Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania 31

[Gavschenko]

Is it just me or is it not insulting to daniel bryan that he is currently not in a match at mania? Last year he main evented mania this year he isnt currently on the card. The best he will get is in the ic title match or a match with sheamus and for bryan's popularity and position these matches are lower than what he deserves. What has bray wyatt done that he is getting a bigger match than daniel bryan. In my opinion bryan should be in the main event as he is more popular than reigns and is the better wrestler.

The two questions i have are:

1 Does Bryan deserve better?
2 What match would you have bryan in?

 

[Softcore Holly]

They stuck with the Reigns plan, no real point complaining about it now. DB vs Lesnar would've been a great match but again what's done is done. Cena aka WWE's top guy is in a midcard title match too, Orton who also main evented last year is going to most likely be a regular match that they've already did on Raw, so basically the top vets takes a backseat to younger talent this year. Which considering that's one of the things people ask for a lot that's not such a bad thing.

As for Bray he's one of the very few heels(possibly only) on the main roster that makes sense to face Taker, helps that he's putting on some great promos. Not like we can have DB fight Taker and split the cheers.

Lastly I really liked the DB vs Ziggler idea that was bouncing around a while back. It reminded me of way back when Angle and Benoit had no one to fight at WM and pretty much said "Hey, lets just fight each other and put on one hell of a match because we're both that good". And considering how talented DB/Ziggler are I have no doubt that that match would've been great and quite possibly have been the match of the night given time. Wouldn't have been a "big" match by any means but still would've been fun to watch.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Daniel Bryan has been booked almost exactly like Chris Benoit. At Mania 20 Benoit wins the Title in the main event and has a feel good moment with Eddie that appeases the smart marks. Then next year he's a multi-man ladder match with midcarders. At Mania 30 Bryan wins the Title to appease smart marks, now at Mania 31 he's back in his "rightful place" in a filler midcard match. Fuck they both even do a crossface and diving headbutt.

Of course it's insulting to Bryan. He's proof that if you work hard to get over it doesn't matter. Your spot is your spot now, no matter what. Bryan is an upper midcard workhorse that they will use in occasional Title matches. He will never be the headlining guy. There is literally nothing more Bryan could do to prove himself. He has great matches and gets the biggest reaction out of anybody. He's the only babyface in over a decade to get a unanimous face response from the crowd, and a loud one. But that doesn't matter.

 

[CyberPunk]

It's flabbergasting how WWE has handled some of their most over superstars this Mania season. From Bryan and Dolph to Ambrose, all seem to be going in this multi-man ladder match for the IC title. While the match itself ie promising, and build has been better than some of the other main events of the Mania, it begs a question what it could've been if they had kept someone like Bryan in the main event. Truth is WWE doesn't see Bryan as a 'constant' main event guy. While I am sure they see Bryan as a commodity, they have been underestimating his popularity and drawing power for at least last couple years.

It just amazes me what length WWE will go to nullify its biggest asset at this time. I mean, as a business person, if you have something that can make you money now, even if you don't see it as a long term solution, you milk it. It's like they are afraid of milking Bryan's popularity. If he doesn't have the staying power, he'll be found. I feel they are afraid of testing that too. It's like they are thinking 'what if he gets bigger than what he is' instead of the other way round.

Hopefully, he'll come back to the main event scene and at least end the Authority and have the championship reign he is due. In my eyes, no one deserves to end the Authority eventually but Bryan.

 

[Hem]

Well WWE has given Bryans match and I won't spoil it for anyone who maybe hasn't read the SD spoilers but I guess its okay.

I think if the match leads to a greater program after WM then I am perfectly fine with it. Every year can't be one persons year. Look at the franchise player, John Cena, and realize he has been way down the card as compared to his main event spots against The Rock.
Last year Cena faced Wyatt and then he will face Rusev this year.. I think that gos to show that not everyone gets the main event all the time.

I'm a fan of Bryan but I will say I am fine with the match he is in at Wrestlemania sheerly because I didn't want to see him be relegated to the Andre memorial or something. The match he is in is no slouch either, its a pretty decent match up.

I guess only time will tell how Daniel Bryan and the main event scenes relationship will be.

 

[The Warlord]

Reigns vs Lesnar is easier to sell to the fans as a Wrestlemania main event. However, Bryan got screwed over. He should have been in a higher calibur match than the IC title. Im all for building up that title and making it what it once was...but Bryan should be in a hot singles feud right now as a co-main event. They could have put him in with Ziggler and had an interesting face vs face storyline heading into Mania in which they would easily steal the show and create a Wrestlemania classic.

Vince had his reasons though..whatever they may be

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I've thought that DB belongs in one of three programs:

1. Main event against Lesnar
2. No title involved baby face Bryan v heel Reigns - hard worker v hand picked subtext feud
3. Baby face Bryan v tweener Michaels or more realistically tweener upper mid card or main event veteran with a heel history - the story being that Michaels or whoever sees too much potential in Bryan to be left out and wants to light a fire in him to get to a higher spot.

I'm aware of his place now and I'm sure he will help make the match one of the more entertaining ones but otherwise I don't care much about it just like I don't care much about the rest of the card.

 

[Mac]

Bryan deserves to be in a high profile match at WM. This ladder match is beneath him. How do you misuse your most over guy like this?

 

[#1druid]

This is exactly why they should have resigned Angle to the part time contract he wanted. That alone would sate Bryan fans (including myself) until they put him back in the main event scene. They could tear the house down on the 10 year anniversary of angle/hbk. However that not being the case and bryan is way above the match he is in.

1. He should be main eventing against lesnar/rollins.
2. He should be facing a heel orton to finally settle the score, while rollins is feuding with reigns/lesnar.
3. He should be facing rusev.

However if he wins, and is not booked like every other ic champion and doesn't lose, the title will become more prestiged and if cena wins the us title and does the same they can unify in a high profile feud at NOC. Hopefully this ladder match is just because they had no contingency plan for him coming back not because they really don't see his potential but, I'm worried it's the latter and it's turning me off to the product.

 

[MR K]

I think the problem lies with the fact the WWE has no competition. Bryan, Ambrose and Ziggler are the 3 most over stars and would never have been in this match if WCW were still around. Can you imagine in the attitude era having Austin, Rock and Foley in a mid-card bout while Val Venus is in the main event? The WWE can basically do what they want due to lack of competition. It's a sad sad reality.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In my opinion, he has deserved better. He's the most over babyface on the roster, nobody else even comes close at this point, not Cena, not Ambrose, not Orton and certainly not Reigns. Fans WANT to cheer for him and genuinely LIKE cheering for him, they like hearing him talk and they like watching him inside the ring. He sells a lot of merchandise and his segments are often among the top drawing segments, often THE top drawing segment, on WWE TV. He draws and helps bring a lot of money for the company, that should be THE primary concern WWE has in regards to any wrestler on the roster.

However, I'm not going to completely rake WWE over the coals because MAYBE there's concern over Bryan's condition in the long run. Bryan just returned to action at the Royal Rumble and was cleared only a few weeks prior to the Rumble. While Bryan was cleared to wrestle, his neck issue is something that obviously raised concerns and rightly so. Bryan's only been back in action for about 2.5 months and his return happened to come about during WrestleMania season. MAYBE WWE officials were reluctant to put Bryan in the main event with Lesnar at the biggest show of the year because they had no real way of knowing how Bryan's neck would hold up. A match with Lesnar would be extremely physical, so without any real knowledge as to how he'd hold up, MAYBE they didn't want to risk it. The only way to know Bryan's neck will hold up in the long run is with the passage of time and if they felt that enough time hadn't passed for them to gauge how Bryan would do, then I can at least understand that. I'm not saying that's the case, but it makes a lot more sense than pushing Reigns mostly because Vince likes how he looks.

If Daniel Bryan wins the Intercontinental Championship, it could be the beginning of Bryan's journey back to the main event picture. IF Bryan is booked as a strong & relevant champion in a long & significant run as champion giving officials enough time to see how his neck is holding up, it MIGHT be the launching pad for Bryan to get back to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship a bit later down the line.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

1 Does Bryan deserve better?

Yes. He's still super over & never lost the belt. & if if he can't face Lesnar he at least deserved to be in a singles match with Ziggler, Sheamus or someone else.

2 What match would you have bryan in?

I kind of wish WWE would have saved Cena/Rusev for later in the year, then Bryan could have had a really epic feud with Rusev that resulted in a submission match at Mania 31 (& I'd actually hold off on the throwing the U.S. Title into play until the rematch) & then Cena could have made someone else by simply having a match with them. Cena could even be tossed in the main event to make it a triple threat for the WWE Title & it'd probably end up being a lot better in actuality, but the WWE probably wouldn't do that because they wouldn't want it to be compared to the triple threat at the Royal Rumble.