and he doesn't give a damn if the crowd wants Daniel Bryan. Triple H concludes his promo by firing Bryan for airing the footage, trying to sabotage his main event.

No Chance in Hell hits. Vinny Mac stands beside Bryan on the ramp. Vince cuts a promo saying how disappointed he was in Triple H for not giving the people what they want. Vince re-hires Bryan, and books a match for Chamber. Batista vs. Bryan, if Bryan wins, he's entered into the main event with Orton and Batista in a triple threat.

Bryan goes over Batista after dodging obstacles, and wins via roll-up.

The build going into the show can start as a 2-on-1 where Hunter's gameplan is, "I don't care who wins, just NOT Bryan." Bryan then starts to form rifts within the Authority, as he is starting chaos amongst Batista, Orton, and Triple H.

Then at Mania 30, Punk goes over Triple H and Bryan finally and decisively wins the WWE Championship, as Punk and Bryan finally "kill the machine" in one night.

[Heyman]

Remember when Cena won last year, and it was just like, 'oh whatever'?

At least there's a buzz right now.

Exactly.

You nailed it.

Which is why the WWE is actually being ingenius right now.

If Bryan had won at Summerslam (sans screwjob), there's a chance that he could have ended up like CM Punk from 2 years earlier where he would have peaked too early and lost momentum.

The WWE aren't stupid. They'll have Bryan win the title at Mania, but they'll be as unpredictable and creative as possible to keep the marks AND smarks guessing.

If Bryan doesn't win the title at Mania', I take back everything I said..........and will agree with Jabba's comments.

[The Rogerer]

It will get bigger ratings because the Royal Rumble always drags people back.

[MIZantine Empire]

The funny thing is, I always see in this forum "the wwe is too predictable" and various degrees of that opinion.. Now they shake it up a lil, and go against the grain, and they are all of a sudden " idiots". What also bothers me is that before sheamus got hurt, he was "boring" and "needed to do something else" and was "painful to watch" surprise return at the rumble and everyone complains about the wwe booking of the rumble shitting on his epic return. Can we get some decorum please? Lol

[Bad News Gertner]

The only issue is, Lesnar is the #1 contender to face Orton at the Feb ppv. You could go Lesnar loses to Orton due to interference from Taker, Bryan gets inserted into the main event at Wrestlemani and it gets made a threeway, which also works big time. Batista vs Orton vs Bryan at Wrestlemania. The decks stacked against Bryan to win, but he pulls it off.

[Heyman]

The funny thing is, I always see in this forum "the wwe is too predictable" and various degrees of that opinion.. Now they shake it up a lil, and go against the grain, and they are all of a sudden " idiots". What also bothers me is that before sheamus got hurt, he was "boring" and "needed to do something else" and was "painful to watch" surprise return at the rumble and everyone complains about the wwe booking of the rumble shitting on his epic return. Can we get some decorum please? Lol

You nailed it.

p.s._________In regards to Sheamus, the guy is bland and will never draw. Period. You can wrap a turd in silk and velvet but at the end of the day, it's still turd. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rios are bland, and the fans don't care about them all that much.

[Bad News Gertner]

It will get bigger ratings because the Royal Rumble always drags people back.

I think it'll be bigger than the normal post Rumble rating.

[Heyman]

The only issue is, Lesnar is the #1 contender to face Orton at the Feb ppv. You could go Lesnar loses to Orton due to interference from Taker, Bryan gets inserted into the main event at Wrestlemani and it gets made a threeway, which also works big time. Batista vs Orton vs Bryan at Wrestlemania. The decks stacked against Bryan to win, but he pulls it off.

Was Lesnar already announced as the guy that will face the champ at the Feb PPV?

Maybe what they can do, is have Taker challenge Lesnar BEFORE the Feb PPV (like tonight?) which prompts Heyman and Lesnar to go end the streak rather than win the title.

This then prompts HHH to create a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Feb PPV.

[MIZantine Empire]

Exactly.

You nailed it.

Which is why the WWE is actually being ingenius right now.

If Bryan had won at Summerslam (sans screwjob), there's a chance that he could have ended up like CM Punk from 2 years earlier where he would have peaked too early and lost momentum.

The WWE aren't stupid. They'll have Bryan win the title at Mania, but they'll be as unpredictable and creative as possible to keep the marks AND smarks guessing.

If Bryan doesn't win the title at Mania', I take back everything I said..........and will agree with Jabba's comments.
Everyone knew cena was winning that rumble.. I was mad that I spent money on tix cuz halfway there it hit me, there is no logical other winner (unless a surprise entrant came in and went the distance, y2j=best surprise ever) with Bryan, I think they are taking it easy. I mean outside of smark crowds, not even more than a year ago he was getting little to no reactions. I think they don't wanna blow their wads like they did with Ryder.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It's hard to tell if they're trolling the fans. It'd be pretty awesome if they were... but they do so many things that suggest they don't have any idea what the hell they're doing so all you can really do is wait and see.

[Frank Drebin]

Love the buzz, yes. Thing is that we get all sorts of ideas of how the WWE can turn this into something great, only to have them leave everyone hanging with a crap payoff.

Right now I've got grand plans for the authority to line up with heel turn batista and basically pit the guys that are "the stereotype wressler" that they try to shove down the fans throats vs the IWC darlings culminating in a huge meta-match with a Bryan title win at Mania in front of a rabid, smarky crowd.

The way things have been going though, with what really comes off as rushed or lazy booking (unifying the title, Bryan join the Wyatts, the way Mania went last year) I have no faith that they will pull off anything great and will just stick to what's easy.

Hope for the best, expect the worst.

[MIZantine Empire]

You nailed it.

p.s._________In regards to Sheamus, the guy is bland and will never draw. Period. You can wrap a turd in silk and velvet but at the end of the day, it's still turd. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rios are bland, and the fans don't care about them all that much.

I agree to an extent.. Some people just shouldn't be faces (sheamus) but the rumble thread was full of excitement and cheer for sheamus' return, from the same people shitting all over him months ago. I actually like the guy.. I think he was a great heel.. Especially when he did the whole "I can kick anyone's ass" shtick when he debuted

[Bad News Gertner]

If I recall when Vince screwed Bret, he thought he was going to be the good guy in the eyes of the crowd. Sometimes things just fall into place intentionally or not.

[NormanSmiley]

possibilities are worth talking about but you guys have all moved onto this Daniel bryan v batista scenario without a plausible way of getting the title off of Orton between now and then and shuffling him to the midcard.

For any scenario to work for a payoff Daniel Bray has to challenge for and Win the title at wrestlemania. Meaning sometime between now and then Batista will have to win the title off Orton. where?

Granted there's 69 days to figure it out but I don't see it. Mania plans are usually worked out prior to rumble and I don't see them straying because of one crowd in Pitt. Someone thinks Batista and Orton is the safe main event and he was brought in for a reason. hope i'm wrong

[Heyman]

It's hard to tell if they're trolling the fans. It'd be pretty awesome if they were... but they do so many things that suggest they don't have any idea what the hell they're doing so all you can really do is wait and see.

I pretty much agree with this.

I think they (WWE) are trolling the fans, but perhaps I am giving them too much credit.

I just can't fathom them being so f*** stupid.

[Frank Drebin]

Where??

Anytime. It's wrestling. If they want to they come up with an excuse.

[Mr. Pierre]

I think all the "self-proclaimed #1 contender stuff" is gonna backfire on Heyman and Lesnar. Tonight they announce the participants for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title, and Lesnar isn't one of them.

Lesnar and Heyman are irate in the Authority's office. Lesnar is throwing furniture as Heyman is screaming Lesnar's accomplishments since returning two years ago (beating the longest reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years, defeating Triple H on multiple occasions, destroying Big Show).

Steph said that the Authority was planning on giving Lesnar a title shot, but they cannot reward his behavior from the Rumble, as he unnecessarily hit the Big Show with a chair almost 40 times.

Heyman doesn't buy it, saying that Lesnar was never considered for a title shot because there is absolutely no respect for his client. Lesnar and Heyman storm out.

For the weeks leading into the Elimination Chamber, Lesnar and Heyman bully and destroy random talents, with Heyman saying "Does Brock Lesnar have respect yet?! Was that beatdown respectful enough?!" After maybe 2 weeks of doing this and still leading to not getting any respect, they come up with the ultimate plan for respect in their eyes.

Heyman explains that Brock Lesnar is jealous of not one man, except the Undertaker. Not for his ability, because Brock is superior, but because of the respect he commands within the entire WWE. Brock believes that if he dethrones the Undertaker, he will become the most respected entity in the WWE. An advertised part of the Elimination Chamber PPV becomes "Lesnar calls out the Undertaker," teasing Lesnar issuing the challenge for Mania.

At Chamber, Lesnar is in the ring with Heyman awaiting the Undertaker. As Taker is making his slow walk to the ring, Lesnar ambushes him, pulling his trench coat over Taker's head and nailing him with strikes, chair shots, etc. Taker is dismantled and completely destroyed and even embarrassed.

This gives Taker the motivation to return to Raw and make the match at Mania official as Lesnar tries to end his road to respect by ending the streak.

[NormanSmiley]

and storyline wise orton wouldn't use his rematch clause for mania? trying to shift the main event now from to the guy whos the challenger and a guy not in it, all while getting the guy with the title out of the picture is pretty fuckin ambitious for a company who doesn't think outside the box

[Hanso Amore]

I love how Gertner is so fucking smarmy about people being upset. And falls back to the "oh my assumptions could be amazing and they are going to make this out perfectly".

When has the WWE done something the "right way" and fooled fans in the last 10 years? Never. Why would you ever assume they would. What is more likely...

That this is all a huge long con by the WWE that will pay off like no angle in the history of the world

or

That they are once again playing against what the fans want or would be the most entertaining.

They arent trying to whip the fans into a frenzy, that is just happening due to their refusal to get behind the fans desire.

Im willing to bet every dime I have that Bryan ends up more like Zack Ryder than Chris Benoit when the curtain goes down at WM.

[Hanso Amore]

Seriously, Bryan won the title at Summerslam, and now at the Royal Rumble was booked in the opening match that he lost, and the guy who beat him was elevated to a program with Cena. His long term Wyatt feud was shit canned because a basketball team chants YES. He has no running story other than tagging with Cena against the Wyatts. He has been removed from the title picture.

There is no plan here for him. They will continue to roll him out to get pops but they have no plan to turn this into anything.

[NormanSmiley]

no plan?? he's going to wrestle sheamus at mania I mean come on, what better spot is there than holding dow the hillbilly jim 3rd match hole at mania against sheamus? lol

[Innovator]

If they were trolling the fans, Bad News Barrett should've been number 30 last night.

[Nark Order]

This was not "shaking it up." Everybody predicted Batista to win and he won.

[Heyman]

This was not "shaking it up." Everybody predicted Batista to win and he won.

Unfortunately, you are correct in this regard.

However, I was talking more from the perspective of pushing your top guy in an entirely different way.

The WWE aren't stupid (KNOCK ON WOOD).

They know that Daniel Bryan is their #1 guy right now, and they know that Batista is an aging, past-his-prime, 44-45 year old.

However - how many times have we seen *insert number 1 babyface* win the Royal Rumble in dramatic fashion, and then go on to Wrestlemania to win the title?

Hogan, Austin, HBK, Batista, <S>Benoit</S>, Mysterio, etc., etc.

It just seems very formulaic does it not?

Daniel Bryan just might be a different beast altogether.

His whole appeal has been based on being an 'underdog overlooked' warrior that is being held down by the man. It's why he's so relatable. Everyone can relate to being "held down by the man."

In yester-year, we've seen top alpha-dogs such as Austin, The Rock, DX, and even John Cena get the better of Vince McMahon more times than not.

In this case however - we're seeing something different. Daniel Bryan is certainly NOT getting the better of "The Machine."


Long story short - lets see how this unfolds. I think the WWE will find a way to get the title on Daniel Bryan at this year's Mania'. I suspect that it has been their plan since last summer.

p.s._____________Jabba is right though. The WWE better not carry this out too much longer. If Bryan doesn't win the title at Mania, they will have missed the boat in my opinion.

[Bad News Gertner]

I love how Gertner is so fucking smarmy about people being upset. And falls back to the "oh my assumptions could be amazing and they are going to make this out perfectly".

When has the WWE done something the "right way" and fooled fans in the last 10 years? Never. Why would you ever assume they would. What is more likely...

That this is all a huge long con by the WWE that will pay off like no angle in the history of the world

or

That they are once again playing against what the fans want or would be the most entertaining.

They arent trying to whip the fans into a frenzy, that is just happening due to their refusal to get behind the fans desire.

Im willing to bet every dime I have that Bryan ends up more like Zack Ryder than Chris Benoit when the curtain goes down at WM.

Lol christ, I made fun of people jumping off a fucking cliff, and later said this could go two ways: a disaster or the biggest thing in over a decade. Tell me what's so ridiculous or hypocritical about what I said.

[Bad News Gertner]

Easiest way to go about this: Lesnar faces Orton and loses due to Taker interference, brakes off into his feud. Bryan comes out during February demanding to be put in the main event. HHH stacks the deck saying "you have one shot, if you beat the Shield in a handicap match". Bryan goes over at the Feb ppv due to something like Reigns spearing Ambrose by accident. The Shield implodes and bam they have their match at Wrestlemania. Cena does his thing with Wyatt, HHH does his thing with Punk and your main event features two former associates of HHH being Batista and Orton in a triple threat with Bryan. The Authority has stacked the deck once again. Bryan wins at Wrestlemania.

So your card goes

Batista/Bryan/Orton for the WWE World Title
Taker Vs Lesnar
Cena vs Wyatt
Cody vs Goldust
HHH vs Punk
You could do Usos vs NAO
You have Sheamus back who always has good matches. Throw him against Ryback, former bully vs current bully
Ambrose vs Reigns vs Rollins for the U.S
Langston vs Henry for the IC
AJ vs Naomi

And you still have guys like Del Rio, Ziggler, Sandow to do something with.

I would pay for the PPV. Fresh matches, interesting storylines going in, some unpredictability.

[The Rogerer]

Typical TrollPWW

"They just let their marquee event melt into a pile of slag, they totally know what they're doing, smarks"

[Theo Dious]

Daniel Bryan just might be a different beast altogether.

You know, "the different beast" might be a great nickname for him. Because he really is. The man can't be buried. He's been put through things that would have destroyed the careers of many others, and he stole the show in a losing effort. I want to impress this: HE WAS THE STAR OF A ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH IN WHICH HE DID NOT EVEN APPEAR. That is absolute magic. People all over the world are emulating his simplistic catch phrase and motions. "YES YES YES" - the thing, by the way, that initially turned him heel - is currently the biggest wrestling tag line since "Austin 3:16." And he came from ROH for fuck's sake. A man, a chant, and a beard.

[CSL]

what things has he been put through that would have destroyed the careers of many others?

[BigCrippyZ]

what things has he been put through that would have destroyed the careers of many others?

I think this is what he was implying...

Firing him.
Constant poor writing and booking, push/de-push.
Having him job to an uninteresting, non-entertaining, uncharismatic, pale, Irish guy, losing his World title on the "biggest" show of the year in an 18 second "match".

[Corporate CockSnogger]

Now I haven't watched for pretty much all of Daniel Bryan's "rise", the last I saw of him properly was when he was teaming with Kane I think, but it seems that the majority of his "overness" stems from the WWE not using him, building up the fans frustrations. Basically the same as Ziggler and Ryder were for a while, although he's obviously more over than Ryder was.

So I'd say yes, if they eventually do give him that "big win" they've played a blinder in getting him to this level.

[Nark Order]

But what many of us are saying is that it absolutely was not intentional. We are in a circumstantial situation now where fans are chomping at the bit for Bryan to be in the main event but it was in no way some strategic ploy by the WWE to do so. They have gone out of their way to downplay his popularity and to get people to think what they want them to think and none of it worked. When people act like we are all idiots and Triple H is implementing some master plan, that just isn't true. Everything they did put together this situation where there could be major potential for a Bryan run, but it was an unintended byproduct of their complete and utter ineptitude regarding the fan's evaluation of talent. They can turn this around, but they will have to reevaluate their system for how they book their shows or this is a complete disaster. So far, they haven't shown they are able to do that.

[CSL]

this whole thing started with them paying attention to the audience when he first really started getting over as a singles babyface in the middle of last year. He then went on to defeat John Cena clean as a whistle (which is huge), one of what, maybe 3-4 guys to do that in the last 10 years? The proverbial tease. And ever since then it's basically been fuck job after fuck job to keep him away from the belt. I'm not necessarily saying that this is the exact route they chose to take but I think to say that they basically lucked into the entire thing/his current legit superstar reaction, whilst essentially trying to hold him down is pretty short-sighted. At least until "the whole thing has played out".

[Nark Order]

So we're going with the ever popular "Let's just see where they go with this, guys" stance?

Last night was inexcusable. I think if you asked them whether they would've had Batista cheered or booed out of the building after his victory, they would've probably wanted a favorable reaction. The end of the rumble was absolutely ruined because of their ineptitude regarding Bryan. If I was anybody in the locker room, I would've been really angry at them for making such a horrible booking mistake. I mean, Rey and Batista were completely shit all over for something that wasn't even close to their fault, and it happened because of bad booking decisions. And clearly obvious bad booking decisions. Bryan has the potential to be uber over now if they run with it, but it came at the cost of ruining the Royal Rumble. And it isn't just the smarks that are unhappy, you can look at the poll they had on facebook.

Bryan didn't need to win the Rumble. But leaving him out and creating this shitstorm looks so awful on them right now. The guy they are pushing as their big babyface got booed out of the building. That is a problem.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Shouldn't he have had this promo last week?

[Nark Order]

And no. They do not get credit for writing 1/4 of an incredible story and then replacing the pages of the other 3/4 of the book with camel shit. That isn't how things work.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

So we're going with the ever popular "Let's just see where they go with this, guys" stance?

Last night was inexcusable. I think if you asked them whether they would've had Batista cheered or booed out of the building after his victory, they would've probably wanted a favorable reaction. The end of the rumble was absolutely ruined because of their ineptitude regarding Bryan. If I was anybody in the locker room, I would've been really angry at them for making such a horrible booking mistake. I mean, Rey and Batista were completely shit all over for something that wasn't even close to their fault, and it happened because of bad booking decisions. And clearly obvious bad booking decisions. Bryan has the potential to be uber over now if they run with it, but it came at the cost of ruining the Royal Rumble. And it isn't just the smarks that are unhappy, you can look at the poll they had on facebook.

Bryan didn't need to win the Rumble. But leaving him out and creating this shitstorm looks so awful on them right now. The guy they are pushing as their big babyface got booed out of the building. That is a problem.

You don't get to see the Mona Lisa in different stages. You see the whole thing right away and judge it. People don't get to complain that the woman is fat or ugly as Da Vinci paints. You only see the complete painting and then judge that.

You have to wait for the complete piece in order to judge properly. You have to judge it weekly because of your podcast and that is a determent to your enjoyment.

You have no frame of mind that was ever going to "see how it goes" you've been hyper-critical of the story-line since SummerSlam. If you gave it an actual chance to see how it goes you could have a right to complain about it not going right. It was never going to go right in your frame of mind so shut the fuck up.

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

People weren't charged 40 dollars to see the preliminary sketches of the Mona Lisa.

[CSL]

So we're going with the ever popular "Let's just see where they go with this, guys" stance?

that should pretty much be the eternal stance with pro wrestling. And even if not, people throwing their toys out of the pram when they don't get what they want or expect is hardly a better stance to take. Given his current huge popularity, his un-rivaled reactions and so forth, is the whole thing not worth it if he winds up having "his moment" at either of the next 2-3 PPV's? As long as his popularity continues to rise and they're actively acknowledging it, I don't see what there is to bitch about other than a bunch of people thinking they know better. If in a years time he's nowhere, he's working the midcard to average reactions having never gotten his shot, fair enough. Tear WWE to pieces for missing the boat entirely. But anything else until then is pretty much redundant. I've been "around" the internet for like 12 years now and it honestly still boggles my mind.

[CSL]

People weren't charged 40 dollars to see the preliminary sketches of the Mona Lisa.

there are also other things on show in the museum. Not to mention that a pretty large portion of those bitching probably didn't pay $40.

[Nark Order]

This isn't just about Bryan. They are seriously burying other people because of their horrible decisions. It isn't all that fair to guys like Bats/Rey when awful booking decisions like this are made and ruin their reactions as well.

[Bad News Gertner]

People weren't charged 40 dollars to see the preliminary sketches of the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa wasn't advertised to be at the museum.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

This isn't just about Bryan. They are seriously burying other people because of their horrible decisions. It isn't all that fair to guys like Bats/Rey when awful booking decisions like this are made and ruin their reactions as well.

This I agree with. You're mostly in the right. It just blows my mind that they are so stupid, but it really shouldn't, since they consistently prove how stupid they are.

[Fox]

I'm kind of surprised that there are still people that think WWE is "booking Daniel Bryan perfectly." I bought into the wait and see thing after Summerslam, and even after Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell, but at this point it's just ridiculous.

WWE is trying to do what they always do: they're going with the main event they think they should go with (the big, marketable, "superstar look" guys in Orton and Batista). They're going with the chosen child (Orton) and the superstar from years ago who has a big movie coming out. And that's what they're going to do. There's nothing we can do to stop it. It's just like WrestleMania 25. Triple H versus Orton probably wasn't the best choice for their "25th anniversary" show. But it's what they went with. They haven't taken a "risk" with their WrestleMania main event since WrestleMania 20 when they let a guy who "shouldn't be in the main event of the biggest show of the year" win the thing.

Vince knows what he wants. He wants Batista verus Orton - the movie star versus the perfect embodiment of what a WWE superstar should wrestle and look like. And nothing is going to change that. He's far too stubborn to consider anything else. The WWE universe doesn't know what it wants. They want what he tells them to want. It's always been that way and it will always be that way.

They opened RAW tonight with Daniel Bryan because they had to - after all of the social media attention that Bryan's exclusion from the Rumble got, they had to bring it out and talk about it or risk it gaining even more momentum.

But look at what happened on RAW. That show was not about Daniel Bryan rising up. They are merely using his level of popularity to get other things over. Having Bryan stand up against the Authority gets the Authority more over as heels. Having him go up against the Shield gets Roman Reigns, another guy they want to push, more over as a superstar. Having him team with Sheamus and John Cena in the main event gets them more over as faces just by association and by teaming with him in their main event. But it's not about Bryan. They're using his fire to warm others. But he'll never be the main flame.

Just wait. Nothing will change. Orton will win the Rumble by the skin of his teeth, probably after Sheamus turns heel, joins the Authority and screws Bryan out of a victory, building up their eventual match at Mania.

And we will have Randy Orton versus Batista in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. And the match will be slow and plodding and un-fitting for the 30th WrestleMania, and Batista will win the thing, and fireworks will go off and confetti will rain from the rafters, and the next night on RAW they will be able to tout that Dave Batista, star of one of the next phase movies in the Avengers series, is their champion.

And Daniel Bryan will continue to put on the best matches on the card, regardless of his opponent, and the fans will continue to watch, and maybe in the summer they'll finally give him his push to the World Title, but it will be far too late.

[Bad News Gertner]

WEEKTOWEEK BRO!

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Gertner, I think you and me would be an amazing booking team. Throw in Jabba and ABT or a few of the other lads, with some actual former pro wrestlers to beat us up and show us the ropes, bet you we'd book some shit hot tv. :cool:

[#1-norm-fan]

If they were trolling the fans, Bad News Barrett should've been number 30 last night.

Oh God that would have been amazing.

"I've got some... BAD NEWS for you all. I'm NOT Daniel Bryan."

[#1-norm-fan]

I'm a little disappointed that Gertner seems to have softened a bit on his stance that Bryan absolutely should not be main eventing for the world title.

[Nark Order]

Gertner. How is the podcast coming?

[Bad News Gertner]

Computer is fried so I gotta buy a new laptop.

[Bad News Gertner]

Oh God that would have been amazing.

"I've got some... BAD NEWS for you all. I'm NOT Daniel Bryan."

Would have kept me in the damn survivor pool

[Mr. Nerfect]

Gertner is correct. I'm not sure whether or not the WWE has planned this, but if they are reactive and manage to think on their feet, they have the potential to create an amazing storyline going forward from here. Bryan winning the WWE World Title at the Elimination Chamber and then defending it against Batista -- who is so confident he will squash the vanilla midget -- could be great.

I was thinking today that this could be a way to get Daniel Bryan vs. The Undertaker going. Bryan would be upset that he was not included, The Authority would talk about Bryan's "safety," which Bryan knows is bullshit, so he sets his sights on proving himself. What better way to prove himself to Triple H than by beating the man that Triple H lost to three times at WrestleMania, and a man that has gone 21-0 at WrestleMania?

But it's possible that this could just be a segue into Bryan managing to get himself into the title match at the last minute. The WWE has to know that the crowd is going to shit on Batista vs. Orton at Mania. They just have to know that.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Some things to keep in mind:

* Daniel Bryan lost to Bray Wyatt, which was weird. The WWE pulled the trigger on this because Bryan was so fucking over and they used it to kick off the show. Wyatt's goons were sent to the back which would have explained a way for Bryan to win the match (either by pinfall, submission or disqualification when they returned and attacked), but they chose to put Wyatt over. This means they value Bray's credibility, but it also seemed to make people think that the night was not over for Bryan. If Bryan had won and simply returned to the back, then it may have been more of a "final" story for him. Yet the WWE seemed to leave people hanging on purpose...

* The WWE didn't have Bryan in the Royal Rumble match. They gave Kevin Nash a spot. They gave El Torito a spot. They gave two guys who have made it clear they only want to be WWE Tag Team Champions in The Usos a shot. But they didn't put Daniel Bryan in there. They didn't want him in that Rumble. They didn't want him to lose that Royal Rumble.

There might be some truth to there being some method behind the madness right now. But you'd think that someone other than Rey Mysterio would have been #30 if that were the case. Bad News Barrett would have been perfect.

[Heyman]

So we're going with the ever popular "Let's just see where they go with this, guys" stance?

Narcissus,

I understand your skepticism of the WWE, but again...........think about 2002 and 2004 when the WWE "busted a nut" with both Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton respectively at Summerslam. Especially in the case of Orton, the guy lost a lot of steam a few months later after winning the title at Summerslam. CM Punk in 2011; same thing. Won the title from Cena at Summerslam, and then eventually lost a lot of steam as a face.

Daniel Bryan having a legit face run as champ after Summerslam would have been great, but imagine how much greater things would be if he won the title at Mania? (followed by a strong run).

Again - the fact that The Authority are completely burying Daniel Bryan on TV, is making the fans love Bryan even more.

However - this is ALL a moot point if the WWE does NOT deliver with a Daniel Bryan World Title victory at Mania.


Last night was inexcusable. I think if you asked them whether they would've had Batista cheered or booed out of the building after his victory, they would've probably wanted a favorable reaction. The end of the rumble was absolutely ruined because of their ineptitude regarding Bryan. If I was anybody in the locker room, I would've been really angry at them for making such a horrible booking mistake. I mean, Rey and Batista were completely shit all over for something that wasn't even close to their fault, and it happened because of bad booking decisions. And clearly obvious bad booking decisions. Bryan has the potential to be uber over now if they run with it, but it came at the cost of ruining the Royal Rumble. And it isn't just the smarks that are unhappy, you can look at the poll they had on facebook.

Bryan didn't need to win the Rumble. But leaving him out and creating this shitstorm looks so awful on them right now. The guy they are pushing as their big babyface got booed out of the building. That is a problem.

Again - I know you're going to hate me saying this............but lets see where this goes.

For all we know, Batista will *not* be a face come Wrestlemania. Even if he's pushed as face and goes up against a fellow face in Daniel Bryan and gets booed out of the building.........that's not necessarily a bad thing. Proof? Look no further than the crowd reactions Cena gets.

And again - If Daniel Bryan had entered the rumble and had won the rumble, things would have been extremely formulaic. The fact that "The Machine" prevented Bryan from entering the rumble has made the fans love Bryan even more. Period.

What good would it have done if Bryan had entered the rumble and had been thrown out by Batista or Reigns?

If the WWE are trying to make their storylines as realistic as possible, then you can't just 'cave in' to whatever the fans want every single time.

Bryan needs to win the title at Wrestlemania, but why not keep both the marks and smarks (like you) guessing? In my opinion, this is EXACTLY what the WWE are doing, and kudos to them for doing that.

There is a reason why Bryan's popularity has continued to soar even after Summerslam. Think about that for a second.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Yeah him tweeting about it the way he did definitely shows they are at least reacting to it. Which is a very good sign. Part of the problem is they have no idea how to book a rebel like Bryan. The more they keep dumping on him, the more people sympathize. How are they gonna find the delicate balance of not completely burying him and robbing him of his moment and not completely turning him into a lamewad schill for the company. Bryan is company man, not because he bleeds WWE but because he is a staunch professional and does what he's told... there's certain things he won't be able to make up for just by being Daniel Bryan

[CSL]

Gorgeous Dale Newstead, did you just imply WWE has no idea how to book a rebel whose popularity went through the roof after the birth of a catchphrase?

[Innovator]

What?

[Heyman]

Yeah him tweeting about it the way he did definitely shows they are at least reacting to it. Which is a very good sign. Part of the problem is they have no idea how to book a rebel like Bryan. The more they keep dumping on him, the more people sympathize.

That's the thing though. Daniel Bryan, from what I understand, isn't an overt rebel though........atleast like someone like Austin or Degeneration X were.

The fact that Bryan continuously gets screwed over and takes it like a champ (without looking like a bitch) is what makes the fans sympathize with him and love him even more. It's a perfect blend of Bryan standing up for himself, but differentiating his character from a guy like Austin or DX.

Again - from a booker's standpoint, and WWE creative standpoint, the end goal is to not be predictable. The last thing you want for Bryan is to have him be an Austin clone by being a badass rebel. Bryan is his own unique personality, and I think the WWE are being extremely creative here. Bryan being a "bad-ass rebel" and winning the rumble would have extremely formulaic.

How are they gonna find the delicate balance of not completely burying him and robbing him of his moment and not completely turning him into a lamewad schill for the company.

Have him win the World Heavyweight title at Wrestlemania. Period.

[Heyman]

I was thinking today that this could be a way to get Daniel Bryan vs. The Undertaker going. Bryan would be upset that he was not included, The Authority would talk about Bryan's "safety," which Bryan knows is bullshit, so he sets his sights on proving himself. What better way to prove himself to Triple H than by beating the man that Triple H lost to three times at WrestleMania, and a man that has gone 21-0 at WrestleMania?


I don't like the idea of Taker vs. Bryan.

Taker's streak should never be ended, while Bryan should not be jobbing at Mania'.

Bryan NEEDS to be in the main-event of Wrestlemania fighting for the Championship. Period.

The only guy that should be fighting with Undertaker and Wrestlemania, is Brock Lesnar in my opinion.

[NormanSmiley]

why does he NEED to be though? if the purpose of the company is to create as many viable stars as they can maybe they are smart to see DB doesn't need the title to be viable?

Remember when they gave the big belt to little guys like benoit and mysterio and those in the know shit all over it? why do it again?

the course that should happen is DB would win the title after mania and then he's unfairly screwed out of it by the higher ups a few months later then spends the rest of 14 chasing it for the big payoff at the next rumble and mania 31. it's not time yet

not that orton batista is a good thing to me, or anything with cena for that matter, but just remember you and me don't pay for PPVs we don't buy t shirts and foam fingers.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Gorgeous Dale Newstead, did you just imply WWE has no idea how to book a rebel whose popularity went through the roof after the birth of a catchphrase?

Austin was a whole different beast, at a different time, in a different era. They KNEW how to do it, but that was when the wrestler's had more control, and the E wasn't the machine yet. I don't think under the current landscape, they have any idea of what to do with a rebel. Things change.

[Heyman]

possibilities are worth talking about but you guys have all moved onto this Daniel bryan v batista scenario without a plausible way of getting the title off of Orton between now and then and shuffling him to the midcard.


Randy Orton vs. Sting.

That is how I would handle things if I was in charge.

At the February PPV, Daniel Bryan wins. A week later, Triple H enables Orton to get his rematch against Bryan, one on one. Bryan wins cleanly.

The week after that, Orton complains about being screwed over and that the original "Legend Killer" deserves far more respect. He talks about how he has beaten numerous legends such as The Rock, Ric Flair, Foley, etc.

::::Cue Sting's music:::::

Badda Bing Badda Boom.

[Heyman]

He-Man's updated Wrestlemania Card:

-Daniel Bryan vs. Batista
-Undertaker vs. Lesnar
-Sting vs. Randy Orton
-Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
-Goldust vs. Cody Rhodes
-Usos vs. New Age Outlaws
-Triple H vs. CM Punk
-John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
-AJ Lee vs. ????

-Some kind of battle Royale

[Swiss Ultimate]

Gorgeous Dale Newstead, did you just imply WWE has no idea how to book a rebel whose popularity went through the roof after the birth of a catchphrase?

His catchphrase was born after being scheduled to win King of the Ring. Isn't that proof that Austin was already getting a significant push with or without 3:16?

I don't know the behind-the-scenes history there, but if they were trying to bury him, they probably wouldn't have let him win King of the Ring.

Not that I think the WWE is trying to bury Daniel Bryan. If they really didn't like him and his boy scout behavior outside the ring, they could have fired him a long time ago during the NXT spitting incident.

[NormanSmiley]

[QUOTE=He-Man;4369432]Randy Orton vs. Sting.

That is how I would handle things if I was in charge.

yikes....

[Swiss Ultimate]

He-Man's updated Wrestlemania Card:

-Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Batista
-Undertaker vs. Lesnar
-Sting vs. Randy Orton
-Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
-Goldust vs. Cody Rhodes
-Usos vs. New Age Outlaws
-Triple H vs. CM Punk
-John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
-AJ Lee vs. ????

-Some kind of battle Royale

Sting? Is that a real possibility?

It would only be cool if it went unadvertised. Like have Randy Orton beat Ziggler for the #1 Contender spot, the lights go out, Sting comes down from the ceiling, nails him with the bat, splashes him in all four corners before hitting the reverse DDT and putting him in the scorpion deathlock until he passes out.

[Bad News Gertner]

His catchphrase was born after being scheduled to win King of the Ring. Isn't that proof that Austin was already getting a significant push with or without 3:16?

I don't know the behind-the-scenes history there, but if they were trying to bury him, they probably wouldn't have let him win King of the Ring.

Not that I think the WWE is trying to bury Daniel Bryan. If they really didn't like him and his boy scout behavior outside the ring, they could have fired him a long time ago during the NXT spitting incident.

HHH was actually supposed to win the KOTF but was punished for the MSG incident. Stone Cold took his spot. Weird how things play out.

[Heyman]

[QUOTE=He-Man;4369432]Randy Orton vs. Sting.

That is how I would handle things if I was in charge.

yikes....

I don't think it's too bad. Certainly not a match made in heaven, but it does allow.....

1) The WWE to push Orton away from the main-event while keeping Orton involved in a high profile marquee match-up.

2) Gives Sting a worthy opponent for his WWE


The WWE are shitting themselves if they think that Batista vs. Orton will captivate fan interest.

Orton vs Bryan has been done before......WWE should go with Bryan/Batista.

That is why I suggest that Orton goes up against Sting.

Orton going up against main-event plumbers such as Sheamus, Big Show, Del-Rios, etc., won't hold any interest with the fans. Guys like Ziggler, Miz, etc., are on not on Orton's level.

Hence - my choice of Orton vs. Sting.

[Heyman]

Sting? Is that a real possibility?



According to recent reports on news sites, it is.

[NormanSmiley]

batista v. Daniel bryan has been done before

[Bad News Gertner]

I called it being a threeway dance between Orton Batista and Bryan and I hope I'm not wrong because that would be cool.

[Heyman]

batista v. Daniel bryan has been done before

Like what?

4-5 years ago?

Bryan wasn't a star back then.

Trust me - Bryan/Batista won't be stale due to a match that took place 4-5 years ago. :-|

[Heyman]

I called it being a threeway dance between Orton Batista and Bryan and I hope I'm not wrong because that would be cool.

Very strong possibility but I hope not.

In terms of building credibility, one-on-one victories do far more for a wrestler than a three-way.

The WWE's biggest long-term priority should be to make Daniel Bryan look as strong as possible.

[Swiss Ultimate]

HHH was actually supposed to win the KOTF but was punished for the MSG incident. Stone Cold took his spot. Weird how things play out.

Just did a quick wiki-check on the 1996 KOTR + PPV. Triple H beat Aldo Montoya in a dark match.

Crazy about some of the names in the actual tournament (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Ring_(1996)#Tournament_brackets).

Vader, Ultimate Warrior, Yokozuna, Owen Hart...

I wonder if Triple H had not been punished who he would have faced in the final match. Jake, Austin or maybe Ultimate Warrior instead.

According to recent reports on news sites, it is.

Hmmm...

[Bad News Gertner]

Very strong possibility but I hope not.

In terms of building credibility, one-on-one victories do far more for a wrestler than a three-way.

The WWE's biggest long-term priority should be to make Daniel Bryan look as strong as possible.

You'd have to get the belt off Orton beforehand. Bryan going in as champ wouldn't be as big of a moment as Bryan winning the belt, even more so if he defeated two of HHH former Evolution members at the same time. It'd make sense storyline-wise as well.

[Swiss Ultimate]

What are the practical ways to get DB into the main-event without giving him the title?

[Bad News Gertner]

Here's what I posted earlier: on Raw, Bryan keeps cutting promos on HHH demanding a shot, giving the people what they want. HHH says ok, but if he doesn't win this match, he'll never get a chance again. HHH puts him in a handicap match against The Shield. Bryan overcomes the odds and wins due to miscommunication in the The Shield, which leads to the Shield fighting each other. In that match you now have:

Bryan vs Batista vs Orton
Reigns vs Ambrose vs Rollins.

Two solid Wrestlemania matches.

[#1-norm-fan]

I called it being a threeway dance between Orton Batista and Bryan and I hope I'm not wrong because that would be cool.

Bryan would win to please the smarks and it would be eerily similar to the WrestleMania 20 main event. We all know how that turned out.

[whiteyford]

Narcissus,

Especially in the case of Orton, the guy lost a lot of steam a few months later after winning the title at Summerslam. CM Punk in 2011; same thing. Won the title from Cena at Summerslam, and then eventually lost a lot of steam as a face.

They were both booked as jobbers, winning the title didn't cause them to lose steam.

[#1-norm-fan]

WWE's biggest mistake was putting Bryan in the title picture to begin with. They could have done just fine having him put on great matches and involving him in good storylines and the Bryan marks would have been completely satisfied. Then for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to let people think he was a legit contender who could compete with a guy like Cena to be one of the "faces of the company" and now that's what people expect. There's no going back.

[Droford]

What are the practical ways to get DB into the main-event without giving him the title?
Special guest time keeper

[Swiss Ultimate]

WWE's biggest mistake was putting Bryan in the title picture to begin with. They could have done just fine having him put on great matches and involving him in good storylines and the Bryan marks would have been completely satisfied. Then for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to let people think he was a legit contender who could compete with a guy like Cena to be one of the "faces of the company" and now that's what people expect. There's no going back.

If tiny Japanese men can beat Godzilla, Daniel Bryan can beat Batista.

[#1-norm-fan]

Yes but Godzilla will still always get top billing over the nameless tiny Japanese men.

[Swiss Ultimate]

Tell that to Matthew Broderick.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

WWE's biggest mistake was putting Bryan in the title picture to begin with. They could have done just fine having him put on great matches and involving him in good storylines and the Bryan marks would have been completely satisfied. Then for some reason they decided it would be a good idea to let people think he was a legit contender who could compete with a guy like Cena to be one of the "faces of the company" and now that's what people expect. There's no going back.

lol how was that a mistake? Because you don't want him to be the champion?

[Blonde Moment]

lol how was that a mistake? Because you don't want him to be the champion?

Because as of right now it seems like THEY do not want him as champion, which of course could be booking, as they want to turn the focus back to the big monsters

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

In 1994 they wanted to bring the focus onto Lex Luger, but when they heard the crowd reaction for Bret Hart when they co-won the rumble, they went with Bret.

Like it was brought up earlier, Steve Austin wasn't supposed to win the King of the Ring.

And tons of other things change on the fly because they have to give the people what they want. I honestly don't know if Bryan getting the title at this exact point is the right move IMO, I feel like keeping him strong while having him chase is probably the best choice, but the problem is, they are ABSOLUTELY AWFUL at keeping seemingly any character strong these days w/o turning them into the same old vanilla "OVERCOMING THE ODDS" superman. Thus they don't know how to keep Bryan all that strong, the only guy who knows how to keep Bryan strong is Bryan by shining no matter what they do with him, and the fans can see that.

#1wwefan is right as far as long term booking, they could've kept him strong by just putting him in awesome storylines and slowly building his credibility, but like ALWAYS, they shot their wad because as has been consistent since the Invasion angle, they generally do not know how to book anyone (aside from VERY few) to superstardom. They have no tangible mid card. That's the thing about wrestling in its best years, it always had a very strong mid card to lube the fans up for the main event angles, but now the mid card literally means nothing. So the fans don't want to see Daniel Bryan, THEIR GUY in shitty, meaningless mid card feuds, because it's been hammered in their head that the mid card means shit all, and is generally just filler.

[Innovator]

Well, if the news about Punk is true and WWE moves into the Bryan/HHH direction, I think it'll make better sense long term for that to happen over Punk/HHH.

[CSL]

#1wwefan is right as far as long term booking, they could've kept him strong by just putting him in awesome storylines and slowly building his credibility, but like ALWAYS, they shot their wad because as has been consistent since the Invasion angle, they generally do not know how to book anyone (aside from VERY few) to superstardom. They have no tangible mid card. That's the thing about wrestling in its best years, it always had a very strong mid card to lube the fans up for the main event angles, but now the mid card literally means nothing. So the fans don't want to see Daniel Bryan, THEIR GUY in shitty, meaningless mid card feuds, because it's been hammered in their head that the mid card means shit all, and is generally just filler.

but he hasn't been in shitty, meaningless mid card feuds. He went from Cena to Orton (w/ Triple H) to Wyatt, the first two of which were top of the card programs with top of the card/company guys and the latter with maybe the best booked/most interesting/one of the most over acts in the territory. Since beating John Cena clean as a whistle (something not even Punk did during his "rise", something I remember Triple H, HBK and maybe Batista doing over the last like 10 years) he's basically been story line fucked over or outnumbered and all it's done is serve to make him more popular, to the point where people are now frothing at the mouth to see him "get his due". He couldn't possibly be in a better position. And all people are bothered about is complaining about the way he got there.

[#1-norm-fan]

lol how was that a mistake? Because you don't want him to be the champion?

No. Because they don't. The audience won't have it now though because they teased it too much and put it in their heads that it's a possibility. So they're probably gonna end up having to cave and give it to him anyway. Which will probably lead to a Benoit-style reign where he's holding the title while Cena is the real headliner for a few months because he's not viewed as an "A+ player".

[Heyman]

You'd have to get the belt off Orton beforehand. Bryan going in as champ wouldn't be as big of a moment as Bryan winning the belt, even more so if he defeated two of HHH former Evolution members at the same time. It'd make sense storyline-wise as well.

That's an excellent point. After thinking about this, I would also agree with you that there would be a bigger payoff in Bryan winning the title at Mania'.

p.s.________________I just got word of the CM Punk situation. WWE better not f*** that up.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

but he hasn't been in shitty, meaningless mid card feuds. He went from Cena to Orton (w/ Triple H) to Wyatt, the first two of which were top of the card programs with top of the card/company guys and the latter with maybe the best booked/most interesting/one of the most over acts in the territory. Since beating John Cena clean as a whistle (something not even Punk did during his "rise", something I remember Triple H, HBK and maybe Batista doing over the last like 10 years) he's basically been story line fucked over or outnumbered and all it's done is serve to make him more popular, to the point where people are now frothing at the mouth to see him "get his due". He couldn't possibly be in a better position. And all people are bothered about is complaining about the way he got there.

Once again, in all fairness.... the reason his programs have been white hot is because he's put himself in those positions. He is the exception, not the rule. Legitimately, every time they try to bury him, he just keeps going out there and being amazing and giving them NO CHOICE. They keep trying to make him go away and disappear, and the crowd hijacks segments chanting his name. They jobbed him in 17 seconds to Sheamus, and the crowd revolted. I mean come on. You can argue and give every excuse in the book. They DO NOT want Daniel Bryan as the company guy, no matter what anyone tries to say. They like him, they respect him but he doesn't fit their mold, work and shoot. They'll put him in decent programs, they'll give him title reigns, but it'll be the foot half in, half out.... no boosters attached.

The point is, he's not being groomed. For christ's sake, they had him pencilled into face Sheamus at wrestlemania. No disrespect to our ginger friend, but come on, that's a cop out. They want him there, to be a team player, to be a gritty blocker on the o line who protects the qb and the rb. But they don't want to give him the ball. The key is to give him the ball, but not make him into the same vanilla bullshit they always turn guys into. They've only done it successfully with Austin and Rock, let's see if they can do it with him.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

And the program with the Wyatt's was also a cop out. They OBVIOUSLY wanted to use him to put Bray over. They don't protect Bryan at all. Yeah he beat Cena clean, but do they talk about that EVER? The only guy who ever did was Cena, ONCE. A couple weeks later he's getting knocked out by big show. He got jobbed to Bray in the curtain jerker at the rumble. During any guys run to the top, they don't job so freely.

[CSL]

well the last part/the plans for this year's Mania/Sheamus etc is still nothing but speculation. The first part, trying to bury him? Trying to make him go away? That is completely absurd. Not gonna comment on the previous Bryan/Sheamus Mania match because the reaction to that was ridiculous as well but the fact you finished that paragraph with they like him, respect him, put him in decent programs, title reigns etc completely contradicts your initial sentences. It's almost like people won't be happy until he is given the Hogan/Austin/Cena treatment and is unquestionably presented as the undisputed #1 guy and that "decent programs and title reigns" is somehow a negative thing. It's just completely unrealistic (a fact that I'm pretty sure he'd happily tell you himself)

[CSL]

And the program with the Wyatt's was also a cop out. They OBVIOUSLY wanted to use him to put Bray over. They don't protect Bryan at all. Yeah he beat Cena clean, but do they talk about that EVER? The only guy who ever did was Cena, ONCE. A couple weeks later he's getting knocked out by big show. He got jobbed to Bray in the curtain jerker at the rumble. During any guys run to the top, they don't job so freely.

and he was completely protected whilst jobbing to Wyatt, was hardly "freely". Not seeing the problem there.

[CSL]

and for the record given the title of the thread, I'm not saying he's been booked perfectly. But as poorly as a bunch of people online would have you think? Nah.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It doesn't contradict what I'm saying. Keep in mind CSL I'm not your classic smark, I DO see both sides.

How was the fans reaction ridiculous when he jobbed to Sheamus? I don't understand. You're being a classic jock hard on. (I'm only getting personal because I love you, you fucking prick). You're disregarding everything I'm trying to say. They reacted that way because they like Daniel Bryan and fans are beginning to read through the bullshit.

Given some of the guys they've given a run, a dude with the connection with a connection to the audience like Daniel Bryan wouldn't be the worst choice to give a proper chance at the top. The only thing stopping them, is the fact that they don't want to. I'm not saying he's the solution to all the problems, but it's not like it'd be a bad choice.

And you know what? It isn't good enough to be labelled a b plus player when the audience views you as an A plus player. It's like they're saying "Okay you're only allowed to get THIS big, then we'll de rail you so you only stay THIS big because we don't want you to be that big". Nobody in the company at this point has that connection with the crowd.

I'm seeing it more and more like Narc. You can give me every retarded convoluted explanation in the book like you some how are on the "in" and you see the big picture, but at the end of the day, what would they have to lose by giving him the ball to run with? It's bullshit. Give a guy momentum, let him run with it, and don't de rail it, and give him good material to work with so you're not killing his character. Do what made it work.

It's hard to articulate everything I'm trying to say. But at the end of the day, he's super over, the crowd wants him on top, so put the wheels in motion to put him on top. It really is not that hard. Don't go half in, like they fucking do with so many guys, go full in. See where it goes. Does that mean he goes in there and squashes Brock Lesnar? HELL NO. Does it mean keep giving him momentum to work with and not have HHH come on t.v. and call him a b plus player and then just ignore him, and maybe only wrestle him now because CM Punk walked out? Definitely not.

Does it mean put some proper effort into making him a strong credible force, without freely jobbing him to put OTHER GUYS over before he's reached the heights he could reach? YES.

I'm sure there's some ridiculous shit I put in there, but I'm not proof reading. DEAL WITH IT CSL YOU MOTHER FUCKER, gonna powerclean and jerk your ass to the ground.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

and for the record given the title of the thread, I'm not saying he's been booked perfectly. But as poorly as a bunch of people online would have you think? Nah.

Oh I'll agree with you there. He hasn't been pissed on and buried like Dolph or someone like that. But he's been mishandled, and effected by incompetent booking. If the booking team was actually decent, and they had any sense or were in touch with their viewership, he'd be in a much better position.

I'm not UP IN ARMS or anything, but let's call a spade a spade... the WWE has the tendency of being fucking stupid and not capitalizing when it's right in front of them.

[Heyman]

And the program with the Wyatt's was also a cop out. They OBVIOUSLY wanted to use him to put Bray over. They don't protect Bryan at all. Yeah he beat Cena clean, but do they talk about that EVER? The only guy who ever did was Cena, ONCE. A couple weeks later he's getting knocked out by big show. He got jobbed to Bray in the curtain jerker at the rumble. During any guys run to the top, they don't job so freely.

I'll comment on a couple things:

1) It is not uncommon for the WWE to have someone job cleanly to 'x' wrestler before having 'said someone' win the World Title. That way - it gives the rub to two wrestlers, while also increasing parity within the company. Case in point - Bret jobbing to cleanly to Owen before defeating Yokozuna for the title later on that night.

2) The WWE wouldn't let any ordinary wrestler defeat John Cena CLEAN. Even with guys like CM Punk and RVD in yester-year, the victories were never 100% clean. In Bryan's case however, this was not the case. The win was pretty much 100% clean.


Like I said - I'll take back everything I said if Bryan doesn't get the title victory at Mania..........but for now, I think guys like you and Narcissus are overreacting a little too much. The whole 'Authority vs. Bryan' storyline since Summerslam has helped Bryan more than it has hurt him.

[Nark Order]

Heyman. You are partially correct. But it is a little infuriating when people act like this was all planned. It wasn't. It just wasn't. They are doing damage control, they aren't following a plan.

[Heyman]

Oh I'll agree with you there. He hasn't been pissed on and buried like Dolph or someone like that.

True, but given the way Ziggler conducted himself in interviews after Wrestlemania last year (i.e. essentially trashing both HHH and Orton), can you really blame the WWE for punishing him?

Same thing with Ryback. If you conduct yourself like a fool backstage and in the media, why should the WWE push you?

Zack Ryder and Santino Marella - same thing. If you openly complain and act like a bitch, you'll get buried. Popularity or not. Hurricane Helms was met with the same fate a number of years ago.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I'll comment on a couple things:

1) It is not uncommon for the WWE to have someone job cleanly to 'x' wrestler before having 'said someone' win the World Title. That way - it gives the rub to two wrestlers, while also increasing parity within the company. Case in point - Bret jobbing to cleanly to Owen before defeating Yokozuna for the title later on that night.

2) The WWE wouldn't let any ordinary wrestler defeat John Cena CLEAN. Even with guys like CM Punk and RVD in yester-year, the victories were never 100% clean. In Bryan's case however, this was not the case. The win was pretty much 100% clean.


Like I said - I'll take back everything I said if Bryan doesn't get the title victory at Mania..........but for now, I think guys like you and Narcissus are overreacting a little too much. The whole 'Authority vs. Bryan' storyline since Summerslam has helped Bryan more than it has hurt him.

lol I'm not over reacting. But let's not give the booking team credit. The booking team's intention was NOT to have Bryan where he is. The fans hijacking segments has made them call an audible.

Also for your first example, the hitman had already had a lengthy world title reign to his name.... he had already been to the top, he wasn't in the midst of his first BIG TIME run.

Austin also jobbed to HHH before WM 17, but again, he had already had his massive run.

In both cases, neither Bret nor Austin were jobbed in the curtain jerker of the Royal Rumble before any time they won the world championship at wrestlemania.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Heyman. You are partially correct. But it is a little infuriating when people act like this was all planned. It wasn't. It just wasn't. They are doing damage control, they aren't following a plan.

Yeah this is the point I'm trying to make. Just more verbose and ranty and less concise :rant: FUCK ALL OF YOU

[Heyman]

Heyman. You are partially correct. But it is a little infuriating when people act like this was all planned. It wasn't. It just wasn't. They are doing damage control, they aren't following a plan.

You might be right, but I just have a difficult time believing that the WWE would let a guy like Daniel Bryan go CLEANLY over John Cena at Summerslam if there wasn't some kind of plan involved.

Again - I might be giving the WWE too much credit (and I'll recant everything I've said if Bryan isn't champ at Mania), but for right now, I think there is an actual plan in place. It's just not as "formulaic" is it was back in the day with guys like Hogan, Bret, Austin, Rock, and Cena. Fans are MUCH smarter these days, and I think the WWE are trying to cater to that so that their plan doesn't come across as overly predictable.

[Nark Order]

There WAS a plan and they abandoned it apparebtly because of Summerslam buyrates. The fans are the only reason he hasn't been "x'd" out of high profile main event plans.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

True, but given the way Ziggler conducted himself in interviews after Wrestlemania last year (i.e. essentially trashing both HHH and Orton), can you really blame the WWE for punishing him?

Same thing with Ryback. If you conduct yourself like a fool backstage and in the media, why should the WWE push you?

Zack Ryder and Santino Marella - same thing. If you openly complain and act like a bitch, you'll get buried. Popularity or not. Hurricane Helms was met with the same fate a number of years ago.

Nah I agree with you there. You can't publicly trash your boss and colleague, it is just unprofessional, it's a damned shame but he has himself to blame there. (Dolph that is).

[Heyman]

Austin also jobbed to HHH before WM 17, but again, he had already had his massive run.

In both cases, neither Bret nor Austin were jobbed in the curtain jerker of the Royal Rumble before any time they won the world championship at wrestlemania.

All good points, but Bryan technically has been a World champion already (even if it was for less than a minute).

As Austin and Bret were during those respective era's, Bryan is the most popular star in the company right now.

It's hard to explain, and perhaps I'm wrong, but I do think there is a concrete plan here for Daniel Bryan. Triple H and Stephanie have sharp wrestling minds. I don't see them causing such a colossal fuck up. I just don't.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

There WAS a plan and they abandoned it apparebtly because of Summerslam buyrates. The fans are the only reason he hasn't been "x'd" out of high profile main event plans.

This, it is so obvious. They keep trying to sweep him under the rug. But the fans are like "WTF STOP THAT".

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

All good points, but Bryan technically has been a World champion already (even if it was for less than a minute).

As Austin and Bret were during those respective era's, Bryan is the most popular star in the company right now.

It's hard to explain, and perhaps I'm wrong, but I do think there is a concrete plan here for Daniel Bryan. Triple H and Stephanie have sharp wrestling minds. I don't see them causing such a colossal fuck up. I just don't.

Given that since the invasion both of them have had the book along with Vince, and there has been constant colossal fuckups and bad booking, I don't see how this is out of the realm of possibility to you.

[The Rogerer]

There's also a concrete plan for He-man not dying alone. Let's wait and see!

[Heyman]

There WAS a plan and they abandoned it apparebtly because of Summerslam buyrates. The fans are the only reason he hasn't been "x'd" out of high profile main event plans.

Oh I see.

I wasn't aware of the Summerslam buyrates. How were they? (i.e. was it on par with previous Summerslams? Below? etc.).

It seems a bit odd that buyrates for Summerslam would be LOWER due to Bryan's presence in the main-event, given how much the fans love Bryan in the arena's.

[CSL]

It doesn't contradict what I'm saying. Keep in mind CSL I'm not your classic smark, I DO see both sides.

How was the fans reaction ridiculous when he jobbed to Sheamus? I don't understand. You're being a classic jock hard on. (I'm only getting personal because I love you, you fucking prick). You're disregarding everything I'm trying to say. They reacted that way because they like Daniel Bryan and fans are beginning to read through the bullshit.

Given some of the guys they've given a run, a dude with the connection with a connection to the audience like Daniel Bryan wouldn't be the worst choice to give a proper chance at the top. The only thing stopping them, is the fact that they don't want to. I'm not saying he's the solution to all the problems, but it's not like it'd be a bad choice.

And you know what? It isn't good enough to be labelled a b plus player when the audience views you as an A plus player. It's like they're saying "Okay you're only allowed to get THIS big, then we'll de rail you so you only stay THIS big because we don't want you to be that big". Nobody in the company at this point has that connection with the crowd.

I'm seeing it more and more like Narc. You can give me every retarded convoluted explanation in the book like you some how are on the "in" and you see the big picture, but at the end of the day, what would they have to lose by giving him the ball to run with? It's bullshit. Give a guy momentum, let him run with it, and don't de rail it, and give him good material to work with so you're not killing his character. Do what made it work.

It's hard to articulate everything I'm trying to say. But at the end of the day, he's super over, the crowd wants him on top, so put the wheels in motion to put him on top. It really is not that hard. Don't go half in, like they fucking do with so many guys, go full in. See where it goes. Does that mean he goes in there and squashes Brock Lesnar? HELL NO. Does it mean keep giving him momentum to work with and not have HHH come on t.v. and call him a b plus player and then just ignore him, and maybe only wrestle him now because CM Punk walked out? Definitely not.

Does it mean put some proper effort into making him a strong credible force, without freely jobbing him to put OTHER GUYS over before he's reached the heights he could reach? YES.

I'm sure there's some ridiculous shit I put in there, but I'm not proof reading. DEAL WITH IT CSL YOU MOTHER FUCKER, gonna powerclean and jerk your ass to the ground.

the fan reaction to the Sheamus/Mania WHC match was ridiculous because of the intensity. Yes, I completely understand going to Mania or watching Mania and hoping to see a great match between the two and being a bit disappointed at 18 seconds but nobody went to or bought Mania strictly to see that match so it's really the one place they could "safely" do it. The whole thing was booked as "the cowardly chickenshit heel is going to get his comeuppance/be embarrassed on the grandest stage of them all". They were clearly going to get the chance to have a "proper match" down the road. It was there to pop the casual/young/majority audience and it did exactly that. And they wound up having one of the top 3-5 matches of the entire year the following month.

As for the rest, it's still only been 5-6 months or so since the catchphrase really started getting over/getting the big reactions. I understand that people want to see him get that chance. Fuck, I do too. But 5 months is nothing. 5 months into his "big connection" with the audience and Steve Austin hadn't even turned babyface yet and was over a year away from winning the world title. 5 months into them clearly moving John Cena towards a prominent position and he was holding the US title. 5 months into Batista getting the shove and yeah, he was heading to Mania but that was only because they jumped on the Orton switch (because he'd become red hot/was getting the top babyface reaction) and realized they'd jumped too early and slowed it down and switched to Batista. The only guy they've really pounced on the immediate popularity of and placated was CM Punk and that was because he was about to walk out of the company altogether. As long as his popularity maintains or keeps rising as it seems to be doing, I just don't see the rush or the lack of ability to see where he winds up. As I said in another thread, if in a years time he's gone nowhere/didn't get "that chance" and he's toiling away in the middle of the card to a third of the reaction he's currently getting then by all means, verbally rape WWE for missing the boat entirely. But not after 5-6 months.

[Heyman]

Given that since the invasion both of them have had the book along with Vince, and there has been constant colossal fuckups and bad booking, I don't see how this is out of the realm of possibility to you.

I've taken it into consideration, trust me.

Guys like Lesnar, Orton, Guerrero, Benoit, RVD, Angle, CM Punk, etc., etc., could have and should have been pushed more wisely, but weren't.

As result - all of the aforementioned achieved superstardom, but could have been even bigger in the WWE. I get that.

With Daniel Bryan however, it just seems like WAY too obvious of a thing. Like they would almost have to be borderline down-syndrome retarded to NOT capitalize on this........or NOT see what's going on.

Vince McMahon, etc. have made stupid decisions lots of times, but he/they are also very successful businessmen. I just can't see them missing something so blatantly obvious here.

Again though - time will tell.

Perhaps the WWE were pushing Bryan 'under the rug' a little to see how fans would react (i.e. to see if the fans were genuine in wanting to see Bryan as a superstar). A "litmus" test if you will.

If the fans weren't truly behind Bryan, they would've forgotten about him for the most part (as they did with Zack Ryder).

[CSL]

#1-wwf-fan had a good point elsewhere. They almost made a mistake by giving Bryan the belt at SummerSlam because they made expectations ridiculously high. If this had been done in reverse order only with the exact same booking, Wyatt to Orton to Cena, we'd probably be hearing about how brilliantly booked the whole thing is.

[Heyman]

#1-wwf-fan had a good point elsewhere. They almost made a mistake by giving Bryan the belt at SummerSlam because they made expectations ridiculously high. If this had been done in reverse order only with the exact same booking, Wyatt to Orton to Cena, we'd probably be hearing about how brilliantly booked the whole thing is.

I definitely see the logic behind that, and would agree, but I also don't see Summerslam as being a mistake at all.

Bryan got a HUGE pop at Summerslam, and leading up to Summerslam, and the fans went nuts when he beat Cena clean.

It would be interesting to see what the numbers of the PPV buyrate really was..........and if it was low due to Bryan's presence, or low due to a crappy product as a whole.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

the fan reaction to the Sheamus/Mania WHC match was ridiculous because of the intensity. Yes, I completely understand going to Mania or watching Mania and hoping to see a great match between the two and being a bit disappointed at 18 seconds but nobody went to or bought Mania strictly to see that match so it's really the one place they could "safely" do it. The whole thing was booked as "the cowardly chickenshit heel is going to get his comeuppance/be embarrassed on the grandest stage of them all". They were clearly going to get the chance to have a "proper match" down the road. It was there to pop the casual/young/majority audience and it did exactly that. And they wound up having one of the top 3-5 matches of the entire year the following month.

As for the rest, it's still only been 5-6 months or so since the catchphrase really started getting over/getting the big reactions. I understand that people want to see him get that chance. Fuck, I do too. But 5 months is nothing. 5 months into his "big connection" with the audience and Steve Austin hadn't even turned babyface yet and was over a year away from winning the world title. 5 months into them clearly moving John Cena towards a prominent position and he was holding the US title. 5 months into Batista getting the shove and yeah, he was heading to Mania but that was only because they jumped on the Orton switch (because he'd become red hot/was getting the top babyface reaction) and realized they'd jumped too early and slowed it down and switched to Batista. The only guy they've really pounced on the immediate popularity of and placated was CM Punk and that was because he was about to walk out of the company altogether. As long as his popularity maintains or keeps rising as it seems to be doing, I just don't see the rush or the lack of ability to see where he winds up. As I said in another thread, if in a years time he's gone nowhere/didn't get "that chance" and he's toiling away in the middle of the card to a third of the reaction he's currently getting then by all means, verbally rape WWE for missing the boat entirely. But not after 5-6 months.

I totally get what you're trying to say, but they just aren't protecting him the same way they protected a guy like Austin. If Daniel Bryan is simmering in the mid cards that is great, let it bubble but keep him SUPER STRONG like they did with Austin. That means, not having HHH calling him a b plus player and a never will be without any follow up. And that means no jobbing him out in ppv curtain jerkers.

I get giving Bray "the rub" and giving him a great match, but shit, give him a big clean win over a guy not simmering and waiting to explode, and then put Bryan over him in the same sort of match they had at the rumble, where it wouldn't hurt Bray. Give them a nice lengthy feud bubbling with non stop intensity much the same as Rock and Austin for the IC title (obviously two completely different guys, but you can parallel two very talented guys who aren't quite at the top yet).

Mind you Bryan losing didn't hurt Bryan because he's fucking incredible, but that's still not protecting a guy. That's him protecting himself by being the man.

I fully agree that the slow burn is the way to go, it always is, but there has to be a consistant build up, and they do not do that. There is a constant stimying of his momentum, not even out of spite or out of not liking him, but simply out of incompetence and not paying attention to detail. People want them to strike while the iron is hot, because at this juncture in time, they are not competent enough to make a slow burn work. The fans are afraid they'll have a direction and intent for him, and then just forget about him and he'll drown and toil in the mid cards, and the people are justified given the company's recent track record.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

#1-wwf-fan had a good point elsewhere. They almost made a mistake by giving Bryan the belt at SummerSlam because they made expectations ridiculously high. If this had been done in reverse order only with the exact same booking, Wyatt to Orton to Cena, we'd probably be hearing about how brilliantly booked the whole thing is.

Now we're on the same page.

[CSL]

I definitely see the logic behind that, and would agree, but I also don't see Summerslam as being a mistake at all.

Bryan got a HUGE pop at Summerslam, and leading up to Summerslam, and the fans went nuts when he beat Cena clean.


nah I don't see it as a mistake either. I don't really know either way tbh. Who's to say Bryan has the current level of popularity he does/has the fans clamouring to see him get the belt if they didn't give them that initial "taste" in the first place?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I was actually thinking the same thing :'(

[CSL]

Mind you Bryan losing didn't hurt Bryan because he's fucking incredible, but that's still not protecting a guy. That's him protecting himself by being the man.

he was protected by the whole concussion issue. Yeah Bray went over clean but it was more of an "opportunistic" clean as opposed to "the better man" clean, big difference. They couldn't have made a bigger deal out of the concussion during the match and the finish came from Bryan taking damage in a spectacular way to "that already injured/concussed brain". He was practically bulletproof in that match.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

But the Orton feud almost took all the wind out of his sails. Partially because Orton is so paint by the numbers. Also because all it was, was HHH stealing heat off of guys again. That filthy heat leach.

[Poit]

And again - If Daniel Bryan had entered the rumble and had won the rumble, things would have been extremely formulaic. The fact that "The Machine" prevented Bryan from entering the rumble has made the fans love Bryan even more. Period.

"Formulaic" does not mean "bad". Winning formulas are called such because, well, they work.

Not gonna comment on the previous Bryan/Sheamus Mania match because the reaction to that was ridiculous as well

I normally reserve this for the podcast, but OH COME ON. The crowd reaction to Bryan's 18-second loss (especially the reaction the next night on Raw) is what started his rise to the top. Without that, he would have been just another midcard former world champ, like Miz, Ziggler, etc. But with those reactions, he went on to Team Hell No and then to winning the title at Summerslam.

[Heyman]

"Formulaic" does not mean "bad". Winning formulas are called such because, well, they work.



So by this logic, should the WWE always have their current Top Face win the Royal Rumble, to then be followed by a predictable title victory at Mania?

I certainly don't think so.

Why not show some creativity?

[Poit]

Ugh, no. Just because something is good doesn't mean you must always do it.

Also, Kant was a douche.

[CSL]

I normally reserve this for the podcast, but OH COME ON. The crowd reaction to Bryan's 18-second loss (especially the reaction the next night on Raw) is what started his rise to the top. Without that, he would have been just another midcard former world champ, like Miz, Ziggler, etc. But with those reactions, he went on to Team Hell No and then to winning the title at Summerslam.

I wasn't talking about the crowds reaction, I was talking about the internet having a breakdown over it. And the crowd reaction at Mania was a pretty significant pop for Sheamus winning (job done WWE) and that legit manic reaction for Bryan lasted for one night (the post-Mania RAW) the internet/smart crowd were always behind him and the volume went up and down depending how "smart" the crowd was in a specific town. Team Hell No showed he had a personality and was somebody to be gotten behind/when everybody else started to cotton on. And even if that 18 second match did kickstart his rise then surely that further proves that once again it was nothing to bitch about, which is what I've said from the moment the match happened.

[Poit]

I wasn't talking about the crowds reaction, I was talking about the internet having a breakdown over it. And the crowd reaction at Mania was a pretty significant pop for Sheamus winning (job done WWE) and that legit manic reaction for Bryan lasted for one night (the post-Mania RAW) the internet/smart crowd were always behind him and the volume went up and down depending how "smart" the crowd was in a specific town. Team Hell No showed he had a personality and was somebody to be gotten behind. And even if that 18 second match did kickstart his rise then surely that further proves that once again it was nothing to bitch about, which is what I've said from the moment the match happened.

My apologies, I thought you were saying the reactions for Bryan after his WHC loss at Mania were a bad thing.

[McLegend]

I might be he best or the worst person to weigh in on this. I'm no longer immersed with wrestling. I hardly watch Raw, and I never watch Smackdown. I can't even name half the roster anymore. I just read result and reaction on here from shows now. So right now I don't have a strong attachment to anyone.

So I agree with the thread premise that Daniel Bryan is actually being booked well. It seems like every week more and more people want to see him, which is what you want. So good work there.

However it's all for not if Daniel Bryan is wrestling Sheamus at Wrestlemania. He has to be in a big match at Mania. If it's not for the title it has be to be against HHH, and Daniel Bryan has to win.

If he does wrestle Sheamus... I think DB loses. WWE has always been high on Sheamus.

So yes WWE is doing well with him right now, but they are probably going to fuck it up.

[#1-norm-fan]

I definitely see the logic behind that, and would agree, but I also don't see Summerslam as being a mistake at all.

Bryan got a HUGE pop at Summerslam, and leading up to Summerslam, and the fans went nuts when he beat Cena clean.

It would be interesting to see what the numbers of the PPV buyrate really was..........and if it was low due to Bryan's presence, or low due to a crappy product as a whole.

It worked for that night but if they didn't plan on making Bryan a fixture in the world title scene and booking him on that "major player"level, was it worth it? Like I said, it gave fans the idea that he could be the new face of the company. If WWE doesn't feel that way, they made a mistake letting the fans think they might be.

I honestly think if they never did that tease, Bryan would still be ridiculously over but crowds wouldn't be shitting all over the rest of the main event because they wouldn't expect Bryan in it to begin with and they wouldn't be stuck in the position of pretty much HAVING to put Bryan in the main event at WrestleMania whether they like it or not.

[#1-norm-fan]

And the SummerSlam buys weren't very good. 296,000 compared to 358,000 the year before. The following Cena-less PPVs headlined by Bryan going for the title were down, too.

[Bad News Gertner]

Heyman. You are partially correct. But it is a little infuriating when people act like this was all planned. It wasn't. It just wasn't. They are doing damage control, they aren't following a plan.

Sometimes all that matters is that you get from point A to point B and not how you got there.

[Mr. Nerfect]

With CM Punk leaving the WWE, I have a feeling that we will get Daniel Bryan screwed by The Authority at Elimination Chamber and a match with Triple H ensuing. Bryan beating Triple H at the grandest stage of them all would be a cathartic victory that keeps him away from the WWE World Title match, but also allows him to build momentum and continue to prove that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The obvious aftermath to this outcome would be Triple H -- either due to a new found respect for Bryan or reluctantly -- giving Bryan a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Title. It is possible that this could come as early as the following night on RAW, which is a show the WWE will probably want to make a big deal out of. I have a feeling that if the company has signed Sting, this is where he will debut too.

[Bad News Gertner]

I'll say this: I wouldn't hate Bryan facing HHH. It'd get over huge.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd much rather see Bryan vs. HBK in a match, but I'm willing to accept that isn't happening. But the story behind Bryan vs. Triple H would be pretty epic. The WWE should consider polling the WWE audience as to which match they want to see headline WrestleMania XXX as well. New Japan Pro-Wrestling recently did it for their WrestleKingdom show. That way, if the fans don't really want to see Orton vs. Batista close, the option is there for Lesnar vs. Taker, Cena vs. Wyatt or Bryan vs. Triple H to close the show.

That way Bryan could potentially headline WrestleMania, but in a way that makes him look even more like the "people's choice" and "uncrowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion." It allows the "YES! Movement" to be addressed while also allowing two other guys to fight over the World Heavyweight Title. The biggest problem with Orton vs. Batista is that smark crowds will probably shit all over it as a headline act.

[Bad News Gertner]

You could always do Bryan vs HHH with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets put into the main event. So not only would you have the crowd behind Bryan against HHH, you'd have a Daniel Bryan who just wrestled HHH, is exhausted and now faces Batista and Orton in a three way dance.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That is fucking epic.

[Mr. Nerfect]

In fact, the WWE should probably consider doing that. Very strongly.

[Bad News Gertner]

I'll include that in my weekly booking ideas that I send to Titan Towers every week.
Right above Heath Slater becoming the WCWWECWCCW Champion along with the NWAWA Champion as well.

He'd defeat Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Nick Bockwinkel, Taz and the ghosts of Lou Thesz and Kerry Von Erich in a 6 on 1 handicap scaffold match.

Now you're probably asking "how are you going to get the ghosts of Thesz and Von Erich?" Easy, a returning Papa Shango conducts voodoo magic and conjures up their spirits.

[CSL]

your ideas are shit

[CSL]

unless you include Kimchee. Then they are brilliant.

[Heyman]

You could always do Bryan vs HHH with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets put into the main event. So not only would you have the crowd behind Bryan against HHH, you'd have a Daniel Bryan who just wrestled HHH, is exhausted and now faces Batista and Orton in a three way dance.

That idea would be FUCKING GOLD. Absolutely love this idea.

Only thing I would consider doing differently, is having Batista and Orton go one-on-one as well. Winner gets the winner of Bryan/HHH.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

They wouldn't want to do that though because heaven forbid someone was given too much credibility.

[Heyman]

They wouldn't want to do that though because heaven forbid someone was given too much credibility.

If Bryan doesn't end up winning the title at Wrestlemania, I'll pretty much agree with EVERYTHING that you and Narcissus have been saying these past few days.

I might actually be leaning that way right now.

If this CM Punk situation actually is real, then it just boggles my mind as to how the WWE could have let this come to fruition.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It's not THAT mind boggling. They have put forth an incredibly mediocre product for some time because they have no real competition. There's no need for them to reach for the stars and be anything more than they are, which his yawn worthy crap with the odd bit of good quality t.v.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That idea would be FUCKING GOLD. Absolutely love this idea.

Only thing I would consider doing differently, is having Batista and Orton go one-on-one as well. Winner gets the winner of Bryan/HHH.

I wouldn't be against that idea, but there are time constraints to keep in mind. Bryan going in with the disadvantage of already having wrestled fuels his story too.

[Heyman]

I wouldn't be against that idea, but there are time constraints to keep in mind. Bryan going in with the disadvantage of already having wrestled fuels his story too.

This is an excellent point, and I now agree with your and Gertner's stance.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

that's what I mean, they wouldn't want to make Bryan look like a complete stud, going twice in a night because heaven forbid they make one of their most popular wrestlers look like a complete stud.

[Droford]

I'm convinced that they changed the location of Extreme Rules to Seattle at the last minute to give Daniel Bryan his "win the belt in his hometown" moment. If they go with the rumored HHH vs Bryan for a title match, you know he's winning at Mania. In the grand scheme of things I think it'll work out better for him that way, although I'm sure people will still bitch cause he doesn't win it at Mania.

[mike adamle]

I'd be cool with Bryan facing Triple H with a #1 contender stip for Extreme Rules in Bryan's hometown. Bryan would still get the ridiculous pop of defeating the legendary Triple H at Mania. And he'd still be getting that ridiculous pop winning the belt in his hometown. I don't see the problem.

[Droford]

And since its extreme rules and as long as the Champ is anyone besides Batista/Lesnar...they should make it an ironman match

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

What is your problem with a Lesnar ironman match?

[Droford]

Let's just say that while I would be interested in Lesnar vs Bryan, for a full hour..ugh..no.

[Droford]

Anonymous WWE Star writes to the Observer:

"Internet is so funny. You all read the sites so you all should know the 'plans' for Mania. None of those plans have Bryan in a title match so the internet exploding at the end of the show is beyond laughable. Plus dont hate on Rey, he didn't book himself as #30. The way most of you were acting the company should have called an audible and put Brooklyn Brawler as #30 just to piss you off even more. over 50,000 mania tix sold and a network that will change your life for ever is about to launch, so just relax and enjoy the product the company gives you. By the way, didn't you all s–t on the wwe for the Sept – Nov ppvs last year and said you were done, but turned around to watch/buy the Rumble? Pittsburgh you were an awesome crowd and it was an honor to be in your building last night."


Early speculation is its Punk lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is an excellent point, and I now agree with your and Gertner's stance.

Isn't it amazing what great discussion can do? Fuck I miss it when you're not around these parts.

Extreme Rules is now in Washington. It seems like they will plan something fucking huge for Bryan at that event. Whether that is winning the World Championship, successfully defending the World Championship or even being screwed out of it remains to be seen, but I imagine that Bryan will be the main event at that show.

Payback is also in Rosemont, Illinois. CM Punk returning, even if just for one night only, would be fucking huge for that. Even if the company just books Bryan vs. Punk for the title and lets them go nuts for a while. "Who is The Best in the World?"

[Swiss Ultimate]

Have we seen Jericho VS. Bryan yet? I think they had a good match on NXT once, am I right?

[Damian Rey]

Unless something drastic changes in the lead up to Mania, I don't see how Bryan gets entered into the main event. Now, Gertie had a brilliant idea, but of course my new tag team partner Gorgeous Dale made a very good point in that the WWE isn't known for making guys look that credible.

I don't see how or why they'd shoehorn Bryan into Mania's main event at this point. I'd love to see it, but I just can't see WWE realizing Batista isn't a big deal and would be stunned if he didn't walk out of Mania as champ.

[Bad News Gertner]

Isn't it amazing what great discussion can do? Fuck I miss it when you're not around these parts.

Extreme Rules is now in Washington. It seems like they will plan something fucking huge for Bryan at that event. Whether that is winning the World Championship, successfully defending the World Championship or even being screwed out of it remains to be seen, but I imagine that Bryan will be the main event at that show.

Payback is also in Rosemont, Illinois. CM Punk returning, even if just for one night only, would be fucking huge for that. Even if the company just books Bryan vs. Punk for the title and lets them go nuts for a while. "Who is The Best in the World?"

Lol the WWE doesn't exactly have a great track record for booking hometown stars going over.

[Shisen Kopf]

I remember at a Smackdown taping at the Joe, that I taped. RHYNO lost to some schmuck. Totally unacceptable. When in the D, you let people from the D win. I quit watching for a while.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I could see Batista vs. Bryan at Extreme Rules ending with The Authority screwing over Daniel Bryan more directly than before, choosing Batista as the new face of the company, or perhaps even a new stable being formed around Batista to keep him champion. Perhaps The Wyatt Family officially reveal themselves to be in bed with The Authority here? My perfect booking for Cena vs. Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX would have Wyatt winning after Luke Harper and Erick Rowan attack Cena (it's a no disqualification match, but Wyatt wants to wrestle the first part against Cena alone). The Wyatt Family then take Cena to see if they can program him.

Cena returning with a new look at Extreme Rules and costing Daniel Bryan the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? That would cause a ruckus.

[#1-norm-fan]

A Cena heel turn, you say?

[Fignuts]

Throwing money in the garbage you say?

[Mr. Nerfect]

A Cena/Bryan feud, I say.

[mike adamle]

"Triple H is apparently irate at the type of backlash the company is receiving about Batista and Daniel Bryan.

Triple H is said to be a well respected student of wrestling history and his decision to make Bryan the center piece of the company was envisioned to be much like Dusty Rhodes in the NWA. He based Evolution on the Four Horsemen. Both Flair and Rhodes are close with Hunter and helped him develop this idea.

Dusty Rhodes was made to be a star in the NWA by losing and being over looked. He never had that "superstar look" like Ric Flair did. His war with the Four Horsemen and Ric Flair was legendary, but Dusty never officially beat Flair for the title. In 1982, Dusty Rhodes beat Flair for the title as the masked Midnight Rider, but was forced to unmask as the NWA did not allow masked wrestlers in the company. He was forced to return the title to Flair. At Starrcade 1985, Rhodes won the title again but the decision was overturned and reversed as a disqualification win for Rhodes and he again forced to return the title to Flair. Rhodes was beaten bloody, had his legs and arms broken from the Horsemen, but, he never won the NWA Heavyweight Title, yet he got over by losing at every corner. Dusty Rhodes was never "buried" or made to look weak, because he was booking the promotion!

Dusty Rhodes once said "The most important person in a wrestling company is the bad guy, whether he's pretty, whether he's strong, whether he's rich, handsome, or scum. The good guys sell the merchandise but the bad guys sell the tickets. Everyone wants to see the bad guy lose, but in order to reach that point, the bad guy has to win a lot more than he loses. When that moment finally comes, it is a spectacle, it's a great moment. I was able to beat Flair a couple times in my career only to get it snatched away. That's what makes wrestling great. We live and we die with these stories."

Whether or not Triple H stays on course with this story will be determined by the fallout of the CM Punk situation, as well as how well the company is received in cities around the country as the year goes on."

[BigCrippyZ]

The problem isn't that Bryan is being booked to consistently loose or screwed only to finally win. The problem is until Monday, Bryan (the most over guy on the roster) was not even being booked or planned to be booked into the title chase going into the biggest show of the year. He was quickly thrown into another storyline only to just as quickly be taken out of it, all with no thought as to the consequences of doing so. Not too mention the storyline reasons for quickly joining and then leaving the Wyatts were not remotely good nor were they adequately explained, probably due to the poor planning, sudden changes and rushing done by creative and booking.

[whiteyford]

Have we seen Jericho VS. Bryan yet? I think they had a good match on NXT once, am I right?

Sure Jericho was the champ at that point or hovering around the title scene at least.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

The problem isn't that Bryan is being booked to consistently loose or screwed only to finally win. The problem is until Monday, Bryan (the most over guy on the roster) was not even being booked or planned to be booked into the title chase going into the biggest show of the year. He was quickly thrown into another storyline only to just as quickly be taken out of it, all with no thought as to the consequences of doing so. Not too mention the storyline reasons for quickly joining and then leaving the Wyatts were not remotely good nor were they adequately explained, probably due to the poor planning, sudden changes and rushing done by creative and booking.

This.

[#1-norm-fan]

I'll say this: I wouldn't hate Bryan facing HHH. It'd get over huge.

It's probably the way to go though the smark crowd will still shit on the title match afterward.

Unless you have it go last but that would be... odd.

[James Steele]

Have Triple H win the title and drop it to Bryan at WM.

[Bad News Gertner]

That'd be great: said nobody other than HHH

[Blonde Moment]

Bryan/HHH made sense, Punk/HHH made no sense at all because it made the whole storyline for the year... pointless.

[Bobo]

My impression from Summer Slam was that this whole Daniel Bryan v The Authority storyline would finally come to a head at WM where Bryan would win the Championship and prevail once and for all over the Authority.

However with CM Punk's departure it seems that may be diverted somewhat but I think a victory over Triple H perhaps in a cell would be more significant.

I envisaged a whole faces v authority storyline much in the vein of WCW vs NWO storyline with the face of the faces beating Orton to win the title and then all the faces celebrating in the ring. Maybe those days are gone?

Either way I think the current authority storyline needs winding down or a significant boost because at the moment it is looking rather tedious.

Interested to see where Batitsta fits in with The Authority. Maybe the Authority will screw over Randy Orton too and we see him become a face?

Also wasn't Brock Lesnar meant to have a title shot?

[XL]

Lesnar was the "self proclaimed" Number One Contender. My guess is that he goes on a tear through a bunch of guys - as seen with Cody/Goldust - perhaps disrupting the Elimination Chamber match, until Taker returns to put a stop to him.

[Brigstocke]

CSL Is the current MVP of this thread.

[Heyman]

I called it being a threeway dance between Orton Batista and Bryan and I hope I'm not wrong because that would be cool.


Boom.

[Bad News Gertner]

You could always do Bryan vs HHH with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets put into the main event. So not only would you have the crowd behind Bryan against HHH, you'd have a Daniel Bryan who just wrestled HHH, is exhausted and now faces Batista and Orton in a three way dance.

I literally want to jerk off in Jabba and Narc's face with this.

[Innovator]

Cmon Gertner let's just see where this goes

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I literally want to jerk off in Jabba and Narc's face with this.

:y:

[Bad News Gertner]

Cmon Gertner let's just see where this goes

It's gonna go from my penis!!!

[Innovator]

What would happen here if Triple H got Ultimate Warrior'd again and Bryan ran through him in a minute?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Shit. I don't know. That would sort of make their feud kinda meaningless. They have to have a decent length match to bring closure. Also if he's not too beat up he could always interfere in the title match.

[Swiss Ultimate]

What would happen here if Triple H got Ultimate Warrior'd again and Bryan ran through him in a minute?

I would kill to see Bryan squash somebody and end it with a body-splash to the back.

[The Mask]

You could always do Bryan vs HHH with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets put into the main event. So not only would you have the crowd behind Bryan against HHH, you'd have a Daniel Bryan who just wrestled HHH, is exhausted and now faces Batista and Orton in a three way dance.

Nice

[Curd]

Yeah, DB is moving the merchandise at arenas and online.
http://www.tpww.net/2014/03/list-of-top-merchandise-sellers-currently-in-wwe/

On the other hand, Hulk's ego is probably bruised at not cracking the top five event merch sellers and only being fourth online.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I don't think Hogan is mad at being the fourth best merchandise mover in a company that he hasn't taken a bump for in something like nine years.

[Swiss Ultimate]

I don't think Hogan is mad at being the fourth best merchandise mover in a company that he hasn't taken a bump for in something like nine years.

When was the last time he even gave a leg drop? I remember after his hip surgery he didn't do it, but still wrestled Flair overseas.

[Swiss Ultimate]

Yeah, DB is moving the merchandise at arenas and online.
http://www.tpww.net/2014/03/list-of-top-merchandise-sellers-currently-in-wwe/

On the other hand, Hulk's ego is probably bruised at not cracking the top five event merch sellers and only being fourth online.

How many NWO shirts did Hulk sell?

I'm sorry, but Hogan sold more merch than anyone, chart or no chart. All the tickets and videogames that were sold mainly because people wanted to see or be Hogan, it's hard to quantify.

Mind you I personally dislike him, I'm not going to deny the obvious fact that Hogan did amazing business for an extended period of time.