Why Summerslam's finish was the right move, and what's next?

[kiel297]

Daniel Bryan is the underdog. He's been the underdog since he appeared in WWE, fighting his way to the top for years. Everyone loves a good underdog story.

However I'll take you back to another underdog story from recent times; Zack Ryder.

Zack Ryder had the WWE Universe strongly in his corner. They wanted to see him succeed, plain and simple. So WWE gave him the ball. They pushed him, and gave him a championship. The issue there though, is that the moment Zack Ryder won that title, he stopped being the underdog. He stopped being the guy that's working his ass off to get to bigger places, he stopped being seen as the unexpected hero, and started just being seen as the champion. People lost interest, because he'd run out of obstacles to climb. They stopped being able to root for him to beat the bigger guy, and got bored by him.

That's why Daniel Bryan needed to lose the WWE Title to Randy Orton. If Bryan had walked out of Summerslam as the champion, that would be the end of his underdog story. That was the issue with Ryder's, is that he had only just made it to the midcard, and suddenly he was king of it. Daniel Bryan has JUST re-emerged into the main event scene. Giving him the strap this early and letting him keep it would take away the opportunity for the slow burn a guy like Daniel Bryan needs.

It started with the weak link angle. He started getting a bit more intense, a bit more eager to show the world what he can do. Then Team Hell No split up, and Bryan had his chance against Randy Orton; a chance which he grabbed with both hands and came out on top. He is over with the crowd in a way that nobody who wasn't familiar with Bryan Danielson could have predicted at the start of his run. The crowd is 100% behind him at all times to the point that strictly in kayfabe terms, John Cena had no choice but to pick Daniel Bryan as his challenger.

So Daniel Bryan's in the big leagues now. He's the number one contender for the WWE Championship. Only one more obstacle to overcome right? Then the underdog story's over right? Not yet. He now has Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff 2.0 Brad Maddox working against him, neither one seeing the potential in him to beat John Cena. But god dammit he does. He defeats John Cena clean, 123 in the middle of the ring. He's WWE Champion. The story's hit it's conclusion. What next?

What happens next is the one man that supported Daniel Bryan betrays him. The guy he proved himself against when Team Hell No split robs him. He walks back to the ramp empty handed, the crowd is chanting "Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!". The underdog is still the underdog. He's still got obstacles to overcome. He's still got something to fight for. He has the two most powerful men in professional wrestling working against him and the champion of their choice on top of that.

That's why they shouldn't give Daniel Bryan the strap for a good while now. I would give him his rematch at Night of Champions against Randy Orton, and have the new McMahon-Helmsley regime screw him over yet again. Basically where I'm going with this is that I would essentially recreate the build to Royal Rumble 1999. Except this time instead of being screwed over at the Rumble, he wins it. Then he goes on to win the WWE Title at Wrestlemania in the main event.

That is how I would do it from here. Turn Daniel Bryan into the next megastar in a way that only a Vince McMahon fued can, and give him his Wrestlemania moment along with it. Put his name down in the history books with an angle that nobody is going to forget for a long time.

[Big Red Machine]

Good read Kiel.

If you're going to take this as Royal Rumble 99, though, I would have Dragon in Austin's place. Have Vince & co. try to screw him out of the rumble, but have Dragon win it anyway and go on to win the belt at Mania.

If they really are doing a new Corporation/McMahon-Helmsley Regime, it will be interesting to see how they manage to avoid not just recycling old angles they ran with Austin and Foley.

[kiel297]

Good read Kiel.

If you're going to take this as Royal Rumble 99, though, I would have Dragon in Austin's place. Have Vince & co. try to screw him out of the rumble, but have Dragon win it anyway and go on to win the belt at Mania.

If they really are doing a new Corporation/McMahon-Helmsley Regime, it will be interesting to see how they manage to avoid not just recycling old angles they ran with Austin and Foley.

That's what I was saying, Dragon in Austin's place, just with a different finish to the Rumble match, and obviously Vince not entering at No. 2.

As for that, I don't really think they could recycle the old Austin/Foley angles simply because there really isn't anyone who could be another Mick Foley. I do hope that we get a New Corporation though, with Vince's heavies consisting of guys like Ryback, Wade Barrett and a few other good heels. Vince giving control of Maddox and Raw to Triple H and Steph, and using Vickie as his pawn on Smackdown while he oversees it all would be great.

[Big Red Machine]

Good read Kiel.

If you're going to take this as Royal Rumble 99, though, I would have Dragon in Austin's place. Have Vince & co. try to screw him out of the rumble, but have Dragon win it anyway and go on to win the belt at Mania.

If they really are doing a new Corporation/McMahon-Helmsley Regime, it will be interesting to see how they manage to avoid not just recycling old angles they ran with Austin and Foley.

That's what I was saying, Dragon in Austin's place, just with a different finish to the Rumble match, and obviously Vince not entering at No. 2.

Oh. I thought you meant the I Quit match.

[kiel297]

Good read Kiel.

If you're going to take this as Royal Rumble 99, though, I would have Dragon in Austin's place. Have Vince & co. try to screw him out of the rumble, but have Dragon win it anyway and go on to win the belt at Mania.

If they really are doing a new Corporation/McMahon-Helmsley Regime, it will be interesting to see how they manage to avoid not just recycling old angles they ran with Austin and Foley.

That's what I was saying, Dragon in Austin's place, just with a different finish to the Rumble match, and obviously Vince not entering at No. 2.

Oh. I thought you meant the I Quit match.

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah