Bryan's time is now

[The Warlord]

Not sure where you guys want to put this thread...place it wherever it needs to be. I just need to start typing and express what I believe is a crucial part of Daniel Bryan's career...and that is now.

I like the underdog story. Fighting the authority...I get it. I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt, the time is coming and the payoff will be at Wrestlemania. Vince didn't build the greatest wrestling company by being dumb. Bryan has proven time and time again that he is the best in-ring performer in the WWE. That may be subjective...but I'm sure the majority will agree.

What comes next will make or break Daniel Bryan, in my opinion...and that is he MUST...MUST give that breakthrough performance on the mic. If he can light up the mic tomorrow and make an impact, something fans will remember....this could be one of the greatest stories ever told going into Wrestlemania. What we need is a little Austin...I'm not saying to be like him, but he needs to get that aggression out on the mic...and sound legitimately PISSED OFF.

He's got the fans behind him, he backs up everything in the ring and now is the time for him to make everyone watching around the world CARE about him and CARE about seeing him win the title at Wrestlemania. Now is the time for the promo of his life!

 

[lil steroid meat]

Daniel Bryan does need to give better promos to get me to give a fuck about him.

I hope he gets the title, just because that silence in between each Yes in the Yes Chants gives me goosebumps every time and I know that will be a dope Wrestlemania moment.

But 2-3 weeks after that initial shock and excitement wears off, what entertainment value does he add to RAW as champion?

I hope we get a Punk-like promo tomorrow of WWE brass not knowing what they are doing anymore. Only thing is, I think Bryan is such a legitimately nice dude as to where he's not the type to air out dirty laundry.

I hope we see a mean streak soon though. But that could make him lose some of his appeal. People are fucking with the Daniel Bryan movement because he's a hard worker, talented, has a catchy chant, seems like a nice dude and does not possess the asshole aura of CM Punk.

But I think you are right in that, people don't necessarily care about Daniel Bryan the character, they either care about the chant, his in-ring work, or the circumstances and undeservingly shitty way he has been booked.

 

[Zycho32]

I wouldn't call Daniel Bryan's booking all in all to be 'undeservingly shitty'. Out of the entire post-SummerSlam period, the only real missteps I can see were the brief indoctrination into the Wyatt family (by itself not a TERRIBLE idea, but crippled by outside forces) and the exclusion from the Royal Rumble (a heel move which offers NO target to vent at, which I suspect was the idea all along). Everything else, Bryan has either been in the Title Hunt or had a reasonably compelling feud to work with.

Most will point to his overall feud with the Wyatt's as a 'burial'. They were probably bitching about CM Punk's feud with Paul Heyman on the same grounds. And they sure as shit would NEVER bitch about when Cena gets drug down from the title picture and into specific feuds. The truth is he was more or less out of the title picture for three months and that 'diminished position' actually worked in the overall plotline, an Act 2 if you will, where the Hero gets 'banished' and has to gather up power and make his way back to his lost kingdom. Of course, the Rumble threw a major swerve in THAT theory, but all in all, he hasn't been treated like shit.

All that said, I also want to see him get some BITE into his mic work. It's now or never time for the guy- who but for the grace of the WWE Universe could've gone the way of Dean freaking Malenko.

 

[TheVolFan52]

I really think Daniel Bryan will deliver the best promo of his career in the next few weeks. The buildup for the match with triple h will give him that opportunity to show the fire and passion he has. I honestly believe that if it's done right, the triple h feud/match will get him even more over. It'll give him that chance to really stick it to the authority finally, which will be a huge moment.

 

[GuessI'mAMark]

This might be a little harsh but if Daniel Bryan doesn't improve on his mic skills I don't want him to win the title. Not that he doesn't deserve it but I just feel that the "authority holding me back" script can only go so far. What can he possibly talk about after he wins? So yeah that's my opinion.

 

[kadroan]

This might be a little harsh but if Daniel Bryan doesn't improve on his mic skills I don't want him to win the title. Not that he doesn't deserve it but I just feel that the "authority holding me back" script can only go so far. What can he possibly talk about after he wins? So yeah that's my opinion.

Yeah true. Maybe Brie Bella could start escorting him to ring and she could talk for him.

 

[SacredMesa]

I love DB and really want to see him win the Title and soon.

That said he does need to work on his mic work big time. I agree with what SCSA and JR said on a recent podcast, Daniel Bryan's chant isn't something he needs to constantly be leading, it isn't like Austins "Hell Yeah" chant that was meant to be a response from fans, or even the "What" chant which just picked up as part of Austin's promos. DB's "yes yes yes" and "no no no" chants are something fans will do themselves without any prompting from Daniel Bryan. Instead of focusing on getting those chants going he just needs to cut the BS and verbally lay into the authority, lay into Kane, and let the fans handle the chants themselves.

Time will tell though if that will happen.

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

Bryan is the most over star in recent history but I agree. I love bryan but his promo work needs to improve. The problem is, however, he seems to lack something and I even wonder if its as simple as his voice. He just doesn't sound cutting edge enough, doesn't sound...bad ass enough to pull off the promos he has tried to. And then there's confidence.

He doesn't seem confident on the mic. Looks to the crowd a lot almost for reassurance. He could do with someone, backstage, feeding him tricks and tips for before he goes out. Almost like a pep rally.

Bryan has all the tools but seems to lack charisma when he's cutting a promo. Either way though I agree. His time...is now.

 

[Sabutage]

Indeed, I'm hoping for something special tomorrow, something to kick start his road to Wrestlemania. The right promo could be crucial to where he goes from here.

 

[ttdg]

I am just fantasy booking it but what I would like to happen is a "Goldberg" type build to WM. Just like Goldberg had to face Scott Hall to get to HH I think they should book DB facing Kane the first week of the build and winning only to find out he has to face HHH week 2 and then finally face Batista the week prior to WM for the shot to Main Event WM. ADR comes in and screws Batista setting up DB v. Orton and ADR v. Batista.

Sadly, I don't expect HHH to wrestle on free TV, but DB needs to win v. Orton not anyone else and for it to be the moment it should be he should win it at WM. One last thing, the people expecting DB v HHH @ WM might get disappointed because everything that has happened lately in DB's storyline is pointing to DB v. Kane @ WM.

 

[kumarjtk]

the only way to end the story of bryan is by winning the wwe title. So he need to defeat hhh before his title victory.

at raw bryan argue with authority and fix a match with kane and beats him. Then at wm30 he beats hhh in final match of wm. Then next he challenge batista at extreme rules and wins the belt.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Everyone needs to step up tonight. Bryan is no exception. This may be the most watched Raw since Raw1000. Between Hogan's return, UT's possible return, the Road to WM, not much competition, a PPV follow up, and start of the new network tonight should draw a big audience.

And it's not all on Bryan to sell himself. The fans and WWE have to do their part as well at this point. They have to give him something he can work with. Like all men he has limitations.

Although to be honest, you may not get what you want tonight. With all those things going on there may not be time for DB. Or maybe WWE makes you think that they are giving no time for DB and he ends up shocking the audience by interrupting all the other hoopla by taking over the show SCSA style.

A long inspiring promo would be nice but there are other ways to get DB his pops and move him forward.

 

[justinept]

I wouldn't call Daniel Bryan's booking all in all to be 'undeservingly shitty'. Out of the entire post-SummerSlam period, the only real missteps I can see were the brief indoctrination into the Wyatt family (by itself not a TERRIBLE idea, but crippled by outside forces) and the exclusion from the Royal Rumble

I don't even think the two you mentioned are the worst. Sure, they were bad judgment calls, but they were bad judgment calls with the awful idea that Batista/Orton would headline WrestleMania. That being the case, the Wyatt union made sense to keep him from the title picture - the Royal Rumble no-show made sense in the same vain. The worst of the booking, in my opinion, actually came immediately following SummerSlam when the WWE continually put obstacles in front of Bryan and not only didn't let him overcome a single one but never even put him in a position to overcome them.

1) Triple H becoming a neutral character. The story began with Triple H screwing Bryan from the title at SummerSlam. It continued in the following weeks as Triple H used The Shield to beat down Bryan. And it went through the following month when Triple H literally stripped Bryan of his title win at Night of Champions. The story, at the beginning, was not about Bryan and Randy Orton - it was about Bryan overcoming the odds stacked in front of him by Triple H and making it to the top of the mountain. When Triple H decided to be a neutral character, it killed the steam of the feud, killed the hope for the payoff, and did absolutely nothing for anyone involved in the angle except for Randy Orton - who suddenly had a reason to be paranoid about his place on the top rung of the ladder.

2) Shawn Michaels screwing Daniel Bryan at HIAC. What was the point of this exactly? So now Shawn Michaels is the heel, keeping Bryan from the title. Shawn Michaels is an obstacle in Daniel Bryan's path to the title. Well, unless Michaels decides he wants to lace up the boots again - and all indications say he doesn't - then what's the payoff? There isn't one. And if there isn't a payoff here, then that makes TWO obstacles in Bryan's course to the championship that he was never even given a chance to overcome.

It's one thing to put obstacles in front of a guy on his way to the title. That's a legit strategy to making a star. Fans get invested in his struggle to the top, hoping he overcomes the odds put in front of him. That keeps interest high. We ask ourselves: When/How will he overcome all the odds put in front of him. We don't mind watching the struggle because we hope for the payoff...

Contrary to popular belief, the negative reaction the WWE has received lately isn't a result of the WWE keeping the title off Bryan. It isn't because the IWC is impatient and unwilling to wait for the payoff. It's because our interest in the program was tied to the hope that Bryan would overcome the odds in front of him - that he he would avenge the betrayal of Michaels, that Triple H would get what was coming to him, that he'd eventually take down Orton and win the title. But look at November/December of last year. Where were those odds in front of him? Where were the obstacles? They were simply forgotten about as Orton moved on to Cena and Bryan moved on to the Wyatts. Because the on-screen obstacles were no longer being acknowledged, the fans turned their attention to the real-life obstacles Bryan was facing: that he didn't fit the WWE mold and the company would never give him a chance to be "the guy." So the hope became that he would overcome those odds... the real-life backstage politics became the heel ... and the crowd got way behind Bryan, pissing on pretty much every other main event talent along the way. And then, the interesting part of the story became "how will the crowd hijack this show."

All that said, I think the WWE misread their own story badly - and completely lost control of it at the Royal Rumble when Cena/Orton/Batista were booed out the building, and the fans nearly revolted at Bryan's omission from the Rumble. I do think plans changed at that point as the WWE started stacking the deck against Bryan on-screen once again and gave him obstacles that have rekindled the fans hope in a way the WWE can control. Again, that hope is tied to our interest in the product - and as a result, more of our attention is back on the actual product on-screen as opposed to the politics backstage. Once again we're asking ourselves: When/How will Bryan overcome these odds ... and my guess is that it will be at WrestleMania when he is forced to wrestle Triple H on the undercard just for a shot to be entered into the main event.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

There are a million ways to push a wrestler forward, inspired mic work tonight would help but it's not the only answer.

Here's the thing, not just with Daniel Bryan but with everyone, the IWC needs to calm the fuck down and not get so upset over every little decision. It's hard for me to say this because it would seem like I too get upset over a lot of little decisions but the truth is, for myself it was months and months of WWE not giving me as a fan an entertaining product I could get into (although I did catch Royal Rumble and EC and those shows helped WWE's cause HUGELY for me), so I stopped watching until they did but from what I've seen, since the new year WWE has been doing pretty darn well with their programming (or at least the bit I've seen, I've seen maybe 3-4 matches/segments on WWE television in the last 6 months).

Now back to Daniel Bryan it seems like with him and every other wrestler out there, in the IWC's eyes at least, needs to be a 5 tool player to be a top guy or to be a main eventer (in ring work, mic work, look, charisma, drawing) and it never works like that, truth be told there will only be a handful of wrestlers in any of our lifetime that will meet every single piece of criteria I listed off in any conceivable way. The fact is Bryan is the most over guy on that roster right now with maybe Cena being the only exception and he did it without being absolute gold on the mic, he's doing just fine not being able to talk circles around everyone. If Bryan giving an amazing impassioned promo is the only reason he can get some of you IWC to care then you're being completely unreasonable and will never be satisfied.

This is all the IWC needs to know:

1) Daniel Bryan is over like free beer at a frat house. Outside of being stellar between the ropes he has a character that people can get behind.
2) If he beats Triple H, or wins the title, or both at Wrestlemania 30, the Superdome will explode and the fans will eat it up with a spoon.
3) Although he will probably never be a mega draw like Hogan, Rock, Austin, or Cena he could be a pretty damn good one and even if he's not they still have Cena to carry the load if Bryan isn't as well received on top as they would have hoped.

The fact of the matter is, to me, it doesn't matter who wins and who loses, it doesn't matter how they get from point A to point B as long as the road to get there is entertaining, I would prefer logical booking as well but I can forgive illogical booking as long as the ride is fun. When WWE stopped being entertaining for me I stopped watching, when I heard they've had some good stuff, I checked that stuff out, was entertained and although I may not watch RAW tonight they've done enough since the new year that is making me consider watching RAW tonight, in that respect I would say WWE has more than done their job (for me at least, if some of you don't feel the same way that's fine, just don't watch, its REALLY easy to do I assure you).

Onto the topic at hand I don't care how they handle Daniel Bryan as long as whatever they do pushes him forward in some way that's entertaining and hopefully logical. Personally I think since Triple H and now Kane (much moreso than Orton) have been messing with Bryan so much that he needs to get his revenge and go over these guys once and for all. If they don't do that then they pretty much wasted 8 months of stuff with Daniel Bryan and Triple H proving superiority over Bryan helps no one, not even the guy who eventually trumps Triple H and the Authority. It doesn't mean Bryan is finished, it doesn't mean Bryan can't come back from this (although his chances will be decreased), it just means that all the work they've put into Bryan since Summerslam was a giant waste of time. Also, Daniel Bryan has done more in WWE than I ever could have hoped for or expected, at the end of the day I call that a HUGE victory for Daniel Bryan and fans of his (although at this point I would LOVE to see him as champ and shit kick Triple H at Wrestlemania).

Now if it was me for tonight this is what I would do in regards to Daniel Bryan:

1) Bryan comes out, not angry that he didn't win the title, just angry that Triple H and the Authority won't stop fucking with him, won't even give him a fair shot. He asks Triple H to come out, him and Kane do. Bryan gets in Triple H's face and says he wants Triple H at Wrestlemania 30, Triple H says no he doesn't wrestle "B players" anytime much less at Wrestlemania. Vince comes out and admits, for the first time that maybe he was wrong about Daniel Bryan and maybe Bryan is good enough. Vince proposes a match between the 2 at Wrestlemania with a stipulation: If Bryan wins he's put in the title match later that night and the Authority is never to mess with Daniel Bryan again (and anyone who breaks the deal is immediately fired), if Triple H wins then Bryan must admit he is a B-player and will never get another shot at the title again and he never has to deal with the Daniel Bryan nonsense again.

2) Build it up in the next 6 weeks. During this time have Batista mess with Bryan a little bit and complain how it's not fair that although he won the Rumble he may have to share his title match with Bryan but he's not too worried because he knows his mentor will take care of business.

3) At Mania Bryan beats Triple H. Hopefully the match will be competitive but by the end of it Daniel Bryan proves he is the better man, not just by getting his hand raised but there should be no question Bryan is the superior one between the 2.

4) In the main event Orton vs. Batista vs. Bryan. Daniel Bryan finally wins the title by pinning Orton, the crowd becomes unglued and Bryan celebrates to end the show.

5) Since Batista is pretty much heel (and is a big enough star) he comes out the next night, attacks Bryan, goes on about how unfair everything has been for him, complain how he wasn't pinned yet lost through "unfair" circumstances and start a feud between Bryan and Batista. Batista is a pretty good heel and would be a good start to his title reign. After Batista maybe have Bryan flirt with Lesnar and book that for Summerslam.

Although what I said would be an ideal situation (or a cleaned up version of that) it doesn't have to be that way. At the end of the day I just hope for a good 6 weeks of WWE Programming and a solid Wrestlemania to cap that off, if WWE give's me that I'm more than satisfied regardless of the booking decisions used to get there.