Let's dissect the Bryan story arc going back to WrestleMania 28 when the Yes Chants began...
At first, these chants were a legitimate response to an attempted burial of Daniel Bryan. Having Sheamus go over at 'Mania in 18 seconds was not very well received by the snarky WrestleMania crowd, and they responded by chanting for much of the night before carrying it over into Monday Night Raw. I've always seen these chants in the manner for which I remember them starting - as a rebellion against Vince McMahon's long-running theme of pushing big guys down the fans' throats. In that manner, Daniel Bryan has become a symbol for fans that are dissatisfied with the current product.
This is why I believe the chants got louder as the WWE tried to embarrass Bryan with "anger management classes" in the summer of 2012. It's why I think they became deafening when the WWE used Bryan's support for no other reason than to draw heat to Randy Orton. And it's why I think the shit finally hit the fan at the Royal Rumble when the fans realized that the WWE wasn't going to rethink their dated formula in favor of giving Bryan a shot at WrestleMania.
Now, some people are mistakenly calling this a burial, when what they likely mean is that Daniel Bryan has hit the imaginary glass ceiling with the company. Instead of letting him break through it, as most think they should, they're constantly holding him down to prevent that ceiling from shattering. They screw him out of the title, have him walk into trap after trap, leave him laying in the middle of the ring and basically put him in a story where he needs to overcome the odds ... but then never once let him overcome those odds. Guys don't typically become bigger when they're constantly booked to look like fools - but Daniel Bryan isn't typical. As I said earlier, I believe he's a symbol to some fans for all that they see wrong in the WWE. So by booking him to look stupid, the fans frustrations grows; and so do the chants.
In my eyes, the WWE has done a piss-poor of capitalizing on these chants, and that's a big reason they've lost complete control of them. At the start of the Orton/Bryan angle, there was no doubt in my mind that Triple H was the real heel in the situation. Triple H was pulling all the strings to keep Bryan from the title; Orton was merely a pawn, a beneficiary of those strings being pulled. Sure, we wanted to see Orton go down; but Triple H was the real target.
Well, about half-way through the Orton/Bryan program, Triple H - excuse me, Paul Levesque - decided that heels no longer existed. So one week, the fans want Triple H's head on a stick for screwing Bryan out of the title at NOC... and the next week, he's booking Bryan and 10 other guys in an 11-on-3 match against The Shield because he doesn't want to get booed anymore. Well, here's the problem - if Triple H has been the heel in this angle, and he suddenly decides not to be a heel anymore for reasons that aren't explained within the confines of the angle, then the angle loses its steam big time.
But here's where the really interesting part comes in. In lieu of having an on-screen heel, the WWE audience has created its own heel. And that heel is the real-life WWE Machine. So instead of controlling this angle by making The Authority the villains, they've effectively turned their entire company into villains in the eyes of their audience.
As for last night, sure, Bryan beat Orton last night in the middle of the ring. But make no mistake, this story is about Orton's loss, not Bryan's win. The story being played out is that Orton is giving reason for Triple H to rethink his commitment to the champ. With Batista back in the fold, Orton is paranoid that Triple H will put his faith in him instead. This program will come to a head at WrestleMania when the two square off for the title. Having Bryan go over Orton last night wasn't a nod to Bryan so much as it was a furthering of the Orton/Batista story.
