"Are you breaking up with me?"

[Mustang Sally]

The line uttered by Kane last night was the best part of the show. Who ever expected him to be the "girlfriend" of the duo, rather than Daniel? I'm appreciating Glenn Jacobs more than ever; it's amusing to consider the mute monster he played at the start of his WWE career as opposed to what he is today......and it's been changed on the fly; when he went back under the mask, I thought he was returning to his Big Red Monster days.

The skit was funny as hell, yet one could appreciate the planning that's going into their breakup. How many times have we seen tag team guys end their partnership by becoming enemies? Yes, it's obvious the whole shebang is about Daniel Bryan.....and how unusual is it to see stars like Kane and Randy Orton (of all people) playing second fiddle to anyone, much less the little dynamo with the face of a goat?

For those of you who are bored to death with WWE, thinking that nothing new ever gets presented, I give you the Daniel Bryan push. On one hand, he's playing a paranoid twerp.....on the other, he's the guy taking down the Shield, pinning Seth Rollins in a singles match and being the first to cleanly beat the Shield trio.....with the help of his friends.

As things are proceeding, Kane and Daniel can "break up" while still being allies.....or maybe not. Also, after seeing Daniel being RKO'd by Orton, we knew they'd be enemies....except they aren't, at least not yet. The possibilities are endless.

It's all about Daniel Bryan. His two big brothers spend part of their time trying to mollify him....and the rest helping to launch him on his way to the heights. It's new territory for both of them and I'm enjoying the way they're handling themselves.

The Daniel Bryan Express is one of the slickest programs I've seen Creative come up with, and I can't wait to see where it's going.

 

[sanefan_har]

I agree 100%. Although to be honest , I suspect some creative influence from Kane and Bryan in the story. I can't imagine Vince/Creative being this good having seen their other stuff (Hornswoggle is L'Anonymous General Manager will NEVERR, EVERRRR leave my mind!!)

 

[HBsam31]

I am going to be honest Sally, I did not see this push of Daniel Bryan coming at all. He went from the "yes" phenomenon after losing the title in 18 seconds to feuding with Punk over AJ to helping re surge the tag division with Kane. Little did I know he was constantly building steam the whole time, and now it seems he might be the most over guy in the whole damn company. It has been entertaining as hell the whole time, but I just didn't think it was leading to this. Kane and Orton have been incredible as supporting characters, and this is coming from someone who hasn't liked Orton in about 5 years. Wouldn't it be funny if it came out that Bryan was playing them both the whole time, using them to get to the top. It wouldn't be necessary, but it would sure be something if he turned out to be this little twerpy evil genius. I can definitely say that this is the most interesting thing going on in the WWE today, and if this all ends with Bryan defeating Cena for the WWE title then I would call this the most interesting rise to the top I have seen in quite some time.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

Daniel Bryan has been this OVER Heel for quite some time. However since their feud w/Big E and Ziggler, Kane and D Bry have been on the same page night in and night out. The feud w/The Shield has been ongoing and Epic. To see The Shield begin to realize their potential has been great, yet at the same time seeing the Evolution of Team Hell No and throwing Orton into the mix has resulted in some compelling storytelling. D Bryan has embraced the YES and is the most OVER wrestler in the company. Kane and Orton have provided a unique dynamic for D bry to play off of and then the Shield suffering their 1st loss. So many variables introduced and so many tests passed with flying colors for the intense, little Goatface. This guy needs to be WWE champion at MITB. Adding D Bry to the bland Cena/Ryback feud will renew interest in both characters, the feud, and the WWE title. Creative Cena's TIME is UP...Daniel Bryan's TIME is NOW!!!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

When it comes to the pairing of Kane & Daniel Bryan, I don't think anybody really expected it to be anywhere close to as good as it's actually been. I've often said that Kane is pretty underrated and simply doesn't get all the props he should in the eyes of many fans. The past couple of years, especially the last 9 or 10 months, he's proven without a doubt something I've believed for a long while: that he's someone who can be much more than a near 7 foot bruiser. As far as Daniel Bryan goes, he's probably the hottest thing in wrestling right now and he's someone whose proven many a doubter wrong over the last 18 months. I don't think people expected he & Kane to have the kind of chemistry they've displayed, nor that Bryan would be able to connect with fans on the level that he has. He's a diamond in the rough and WWE officials are truly foolish if they're not able to recognize that.

Given the general scope of things, I was expecting the eventual break up of Team Hell No to revolve in kind of the opposite direction. I think most people were, because I know I wasn't expecting Bryan to be portrayed in such a dominant light. The "weak link" angle has been really entertaining as instead of simply putting Bryan on a losing streak, as thinking he's the "weak link" might imply, WWE has gone the direction of the concern of being labeled such as a way of lighting a fire under Bryan and propelling him to the greatest hot streak of his career thus far. Aside from the fact that nobody really expected the consistent level of quality that Bryan & Kane have delivered since being paired together, Bryan being built up in such a way feels extremely fresh. Glen Jacobs is a respected veteran, a pretty underrated worker in my opinion, he's always worked hard even when he's been handed crap to work with, has feuded with every major star to pass through WWE in the past 15 years with the exception of Hulk Hogan, has a lot of title wins and still looks to be in fantastic shape. He's also getting older because, at 46 years old, he's the second oldest pro wrestler on the roster. As a result, you have to think that his career is going to be winding down in the near future, so having Bryan be the guy who comes out of THN looking like the "strong link", again, simply plays out with a much fresher feel.

When it comes to Bryan & Orton, it's not as clear where it's going. Initially, I thought Orton nailing Bryan with an RKO was the sign that Orton had either gone heel or was in the process of his long awaited heel turn. However, he & Bryan have been painted as being on the same page all this week. As a result, I think it means that they'll have a major breakdown tonight resulting in them being beaten by The Shield, which will lead to one of them turning heel. Based on reports, there's been talk of turning Bryan heel eventually but there've also been reports that WWE officials want to keep him babyface, at least, through the MITB ppv in which he's penciled in for a match against John Cena. Given the incredible reaction Bryan has been getting the past month or so, I'm of the opinion that it's a mistake to turn Bryan heel right now. When Orton nailed him with the RKO on SD!, Orton got the most genuine heel reaction he's gotten in years. Usually, all Orton has to do is turn his head or twitch his facial expressions and the crowd pops for him, but The Viper "struck" a guy that fans are really digging and liking to cheer for. Orton's wanted to turn heel for quite a while, reportedly, so I think that's how WWE should go. Orton wants to go heel and Bryan, in my opinion, is far too hot as a babyface right now to be turned.

As to where they go after tonight, personally, I'd kind of like to see Orton feud with Bryan over the next several weeks. Ideally, I'd like to see it play out like this: Orton & Bryan suffer a miscommunication tonight and wind up losing. Orton either turns on Bryan during the match and hits him with an RKO, leaving him to be pinned, or Orton is somehow pinned and winds up blaming Bryan for it and then RKOs him. On Raw tomorrow night, I'd have Orton interrupt Cena's promo segment, you know he'll have one if he retains against Ryback, in order to make his intentions known that The Viper is truly back and wants the WWE Championship. Bryan's music hits, he comes out and gets in Orton's face and states that he wants the shot. He & Orton could come to blows, with Cena possibly trying to break them up, only to wind up maybe eating an RKO from Orton or for Bryan to deliver a big roundhouse kick that damn near knocks Cena's head off. After the segment, the commentators or Vickie could announce that there'll be a #1 contender's match between Orton & Bryan to determine who gets Cena at MITB. I'm torn between having the match close out the show tomorrow night or if they should have it on the next Raw after hyping the crap out of the match throughout tomorrow's show. Both have their advantages as Raw will probably have an audience that's more along the lines of average, possibly in the mid 4 million range, as it's a post ppv episode and it'll give the show a hot close. Conversely, building the match heavily on tomorrow night's show could help generate good numbers, for the match would certainly be highly anticipated. In either event, I'd ultimately have Bryan win the spot decisively, keep tensions up between himself, Orton & Cena and have Orton interfere in their match at MITB to ultimately cost Bryan the championship. WWE could always protect them both by having Orton come out during a time in which the match looks like a stalemate and he attacks Cena instead of Bryan, RKOing him before slithering out of the ring. As a result, Bryan is DQ'd and it ultimately becomes a threeway feud for the strap that lasts throughout the summer. As I said, ideally, that's what I'd like to see happen. It probably won't go down that way but I'm not gonna gripe about it if it doesn't.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

The Daniel Bryan Express is one of the slickest programs I've seen Creative come up with, and I can't wait to see where it's going.

CHOO CHOO! ALL ABOOOOOARD!!

You're right. This IS the most entertaining storyline right now. The crowd has been off the hook for DB the past couple of weeks and he's even making Orton interesting to me for the first time in years.

I also agree with Jack Hammer that now is not the time to turn him heel. He'll get pops no matter what, but he's too hot right now, and if Orton turns on DB tonight, Orton may also become relevant again, making this a win-win situation for everyone.

If DB wrestles Cena at MITB, the crowd will be solidly behind Bryan and will be going insane. It will be great entertainment regardless of what the outcome is. Everything Bryan has been touching lately is turning into pure gold.