Bryan & Shane: What's It Leading To?

[Jack-Hammer]

Over the course of the past several weeks, really since SmackDown invaded Raw to kick off the build for Survivor Series, WWE has been hinting at slowly festering tension between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. To recap everything, it started really with Bryan voicing his disapproval of SmackDown invading Raw and not being included in the decision. It's been kept in the background and didn't have too much emphasis placed on it, but you knew it was there and it kicked up a little bit last week when Bryan came out and kinda sorta maybe? defended Owens & Zayn from being fired by Shane. Bryan puts them in a lumberjack match against New Day, Shane was all for it as he wanted to see Owens & Zayn get beaten up, lose the match and then fire them only for them to come out ahead by winning the match. On tonight's episode of SD Live, the tension seemed a little more focused as Shane still wants to fire them only for Bryan to intervene and use some degree of logic to help save them by pointing out that despite their lousy attitudes, they're highly talented. So Shane tinkers with Owens' match against Randy Orton on tonight's show by making it a no DQ match and bans Zayn from ringside. So, as Owens and Orton are in the middle of their match and fighting up on the ramp, Zayn comes out with a steel chair and gives Randy a couple of whacks, Graves makes some asinine comment saying that Zayn wasn't ringside when he attacked, Owens & Orton fight some more before Owens eventually wins via a frog splash. So, once again, Shane's plans blow up in his face with Owens winning and Zayn disrespects him by disobeying his orders.

So, as for next week, you know that Shane will be out there front & center to start the show off, he and Bryan will have some sort of conversation and you have to wonder what the endgame is. Is it leading to some sort of SmackDown civil war with some stars siding with Shane and some with Bryan? Is it the beginning of some sort of heel turn for Shane? Is it leading to him firing Bryan and, if so, does this mean that Bryan might turn manager for Owens & Zayn? Could it even lead to a return to the ring for Bryan to take on Shane for control of SD? They're taking their time with this and going for a slow burn, it's intriguing but it's also something that could blow up in their face.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Let me put on my cynic hat.........okay let's do it.

I think that this is leading to a Bryan heel turn with the end goal being to cut out Bryan's legs from under him on his way out of the company.

We all know that Bryan is leaving because he is determined to end up as the next Dynamite Kid and WWE doesn't want that, so somehow WWE is the bad guy. The internet is a weird place.

Anyway we all know that WWE thinks that Shane is still the Boy Wonder from fifteen years ago and that the crowd love him and that he is some heroic super face that is the face of Smackdown. That's why he combats the evils of KO and Sami, smug Canadian pricks. This is going to lead to Shane continuing to be a dick and stack the deck against the two, because they are bad and no matter how how many dickish and unethical things Shane does to them, they will still be the heels because Shane is just so cool. This will lead to Bryan taking the side of our plucky Canadian upstarts and saying Shane is a bully. Shane will crack some jokes about how Bryan needs to stick to his job and stay out of Shane's way, leading to the two coming to an impasse. Normally they would come to blows, but since Bryan can't take bumps because WWE is evil, Bryan will back Sami and KO against Shane and a partner. No clue who it will be at this point, but given how stupid this storyline has been with Shane up front we will probably get a face Baron Corbin. Just kidding, it will be Orton, its always Orton. They will have a match with Bryan's career on the line and the fifty year old Boy Wonder and a thoroughly bored Randy Orton will win and force Bryan out and Shane can ask his dad "Did I do good daddy? Am I good enough now?" Just as he has been doing ever since he first battled X-Pac for the European Championship so many years ago.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Let me put on my cynic hat.........okay let's do it.

I think that this is leading to a Bryan heel turn with the end goal being to cut out Bryan's legs from under him on his way out of the company.

Somehow this is what I am thinking as well. Getting assaulted by Kane almost reminds me on how WWE buried Zack Ryder.

And this wouldn't be the first time WWE tried to cool down Daniel Bryan (god knows they tried and tried as hard as they can and usually does not work).

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I've been one of the most vocal guy about how I don't want to see Bryan wrestled again but I could see this would story set up a match between the 2 of them a mania.

I think they see money in a Bryan return plus they know that they might not be able to resign him at the end of the year so this might be a way to write him off. Have them clash over this whole owen/Zayn situation and slowly build the riff between them. Which would leave them to have a match at mania with the stipulation that if Shane wins, Bryan is fired, if he wins Zayn and Owens are fired.

In the end, Bryan loses and they found a way to write him off tv in case they aren't able to resign him.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I've been one of the most vocal guy about how I don't want to see Bryan wrestled again but I could see this would story set up a match between the 2 of them a mania.

I think they see money in a Bryan return plus they know that they might not be able to resign him at the end of the year so this might be a way to write him off. Have them clash over this whole owen/Zayn situation and slowly build the riff between them. Which would leave them to have a match at mania with the stipulation that if Shane wins, Bryan is fired, if he wins Zayn and Owens are fired.

In the end, Bryan loses and they found a way to write him off tv in case they aren't able to resign him.

If WWE hasn't allowed Bryan to Wrestle by now I doubt they would anytime soon.

Your idea makes sense though except I am thinking more of a tag team match between Owens and Sami Zayn w/ Daniel Bryan vs. Shane McMahon and a Partner (either being Big Show, John Cena, Orton, Nakamura, etc).

With a winner takes all stipulation where if Bryan's team wins he takes over SD Live and Shane McMahon leaves, and the reverse if Shane wins.

And yes this is the cynic in me thinking right now but the result will be Shane winning and Bryan gets the Chris Jericho 2005 or Eric Bishoff exit. Because hey it's the WWE.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As a fan, part of me would love to see Daniel Bryan wrestle again. Why? Because he's fucking spectacular at it and wanting to see someone who was at one time considered to be, arguably, the best in-ring wrestler in the world do his thing isn't a bad thing. A match with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania is probably the only possible scenario involving a Shane match that would interest me, the match could be a potential draw and the dangerous spots could be left to Shane because, let's face it, he's gonna take 'em anyway. The potential downsides include the most obvious and serious, the first of which is Bryan getting hurt, namely by suffering another concussion during the match. A second downside, one considerably less serious though no less heartbreaking in its own way, is that they job Bryan out to Shane; it's a possible outcome but it's also one that would very much let the wind out of the sails of the fans, especially if next year's show is heavy on part timers, which it's looking like it will be.

I get Bryan's desire to get back in the ring, it's been all he's ever wanted to do with his life and it's how he'd spent the entirety of his adult life. The problem is that we have no real idea how many concussions he's had and what the long term effects are; Bryan himself stated that he had 3 concussions within the first 6 months of his career and suffering a concussion in the first place is said to make it easier for others to happen. I also get that while Bryan may have gone to lots of other doctors who have cleared him, you have to wonder if he's really taken WWE's position into account; I mean, you'd think so given all that's gone by and the time that's elapsed but it just seems so risky. I've read reports alleging that Bryan makes about $900,000 a year, I don't know if that's the downside guarantee or what but it's a helluva lot when you consider that he actually only works a total of 4, maybe 5 days out of the month. Sure, it might not be as fulfilling to him as being an actual wrestler but being a wrestler has taken its toll, he's getting older so it's not gonna get any easier and he has a family now. WWE has some 60 or so former wrestlers who've filed a class action suit against them in which they're accused of lying about the potential dangers of head trauma and covering up facts, so Bryan wrestling again in a WWE ring and suffering more trauma makes them look negligent no matter how many legal releases they might have Bryan sign. Bryan might even be called as some sort of witness during one of the court proceedings to give some sort of testimony that, from the standpoint of a judge, MIGHT lend credence to the position of the plaintiffs. If nothing else, it could really look bad from a public relations perspective.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Yeah, it leads to Daniel Bryan's contract running out and him leaving Smackdown and the WWE. Or Shane turns heel and fires him. The second option is more believable actually.

But it's definately not a match for Bryan. That train has passed.

 

[TheBadGuy92]

MY Inner fan really wants this to learn to Bryan heel turn and he forms a ROH type of stable and the they can always add surprise 4th member, maybe Roderick strong . It’s time to get him off nxt.

But the realistic one in me sees this as Bryan’s contract ending and him building heat before shane fires him

 

[rmp0012002]

The WWE is just running out his contract since he can never return to the ring for the company. It has nothing to do with Bryan’s welfare but the current lawsuits against the company that would easily be won if he was allowed back in the ring, showing that they allow wrestlers to still work after significant head injuries.

 

[Spencesc11]

Love the winner take all (control of Smackdown) at Wrestlemania....

Team D. Bryan (Owens & Zayn) vs. Team Shane (The Undertaker & Kane)
* Great way to send Taker out with a win and end the Owens/Zayn vs. Shane debacle.

After Mania - Owens/Zayn traded to Raw for The Bar. Makes perfect sense and may give Cesaro the platform to take his game to the next level on the B Show.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

The WWE is just running out his contract since he can never return to the ring for the company. It has nothing to do with Bryan’s welfare but the current lawsuits against the company that would easily be won if he was allowed back in the ring, showing that they allow wrestlers to still work after significant head injuries.

Funny part is that you just have to look at Mick Foley's WWE career and read Angle's book and the WWE would probably lose in the lawsuit.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I really hope they don't turn Daniel Bryan heel because fans aren't going to boo him. Shane shouldn't turn either for the same reason.

Why do they even have to have tension? Why can't Shane and Bryan co-exist? Instead we might get some ridiculous control storyline (which rarely turns out to be good) or a forced heel turn.

I guess we'll have to see where this goes, but I don't think they should do this story in the first place.