Hey Scott,
Let me start by saying that I ordered Wrestlemania for the 3 big matches and since I was not invested in Danial Bryan or Sheamus at all I actually liked the 18 second match from a "holy shit did that just happen standpoint" That said as a neutral observer it seems to me that the loss could actually help Bryan. First off it obviously built sympathy as the Raw crowd was rabid for him the entire night. Second he can easily blame the loss on AJ and further build up the jerk boyfriend character he has been portraying. From the little bit I have seen the last one to play this character as good was The Macho Man, and jerk boyfriend + talented wrestler turned out pretty good for Randy. Just something to think about.
Well, the Macho Man dynamic was completely different. Savage was the star quarterback dating the girl next door, and he was insecure and paranoid about losing her because he had obvious self-esteem issues that helped balance out what would have been a dominant heel run otherwise. People booed Macho for his treatment of Elizabeth because otherwise they’d cheer him for being so awesome. Bryan has a different thing going on, where AJ seems fine with the abuse because everyone can see that Bryan is a delusional egomaniac who is overachieving and doesn’t actually pose any physical threat to her. People really believed that Savage would snap and beat the shit out of Elizabeth any moment. It’s actually a very different type of character.
So simply put, how would you book Daniel Bryan going forward the next 6 months? Heel, face or tweener? Does he stay focused on the WHC and Sheamus, or does he go to Raw to chase Punk (where the biggest heel is Lauranitis)? What feuds make sense, and what main events should he be in at the next big PPVS?
YES!!!!!
I think he should move to RAW first and foremost and get the US title off Santino because having the secondary belt on a hot property would instantly elevate it. He should definitely stay a heel because people don’t want another goody-goody babyface, and in fact they should hook him up with Eve and then have him feud with Zack Ryder and new girlfriend AJ for a while. He really doesn’t need to be the main event guy, and in fact in some ways he’d be worse off there because it’s overloaded with big guys like Cena, Brock, Orton and possibly Batista. Really, he needs to get away from Sheamus for the good of Sheamus’ title reign anyway.
SPOILER
ReplyDelete.nwodkcamS no JAhtiw pu ekorb nayrB leinaD
Well, apparently not only do the Smackdown tapings show that the past 48 hours wasn't a fluke, but the YES! phenomenon has spread all the way to the realm of basketball, where it erupted during the Heat/Sixers game. IT HAS BEGUN.
ReplyDeletePutting Daniel Bryan with Eve would be instant death to the character, as it would necessitate a feud with Zack Ryder, who, let's be honest, has been buried so completely that The Miz is saying "damn, you got punked, man".
ReplyDeleteThe rosters don't seem to matter anymore, so it's not like him being on Smackdown is hurting him. Just play it by ear, see how the crowd reacts Monday, and book accordingly. If he's hot, pump out the "Yes!" t-shirts, get him in a feud with an upper-tier guy (Randy Orton isn't going to be doing anything after burying Kane), and ride him for as long as he's hot. Move him to Raw when the draft comes around, and build to the match everyone wants to see anyway; Daniel Bryan/CM Punk. Print money.
I can see him be something like Chris Jericho in his last run with the company...an awesome upper card heel who can be inserted in the main event here and there to spruce it up.
ReplyDeleteI'd say they are already too many heels at Daniel's level. Have him win the intercontinental title, and then he can feud with christian, del rio, cody rhodes, dolph e.t.c. If he keep getting pops, they should def push him to feuding with sheamus again.
ReplyDeleteAre we getting memes yet?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing it all flames out by the end of April.
Agreed that Bryan shouldn't be with Eve as his schtick with AJ is too good
ReplyDeletePlus he doesn't need to get sucked into the mid card with Ryder. Hooking up with Eve would be good for a Miz or a returning Wade Barrett
I willing to bet that WWE completely misinterprets the YES! chants and turns Bryan into a goofy mid-card comedy act.
ReplyDeleteI would have Bryan win back the title due to Del Rio interference and feud with Orton. Let Del Rio and Sheamus feud and spend the months leading up SummerSlam rebooting Sheamus. Then at SummerSlam, they can do what they should have done at WM.
I agree with the general idea here. I don't understand why he should be shoved back to the IC title level. He is above that and the only way he could elevate the title is by being given the chance to really run with it - which is never going to happen anyway, and will just hurt the fragile writers' brains. Bryan should be kept near the top of the card, and if he can keep this momentum going until the draft, move him to RAW and have him feud with Punk - maybe even put the title on him.
ReplyDeleteI have actually loved the AJ storyline and think they have great chemistry. I would go the reverse of the Savage/Elizabeth. As someone mentioned in another thread, I would play up the abuse as part of their properly functioning relationship, with AJ unable to go without the abuse. Then, once she starts losing sympathy, turn them into the worlds most annoying, nerdy and hilarious power couple. I just have great images of Bryan as champ, AJ as divas champ, and the two of them "Yessing" down the aisle together.
Bah, who knows. I just think shoving Bryan down into the midcard again in the exact type of thing the WWE always does, and further de-legitimizes his title reign. The man has all the talent to be a megastar: he is the best technical wrestler on the roster, has great personality, and has a legitimate passion for the sport. At this point, I bet he could stay heel by refusing to say "Yes"!
I imagine Bryan will be in the heavyweight title picture at Extreme Rules, but they should keep the title off him. As little as I want to see Orton in the ring at all, putting him in a feud with Bryan is a pretty good idea. Bryan would work well against a tweener at this stage. They could book him as a heel that doesn't directly antagonize the crowd. Don't really see the point to putting him into a midcard title hunt program. Keep him in the upper card, and bring his next world championship feud to a slow boil, peaking around Summerslam.
ReplyDeleteHe absolutely should be a main event guy. And it should culminate in a full-on feud with Punk going into WrestleMania. Maybe bring back the Iron Man match for them.
Daniel Bryan is by far one of the most overrated wrestlers I have EVER seen. Good ring technician, but NO charisma, too small, and just doesn't have the 'X' factor. I'm praying that Vince doesn't cave in to the demands of a couple of uber-smarky crowds that think they know what works in this business, but have never actually laced up a pair of boots in their life.
ReplyDelete...
..
What? Just trying to stir shit up so D-Bry's thread catches up to Brock's.
In case that wasn't enough... um...ah...oh, Greedo shot first FTW!!!
I'd like to see Punk and Bryan kept seperate for a while (at least 2 years, enough time for this Rock-Brock-Cena-Taker thing to play out), so that when they DO hook up it's a big deal. Sort of like Angle/HBK (I know they have actually wrestled each other but they were one-offs with no actual feud).
ReplyDeleteI don't think the WWE has a clue how to handle this, but I'm not sure where I'd go with it either. I'm certain he shouldn't be turned face or change any aspect of his current character - he needs to remain an obnoxious, self-righteous prick. Have him win competitive matches over the next few, not by luck, but by skill. Actually show the audience that he's an awesome wrestler, and that the reason he used AJ and nefarious tactics was because he was desperate to keep the title.
ReplyDeleteOh, and ride the YES! wave to thousands and thousands of t-shirt sales. Even if its popularity dims, Bryan should keep doing it, it'd be even funnier.
I agree about Savage, even as a kid I could notice Liz' uncomfortableness around Savage as even she had no idea if Savage would snap or not.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about a feud with Orton. Randy just did the job a Wrestlemania and whoever comes next after Kane is gonna get slaughtered. It would, however, be funny if Orton was made heel by proxy due the overwhelming power of the YES!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that he doesn't need a midcard title. I don't think more matches with Big Show would do him any favours and unless, he's beating Santino in seconds, a US Title is no use to him right now.
I think you need to keep him with AJ going forward. She's the rare female valet that accentuates the wrestler rather than overshadows him.
ReplyDelete"He should definitely stay a heel because people don’t want another goody-goody babyface, and in fact they should hook him up with Eve and then have him feud with Zack Ryder and new girlfriend AJ for a while. "
ReplyDeleteTHIS
Savage might be a diffrent character then Bryant but the basic dynamic is the same and AJ doesn't exacty look comforbable with Bryant. Bryant coming out on smackdown and blaming AJ for the loss is storytelling 101. (How easy is this...Bryant asks the fan's if they think AJ is to blame for Wrestlemania. The fan's response? YES YES YES ect.)
ReplyDeleteI think a feud with Orton would be good of Bryan was the heel but I don't want them to feud for the reason you mentioned. I'm trying not to be so overtly negative about Orton but if he squashes Bryan I may fall off the wagon.
ReplyDeleteWho's Bryant?
ReplyDeleteBryan. My bad, my bad.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the expression? "Don't change horses midstream" (or "go with what brought you to the dance" would also apply here)? I think they're best off sticking with what's working. As somebody else noted, AJ is perfect in her role because she's accenting and not overshadowing Daniel Bryan. If you pair Bryan and Eve together, suddenly you've got two people who are trying to maintain two characters in two storylines. And we've already got Dolph/Vickie and Swagger/Vickie, I don't think we need another evil guy with an evil girl pairing. Daniel Bryan's spiel with AJ is working and it's unique, so why mess with it?
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know if it's the writing teams or perhaps there's less focus on Smackdown, but for whatever reason there seems to be a significant amount of Superstars who struggle on Raw but find great success on Smackdown. Bryan already regularly appears on Raw anyway, so I'd stick him on Smackdown so that he has two shows to continue to build his audience. Plus, Raw always seems to be focused more on their babyfaces, whereas Smackdown seems to be the place where the heels can have fun.
More than anything, though, I think we need to see if this attention he's getting is sustainable.
It's funny, I know you were being tongue-in-cheek but there were a lot of people saying what you were saying about DBD before he started in WWE.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny about Randy Savage is that even in 1985-87, his skills were so awesome that crowds were still inclined to cheer him on the odd occasion in spite of his douchey behaviour. Witness the pop he got at the Boston Garden when he won the IC title from Tito Santana. Savage was also one of those rare guys who didn't actually DO anything to turn babyface. He just gradually became a babyface because people wanted to cheer for him. If the Internet had been around and kayfabe was dead during that time period, it's funny to ponder how quickly fans might have taken to cheering Macho Man because of how entertaining he was.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Savage was never buried as badly as Daniel Bryan was at WM. If Bryan had been allowed to lose to Sheamus after wrestling a competitive 10-15 minute match, I wonder if the reactions for him these past few days would have been as strong. I think one of the major reasons I was so disappointed about him not getting a real match at WM is because the entire front section was loaded with D-Bry fans, and I was looking forward to seeing how they would react to the match and how both guys would work around them.
Agree with most of this, except I'd keep AJ with Bryan for as long as possible. There is money in building that angle out to the eventual break up.
ReplyDeleteI actually felt he had very little charisma during the face run. He got to show a glimpse of it during the Nexus attack when he talked trash to Cena, and now it is really shining through as a heel. That is the main reason I am so opposed to him turning face, he will inevitably become boring, kinda like how R-Truth is a boring ass character again.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how much it takes outside of Florida. I'll be at RAW Monday Night, so I guess I will find out firsthand.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping this was the start of a "Gumbel 2 Gumbel" angle.
ReplyDelete"Trab pu kcip... Trab pu kcip"
ReplyDelete"What have we told you about writing on the walls? GO TO YOUR ROOM!"
Is it bad that I misread Greedo as Gedo at first? 2001 Me just spontaneously combusted at the chance to mock my old favorite whipping boy one last time.
ReplyDeleteSo begins the Ryder-burial of Bryan. Step one: fundamentally alter whatever was getting him over.
ReplyDeleteI have no real faith in the WWE doing anything proper at this point, if only because their track record over the last decade is disturbingly painted with epic failure at every turn. But, assuming that they manage not to piss away more money, I'd definitely leave Daniel Bryan heel. There seems to be this misconception that someone uber-hot must instantly go the CM Punk face route, when that's just not true. There have been plenty of heels in the past who have been over enough to move merchandise at a good clip. Plus, there's always the Ric Flair demographic of lifelong heels who develop passionate followings just because they're awesome.
ReplyDeleteThey actually started YES! chants in the American Airlines Arena during last night's Heat game.
ReplyDeleteHere is my list of AWESOME Bryan booking ideas (or ABBI for short):
ReplyDelete1. Defeat Santino in 18 seconds exactly to win the US Title
2. Defeat the Big Show by shenanigans to win the IC Title
3. Keep either title in scenarios 1 or 2 for over a year, make reference to the US title being more important than the world title. Or unify the belts.
4. Bring back the Western States Heritage Title, let Bryan have it, draw Larry Z out of retirement for the sole reason of pissing off Scott and making him reference the 7 MINUTE STALL OF DOOM!!!!!
5. Make sure he starts chanting NO! NO! NO! to keep him heel and provoke the crowd.
6. After debilitating an opponent with the Lebell Lock, he needs to drape a YES! shirt over his opponents head
7. ARMBAR! (sorry, it slipped)
AND FINALLY (and you will hate this)
8. When he finally kicks AJ to the curb, don't let Eve manage him...let MICHAEL COLE manage him! His heat would be through the f***kin roof with that pairing.
Thoughts?
One of my favourite 'man, I know this guy is a tool but he's so awesome I have to cheer him' is 2005 Kurt Angle. He even got serious crowd support against SHAWN MICHAELS, you know you're awesome when the crowd takes your side over HBK. And that promo at Elimination Chamber 06 was gold (the one about not liking 'the black people' and making Jesus tap).
ReplyDeleteI was just skimming the comments and rolled my eyes at yours and thought you were being a knob, but then I actually read the original comment and saw he wrote 'Bryant' OVER AND OVER. 4 times!!! What the fuck!!!
ReplyDeleteI actually WAS disappointed when I watched the first episode of NXT and saw how small he actually was. I had seen some of his ROH stuff, but the bad lighting, weird camera angles, poor sound, shitty editing, and annoying commentary blinded me to how tiny he actually is. I'm a lifelong WWE fan, can't say Vince's brainwashing hasn't worked.
ReplyDeleteI don't care now, but back then it bothered me.
LINK?? I don't see that on any of the spoilers I've read.
ReplyDeleteNevermind. I just read about it. Interesting.
ReplyDelete"I get it now! The fans were chanting for LeBron the whole time!" - Vince McMahon
ReplyDeleteIf they stick with that TINY ring they had for Wrestlemania, you probably won't be bothered for much longer. It makes even their smaller wrestlers look absolutely HUGE in comparison, and they really don't have any "massive" wrestlers in the pipeline that will do much more than Ezekiel Jackson is doing.
ReplyDeleteGuys like Bryan, Punk, Zack, etc. are what you've got. I'm going to guess the WWE is going to change appropriately for that.
Savage was also one of those rare guys who didn't actually DO anything
ReplyDeleteto turn babyface. He just gradually became a babyface because people
wanted to cheer for him
Time to stir the pot:
The exact same thing happened with Orton a few years ago...
I don't know why this came to my mind, but when AJ was giving her promo where she (reluctantly) said that Bryan was a good lover, I got visions in my head of someone protesting the fact that they're not married. Happened again when AJ tweeted after WM that she had a feeling she was going to have to sleep on the couch.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the booking, my good man. If they put Daniel Bryan in there against Orton and have him get squashed like a bug, they're idiots. If you have Bryan antagonize Orton, get under his skin and force him to make stupid mistakes, you can lengthen the feud by a few months, really test Daniel Bryan's popularity, and if it's still there at that time, pull the trigger on him and have him go over Orton to cement him.
ReplyDeleteSmackdown really only has two "top-tier" faces right now. So if you're pushing a Sheamus/Del Rio feud, that leaves Orton. It's more an indictment on how they don't give a damn about Smackdown than Daniel Bryan doesn't have anyone he can really feud with. They have people... they just all happen to be on Raw, in feuds. Anyone that MIGHT have risen up to the upper tier gets shoved right back down. So you're stuck with Orton, pretty much.
I have to say, I love the idea of Bryan setting an 18 second limit to all of his matches in order to redeem himself. Just feed him some lower midcard guys. Make lemonade out of the WrestleMania mishap.
ReplyDeleteOnly Kurt Angle could somehow work in Jesus tapping out in a promo without it crashing and burning into absurdity. Sometimes, coked out promos are just what the doctor ordered.
ReplyDeleteNo thoughts on the Michael Cole managing him? I think it would be gold, and the Internet might blow up
ReplyDeleteYikes, ROH isn't THAT bad, we're just spoiled by how good the WWE is at this stuff.
ReplyDeleteBut about DBD, I think he got the rote criticism that ROH guys get (sans Punk who was so good on the mic). I think the natural assumption about DBD was that he would be another vanilla midget. What people forgot was that DBD had a natural charisma and presence that others didn't (I'm looking at you Low-Ki!).
...and I'm still baffled by that. Orton is a lot of thing. Entertaining is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteAJ's with Kobe now?
ReplyDeleteOK, I have another awesome Bryan Booking idea (ABBI):
ReplyDeleteLet him COMPLETELY rip off interviews from Savage circa 85 and treat Josh Matthews like his bitch. Imagine the following:
- Bryan bringing out creamers and saying the cream rises to the top
- Bryan bringing out a coffee cup and telling people Santino's cup of coffee at the big time is done
- Bryan with a newspaper calling CM Punk yesterdays news.
Go on youtube and watch some of those classic interviews...NO MORE QUESTIONS!!!!
We're all losing track of the most important thing: what CrankyVince thinks of all of this.
ReplyDeleteThis, of course, was years AFTER Rey Mysterio wore the big gold belt...
ReplyDeleteI'm not typing a link in backwards too!!
ReplyDeleteNO NO NO!
ReplyDeleteBryan & AJ need to stay together. You don't mess with what's working. Eve is a black hole of suck.
The beauty of the AJ/Bryan thing is that AJ is CUTE and thus has the appeal of being Bryan's girlfriend in a way that makes sense. Eve is HOT and doesn't work in that role.
Also, Eve can't wrestle or talk. AJ can do both.
If they break up Bryan & AJ, Bryan will lose some of his heat, without question.
The majority of wrestling fans disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteOrton has "IT". Yeah his mic skills aren't great, but much like Brock he has an undeniable presence in the ring that captivates the people watching.
Savage never lost a match in 18 seconds.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Vince and the gang really thought that is what the people wanted. That they looked at Bryan as a Honky Tonk Man kinda fluke champion. Maybe that's what the marks think. I don't know.
More likely it's that Vince and the gang wanted to shove it to the smark internet fan boys. Which makes the reaction on Monday night that much more sweet. The fans turning back on Vince and the gang with a big fat FUCK YOU. Topped off with a nice little YES! Of course the pessimist in me still has that little feeling that this is just a Miami thing. Even the NBA game it happened at was a Heat game in Miami. The real test will be when they hit another city. I definitely see the more smark cities like Chicago, New York, and Philly getting behind him. But I don't know about the rest of the country.
I agree with Scott though. Move him to Raw and have to get the US Title. He needs a proper push. If you stick him in the main event he's just going to lose to everyone he faces and it will kill what momentum Monday created.
Correct me if I'm wrong here but has the guy ever had a real push? He was basically a jobber up until he won MITB. Which was basically just a swerve to show it to the smarks who said they would never let Bryan win. Than they spent the next six months or so trying to bury him. Having Cole rip him every week on TV saying he sucked and basically didn't deserve to be on TV. Included with that was the WWE's always extremely successful "losing steak gimmick" The angle that has made countless stars. (Just to make sure everyone gets it, I'm being VERY sarcastic here)
He was pretty much back into jobber land until they finally let him cash in the MITB. Though he actually did start going over people, and I will admit that turning him heel was a great idea he was still treated like a fluke champion.
And in my opinion the Wrestlemania match was supposed to be the final fuck you to the smarks from Vince and the gang to bury Daniel Bryan once and for all. But as we saw in a rare moment the fans reversed it on them.
Now if they have any sense of business acumen they will actually try and get him over proper. The mid-card being the right place for that at this time. Let him dominate that division for awhile until the 18 second lose is cleaned away. Than move him into the main event toward the end of the year or beginning of next year.
Of course I have absolutely zero faith that any of that is going to happen. Which is why every time I think I'm gonna start watching wrestling again I stop after a few weeks because they make horrible booking deceisons, they always push the wrong guys, and the writing is generally terrible.
Let the Big Show vs Lebron James for Wrestlemania XXIX rumors begin!
ReplyDelete"I willing to bet that WWE completely misinterprets the YES! chants and turns Bryan into a goofy mid-card comedy act."
ReplyDeleteTHIS
Yeah, his mic skills aren't great and he can't carry a match unless he's the face and a better heel is doing the work but, uh, what was my original point?
ReplyDeleteI think it was an issue that Orton had been so dominant for so long that people just cheered him. Look at the sheer number of people he was put over and it's hard to believe he was so heatless for so long.
And there you have how WWE does business. Sadly it does work. If you push someone long enough they'll get over eventually just because everyone perceives them as being good. People want to root for a winner. So even if he's boring as shit, he wins all of his matches. So people will cheer him.
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