The Piledriver Report 08.22.13: The Screwing of Daniel Bryan- Good or Bad?

“Fade to black! Fade to black! Fade to black!” As the Summer Slam pay per view was drawing to a close, confetti rained down on the Los Angeles crowd and the new WWE champion. The clock read 10:45pm. Earlier in the night, I was so entertained by the Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk match that I didn’t want to see the bout or the show come to an end. That all changed at 10:45pm.

Leading up to Summer Slam, I heard the rumors. Daniel Bryan was scheduled to win the WWE title, shortly followed by Randy Orton cashing in his Money in the Bank title opportunity. As detailed in last week’s article, I didn’t want the WWE treat Daniel Bryan’s as a prop in a storyline. I wanted Bryan’s first reign to be a reward for all of the hard work he has put in during his career. The last thing I wanted to see was Randy Orton cash in the briefcase.

When the “viper’s” music blared over the P.A. system, I knew that the rumors were true. Sure enough, a few moments later and Randy Orton was crowned the new champion. I wasn’t the only person annoyed at this development. I’m sure the WWE was banking on the fans to deliver a chorus of boos as Triple H and Randy Orton stood triumphant in the ring. Instead, the fans were too deflated to boo, and silence was more the sound that was heard, if silence can be “heard.”

THE STORY

Even though I was disappointed in the WWE for not given Daniel Bryan a run with the title at this time, I must admit that they told one hell of a story. Or, I should say, they ARE telling one hell of a story. I went on the record stating that I didn’t mind the angle if it was Bryan’s second or third run, but not his first. After thinking about it, the WWE HAD to pull the rug out from Daniel Bryan’s first title reign. The storyline centers around the McMahons’ not feeling that Daniel Bryan is worthy of being the WWE champion. He doesn’t have the look that the McMahons want as the “face of the WWE.”

If Bryan already had a WWE championship title reign, that went uninterrupted by McMahon interference, then the present storyline would make no sense. The whole point is that the crowd is dying to see Daniel Bryan have a run as the WWE champion. At 5 feet 8 inches, Daniel Bryan has the appearance as the ultimate underdog. However, Daniel Bryan is no ordinary undersized wrestler. He is arguably the best technical wrestler in the business today. He has proven that he can get over with the WWE crowd by, not only his wrestling skills, but also with his personality and comedic skill that was on display during his run as one half of the Team Hell No tag team. Bryan’s road to the WWE was a long journey. When he finally made it, he was dismissed after an angle that went too far. Upon his return to the WWE, Bryan proved he was all that was advertised. The WWE pushed him as more than a mid-carder, complete with a World Heavyweight title run. However, a run as a true main event wrestler didn’t seem to be in the cards despite what the fans wanted. After dabbling in the indys and Ring of Honor for a decade, and then working his way up the ranks in the WWE, Bryan’s time is now.

By playing out the storyline as the WWE is currently doing things, the Daniel Bryan character is going to draw more sympathy from the crowd, and has a chance to be more over with the crowd. Like that is even possible at the moment given that Bryan is the most over wrestler in the business right now. Despite the initial backlash, the WWE is right on the money thus far with this storyline.

RAW

The WWE proved on Monday night that they are serious about having Daniel Bryan as one of the top stars of the company. While they could have easily buried him, the WWE centered most of RAW around Daniel Bryan and continued his push. With each promo and action that the WWE took on Monday night, one thing started to take shape. It looks like the WWE is trying to turn Daniel Bryan into this era’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. In one night, he was thrown out of the arena, led away by security, and had the odds stacked against him by the McMahons. What will we see next week? Daniel Bryan crashing the ring in a beer truck. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind that at all. I like that the WWE is pushing Bryan like the star that he is. As a matter of fact, the only thing that I didn’t like was the beatdown of Daniel Bryan on RAW.

It wasn’t the beatdown in general. I actually think that the attack, combined with the McMahons, further stacks the odds against Daniel Bryan. My problem was that they had all of the wrestlers standing on the top of the ramp during this segment. When the Shield started to beat up Bryan, where were the faces? Earlier in the show, the Big Show announced that he and Mark Henry are going after the Shield’s tag straps. This was the perfect opportunity for them to make their presence felt, but Bryan had to fend off the attack on his own.

This made Bryan look like he had no friends. However, Daniel Bryan beat up all three Shield members on his own, just like a true main eventer. Despite the logic loophole of no one helping Bryan when a whole cast of characters were only twenty feet away, Daniel looked Steve Austin strong by taking all of the Shield members down before finally succumbing to the power of three.

WHAT’S NEXT?

A couple of months ago, the rumors started to circulate that the main event of WrestleMania XXX will feature a conclusion to the McMahon vs. McMahon vs. Helmsley power struggle that has been teased at lately. One rumor had Triple H facing Vince McMahon’s representative, Steve Austin. Another rumor has both Triple H and Vince choosing representatives for them to fight for the right to rule the WWE. When I first heard the Triple H vs. Austin news, I wasn’t too enthused. If Austin was going to fight one more time, I would rather see him in the ring with CM Punk or someone else that he hasn’t faced instead of Triple H. I also wasn’t too thrilled to at the prospect of a McMahon and Triple H picking representatives angle. Didn’t we already see this at WrestleMania 2000 with a McMahon in every corner? Plus, with Daniel Bryan set to feud with Randy Orton in the fall, I have a fear that we will get a WrestleMania main event of Randy Orton vs. John Cena. If I had my way, I’d prefer to see the two wrestlers who most deserve to headline WrestleMania go at it; CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan.

Another scenario I can see happening is that Randy Orton drops the title to someone like CM Punk at the Survivor Series or the December TLC pay per view. Then Triple H inserts himself into the WWE title Elimination Chamber match where he wins the title, and faces Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. A Bryan WWE title win at WrestleMania would be his WrestleMania moment, and solidify Daniel Bryan’s place in the industry. If this happens, then all of the disappointment from the post-match at SummerSlam will have all been worth it. Will the WWE go in this direction? We will find out in six short months.

***** As an FYI, I will be away on vacation next week, so The Piledriver Report will be back in two weeks. Thank you- Ronny******