Did Bryan/Reigns accomplish anything?

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

So after watching the feud between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, seeing their match at Fastlane, then seeing the fallout on RAW last night I asked myself, "What did that accomplish really?"

When Reigns won the Rumble he got a lot of heat, which isn't the best thing for a big up and coming babyface. A lot of that had to do with Bryan losing. So the WWE decided to have them face off against each other, and I immediately questioned the rationale of that. It seemed like the point was to establish Reigns as a badass babyface, a guy who will fight anyone, face or heel, and is just there to kick ass. I think the other intention was for Reigns to deliver a great match with Bryan to gain some more respect from the audience, and prove that he's the "real deal".

The problem was that by putting Reigns against Bryan in a babyface match you are dividing the fans, which isn't a good idea when you're trying to build a new guy. The ones that hate Reigns and want Bryan as the top guy are going to boo Reigns that much more, and you have the added bonus of diminishing Bryan's unanimously positive reaction by putting him with Reigns because there will be some fans who feel like Bryan is stealing Roman's thunder in a sense and want Reigns as the guy. The majority of the crowd was on Bryan's side, but he did have a noticeable number of fans booing him and chanting "NO". This was never a thing before, and wouldn't have been a thing had Bryan and Reigns not been put against each other.

The WWE obviously intended to reverse this effect by having Bryan put Reigns over and then show him respect with his promo on RAW. But having a popular face tell the audience that somebody is good and that they should just like them doesn't work because this isn't the fucking 80s anymore. Bryan literally said that he "booed" Reigns but now he respects him and doesn't want to boo him anymore. It was such an obvious and contrived way of trying to get him over as a face. The whole narrative on RAW last night was that Roman "proved all the doubters wrong at Fastlane" and I know that's really what the WWE wanted to happen but it clearly didn't just based on the reaction to Reigns from the live audience. I'm not against Roman Reigns. I like the guy, and I like Daniel Bryan. I just find myself continuously rolling my eyes at the way he's being booked. It's so wrong and completely ineffective that it's frustrating to watch.

I'm curious to see what your perspective is on all of this. How well do you feel the Bryan/Reigns feud was executed? Do you think it actually accomplished anything or helped Reigns at all? Do you think it hurt Bryan? What would have been a better way to go about things?

 

[Dave]

In very simplistic terms, yes it has. And the proof of this? Romantic Reigns has been getting better reactions from the crowd since the unmitigated disaster of the Royal Rumble. Maybe some of the credit needs to go to Roman Reigns - obviously - but some of the credit for that has to go to Daniel Bryan and the way both men have worked this feud.

I do agree with you that is seems completely transparent and contrived but it's all that the WWE could do for Reigns and it seems to have worked, if only as a Base of operations. There is nothing that WWE fans like more than a good wrestling match and the match at Fastlane accomplished that. I would say that it has been decently successful as a result.

 

[CyberPunk]

To some extent it did accomplish something. At Fastlane, Reigns delivered his strongest match to date. He showed that he could deliver something (though how much of that he can do against Lesnar is a different thing). So, yes, it made me believe that Reigns can hang in the ring with the right opponent.

The problem, however, is why are they trying so hard to make Reigns likeable? He is not your goody-two-shoes face. He is not the 'boy next door' face. He's an ass-kicker. Instead, all they are having him endorsed by anyone and everyone he is working with. In that way, it accomplished nothing. He didn't get cheered any more than earlier. WWE simply told, "Even Bryan thinks Reigns is good. What more do you want?" For some reason, WWE is just not ready to face the fact that Roman Reigns' character doesn't work that way. He needs to kick ass, not make friends with his competitors or get endorsements from his opponents.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I think you get it. They are trying. It is not working for a large portion of the audience but they are trying. They are having their most popular and talented performers protect and try to get the guy over for a Mania main event knowing that even though they alienate some fans with Reigns' Fast Lane win, they still have a bunch of Raws to put everything in to the position they want it to be. I just hope they have a back up plan because I'm skeptical this is going to work for a Mania crowd.

I almost feel like Cena has to promise this vocal bunch that if they just cheer madly for Reigns, Cena will go heel for them.

 

[MCMG]

It helped Reigns gain some of his momentum back. He was doing just fine up until his injury and then everything went to shit. He returns to a decent reaction and is paired with some awful opponents (Show and Kane) meaning he couldn't show off his talent.

Bryan was the right opponent for him because Bryan is superb in the ring. To be honest, anyone would have been a step up from Show and Kane because both are best their best.

It also accomplished the storyline aspect of Bryan needing his rematch. He never lost the belt so would always been entitled to a match and stuff like that becomes irritating.

At the very least this match helped change some perceptions about Reigns. At best, it highlighted he can carry the company forward. It may hit Bryan in the short term but he is absolutely fine in the long-term. My only worry is a general point that his initial pop is dwindling. Or when his name is mentioned. It is no longer that massive pop that you would expect which suggests his popularity is coming back down to a more normal level (yes chants aside)

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I think itis had made Reigns be slightly more accepted in the fans eyes for WM31. The problems I now foresee is that I am not convinced Reigns is ready yet in the eyes of the fans and he could end up in a situation like Diesel was at WM 11; the heroic bad ass babyface versus a truly special wrestler and getting boo'd. The fans wanted Bryan. If Bryan gets Ziggler and steals the show - then who will the fans want to see after WM as champ?

 

[MWRedskins]

in terms of the crowd reaction, it didnt do much. some people will still not like Reigns because they want Bryan in the main event, i personally feel that WWE should've saved Bryan's comeback for fast lane and had him face kane there, but that's water under the bridge, BUT the match did accomplish something. it showed that Reigns can have a really good match. is he great in the ring, no, but that match with Bryan showed that he's not bad either. even being a Bryan fan, i had no issue with Reigns winning the Rumble or going to face Lesnar, my problem was i hated how they booked Bryan and still am. Bryan's directionless right now heading into WM and if he's a big draw (which i dont think WWE thinks he is, i think WWE thinks he's a mid carder at best) then he would have a big match, which he doesnt and he likely won't and by the way, in my opinion, Bryan will NEVER win the world title again....but back to the post, it did accomplish something and it showed that Reigns can have a great match with Lesnar, not that i didnt think he would.

 

[DB-Fan]

It may hit Bryan in the short term but he is absolutely fine in the long-term. My only worry is a general point that his initial pop is dwindling. Or when his name is mentioned. It is no longer that massive pop that you would expect which suggests his popularity is coming back down to a more normal level (yes chants aside)

I think it definitely has hurt Bryan as much as it's helped Reigns. Which isn't to say it's killed Bryan or boomeranged Reigns, but it has decreased Daniel's pop and helped Reigns a bit. Which I'm sure makes Vince and at least some portion of the WWE Universe happy. Anything to diminish DBryan is a great thing in some folks' eyes. But make no mistake about it: Bryan was still very hot when he first came back. It's only been since the Rumble, with all the forced DBryan challenging and then having to endorse Reigns, that Daniel Bryan's pop has decreased.

Like I said, it's a win-win for Vince. Of course I'll never understand why any owner, of any business, would want to purposely undercut a huge asset. But that's the wacky world VKM lives in.

 

[KromyD]

I thought the same too when they started this fued. One thing that got to me was maybe there looking to divide the WWE World Championship title giving Bryan first chance at getting one or something? It could have been used as a stepping stone to start something with the pair after Reign's wins.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Although putting Reigns and Bryan in the same ring in a babyface vs babyface situation, was wrong, it actually accomplished some things.

First of all, it proved that Roman Reigns can wrestle. Big Show completely destroyed Roman Reigns in their feud. Made him look like shit. Reigns is not a ring technician, so he needs help. Throw in the right guy, someone like Daniel Bryan and he can have a decent match.

Secondly, it proved that Roman Reigns is not universally hated. That's right. Not every arena reacted to Reigns the way the smarky crowd in Philly did. Some fans cheered Reigns and actually booed Bryan. Something I did not expect.

Finally, don't make him Reigns cut silly promos and he looks like a thousand bucks. That's what happened during the buil-up, WWE acknowledged their mistake and made things right. Hopefully they will keep that format.

What Regins needs know? To be more comfortable on the mic & keep the hard work going, in order to get better & better in the ring.

The coming 5 weeks and the match at Wrestlemania will prove, if Reigns is indeed, the next big thing. Fast Lane was a good start.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Like others have said, I think the Bryan vs. Reigns program has shown that they're trying to get behind Reigns. They're genuinely putting forth an effort to get fans behind him and it's worked to some degree as Reigns isn't getting absolutely bombarded with heat like he was at the Royal Rumble and for the next few weeks on Raw. Now that's not to say that it's suddenly fixed EVERYTHING because it hasn't since there are still a whole lot of fans that haven't gotten on board.

Some fans aren't gonna get behind Roman Reigns because they're just not into the guy, which is understandable. Some still don't buy into Reigns as being ready and think that, while the match was a strong one, it's ultimately just temporary camouflage, a smokescreen to cover up that Reigns' shortcomings are still there. Most will agree that he had a great match with Bryan, but that it's also extremely difficult not to have a strong match with Daniel Bryan. The Memphis crowd Sunday night wasn't super invested in much of anything on the show, though they definitely appreciated the effort of this match as it got the only "this is awesome" chant of the night. As I said in another post, however, many of those fans have read the same reports online we have and/or have been watching long enough to be able to figure out the signs as to what's gonna happen. For instance, Bryan was smiling confidently and cockily at a couple of points during the match as though he had it in the bag and that's just not like him. As a result of all that, unlike what we saw at WrestleMania XXX for instance, there simply wasn't the sort of solid feeling that Bryan could come out as the winner of this match; there was some degree of hope generated that he might, but it was very much a long shot. So, for the most part, fans expected to get a strong match out of the two and they were at least able to get that. Also, some aren't gonna like Roman Reigns out of sheer stubbornness and have made up their minds, even if he drastically improves and no matter how much he improves.

Also, as we saw with Heyman & Reigns' interview segment last night, WWE is trying to get fans behind Reigns. They're laying it on pretty thick, such as with Heyman saying that he'd put money on Reigns in Reigns vs. Sammartino or Reigns vs. Hogan & Andre at WrestleMania III and so on. To me, it's sort of chuckle inducing because it's just not really feasible for most people to believe that a man that's been wrestling all on his own for a little more than half a year has THAT level of greatness. The one case where it not only seemed feasible but genuine was with Lesnar back in 2002 because, frankly, the guy was beyond impressive and looked VASTLY more impressive than Reigns ever has. I'm not saying that as a knock against Reigns, it's just simply how it is.

So yeah, Bryan vs. Reigns has helped Roman Reigns to some degree in that he's not being flat out crucified by fans, which is a good thing, and having Bryan acknowledge that he was "wrong" about Reigns was a nice touch. Not everyone is going to buy into it because some feel, me included, that Reigns' shortcomings just haven't been made to magically disappear, but at least they're genuinely trying. The only way for Roman Reigns to genuinely grow into what WWE is trying to really hard to tout him as is by the passage of time, strong booking and Reigns working on those problems as they're probably still gonna be there at WrestleMania.

 

[AceofSpades]

Although putting Reigns and Bryan in the same ring in a babyface vs babyface situation, was wrong, it actually accomplished some things.

First of all, it proved that Roman Reigns can wrestle. Big Show completely destroyed Roman Reigns in their feud. Made him look like shit. Reigns is not a ring technician, so he needs help. Throw in the right guy, someone like Daniel Bryan and he can have a decent match.

Secondly, it proved that Roman Reigns is not universally hated. That's right. Not every arena reacted to Reigns the way the smarky crowd in Philly did. Some fans cheered Reigns and actually booed Bryan. Something I did not expect.

Finally, don't make him Reigns cut silly promos and he looks like a thousand bucks. That's what happened during the buil-up, WWE acknowledged their mistake and made things right. Hopefully they will keep that format.

What Regins needs know? To be more comfortable on the mic & keep the hard work going, in order to get better & better in the ring.

The coming 5 weeks and the match at Wrestlemania will prove, if Reigns is indeed, the next big thing. Fast Lane was a good start.

Couldn't have said it better. Amen to that.


Reigns proved he can wrestle and they got Roman back to doing the mic work that he should have been doing all along. It was so obvious that the cartoonish promos were someone else's trash written for him.

 

[SoulTrain4]

Depends on what you asking about frankly.
In storyline, it moved Bryan and thus his fans out of picture for now.
They can't claim Bryan deserves a shot because he never lost anymore.
Bryan has no legitimate claim to the title match now, it ended it for good.

Bryan's promo on RAW put Roman over temendously and not in a phony way like Heyman did. Beating Bryan, the handshake and Bryan's promo is WWE's way of saying "Hey, it's alright to like Roman" and some people responded positively to it.

That's all it was supposed to do. It was a balm for the tragedy of the rumble.
For those that say Roman didn't earn it or that he was pushed too fast or that he wasn't good, it answered all those questions (Everyone knows Bryan carried him by the way but that not the issue).

It worked to a certain point but ultimately it's all for naught because the smark crowd of WM and the next night is going to boo him and cheer Lesnar anyway.
They did their best to solidify him, got to give them that credit.

I on the other hand am totally unhappy. With Roman as the challenger for Lesnar I'm at a point where I don't have a horse in the race at Mania. I don't care for Roman or Brock so whatever.

 

[L@RISANO]

It showed the WWE that Bryan/Reigns is a money feud for the future if revisited given their obvious chemistry in the ring and in storyline.
It got Reigns somewhat back on track after the Rumble fiasco amongst other stuff.
The Bryan fans rioting got us rid of Fairy Tale Roman.
It brought out a more determined Daniel Bryan which bodes well for him going forward.
Also, it could help Bryan in terms of pressing reset for a possible YES! Movement 2 at some point down the road.

 

[kadroan]

So after watching the feud between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, seeing their match at Fastlane, then seeing the fallout on RAW last night I asked myself, "What did that accomplish really?"

When Reigns won the Rumble he got a lot of heat, which isn't the best thing for a big up and coming babyface. A lot of that had to do with Bryan losing. So the WWE decided to have them face off against each other, and I immediately questioned the rationale of that. It seemed like the point was to establish Reigns as a badass babyface, a guy who will fight anyone, face or heel, and is just there to kick ass. I think the other intention was for Reigns to deliver a great match with Bryan to gain some more respect from the audience, and prove that he's the "real deal".

The problem was that by putting Reigns against Bryan in a babyface match you are dividing the fans, which isn't a good idea when you're trying to build a new guy. The ones that hate Reigns and want Bryan as the top guy are going to boo Reigns that much more, and you have the added bonus of diminishing Bryan's unanimously positive reaction by putting him with Reigns because there will be some fans who feel like Bryan is stealing Roman's thunder in a sense and want Reigns as the guy. The majority of the crowd was on Bryan's side, but he did have a noticeable number of fans booing him and chanting "NO". This was never a thing before, and wouldn't have been a thing had Bryan and Reigns not been put against each other.

The WWE obviously intended to reverse this effect by having Bryan put Reigns over and then show him respect with his promo on RAW. But having a popular face tell the audience that somebody is good and that they should just like them doesn't work because this isn't the fucking 80s anymore. Bryan literally said that he "booed" Reigns but now he respects him and doesn't want to boo him anymore. It was such an obvious and contrived way of trying to get him over as a face. The whole narrative on RAW last night was that Roman "proved all the doubters wrong at Fastlane" and I know that's really what the WWE wanted to happen but it clearly didn't just based on the reaction to Reigns from the live audience. I'm not against Roman Reigns. I like the guy, and I like Daniel Bryan. I just find myself continuously rolling my eyes at the way he's being booked. It's so wrong and completely ineffective that it's frustrating to watch.

I'm curious to see what your perspective is on all of this. How well do you feel the Bryan/Reigns feud was executed? Do you think it actually accomplished anything or helped Reigns at all? Do you think it hurt Bryan? What would have been a better way to go about things?

Yes. I thought it was perfect. Fans finally can accept Bryan won't be main eventing WrestleMania this year because Reigns and Bryan had their one-on-one. If they never had it, it would always be that "What If" question if they went with a Reigns vs. Show or the Rollins/Show vs. Cena/Reigns main events. I think it helped Reigns a lot, especially since he won the match clean and the match was actually good. If Sheamus or Ziggler would have interfered, it would have hurt Reigns more in being seen as a credible main event wrestler. I don't think it hurt Bryan. He's a little guy. Realistically, he's not going to beat all the big guys and losing to the bigger, younger, stronger guy is believable. I could see if it was Show or Kane that Bryan lost to.

 

[#1druid]

I think it proved that Daniel can have a good match with anyone, and that vince doesn't care what the fans want only what he wants, and that he'll do nothing to protect his most over star because he'd rather have a big muscley guy in the role even though at mania the crowd will probably be chanting Daniel Bryan the whole match.

 

[Mustang Sally]

But having a popular face tell the audience that somebody is good and that they should just like them doesn't work because this isn't the fucking 80s anymore. Bryan literally said that he "booed" Reigns but now he respects him and doesn't want to boo him anymore. It was such an obvious and contrived way of trying to get him over as a face.

That's a very reasonable point, yet perhaps having Daniel endorse Roman was the only practical way to get this done. Saying "I booed Roman but now I'm for him" indicates that Daniel isn't trying to sell us on the idea he liked Roman all along, but that Roman's recent performance has brought him around. If that's what it is, it isn't a bad way to go. Honestly, I feel the same way about Reigns; at the beginning, I felt he fit in the framework of a team more than as an individual, but he's brought me around with the marked improvement he's shown in the past couple months.

Let's face it; WWE has invested a lot of creative effort in deciding Roman Reigns is to be the next big star....and I feel they were surprised and dismayed to have so many fans turn against him. So, they're trying to change people's impressions by helping Roman become a finished product with a lot of hard work......plus the endorsement of the super-over guy whom he just defeated to earn the main spot at WM31.

After that, they hope for the best.

 

[#1druid]

That's a very reasonable point, yet perhaps having Daniel endorse Roman was the only practical way to get this done. Saying "I booed Roman but now I'm for him" indicates that Daniel isn't trying to sell us on the idea he liked Roman all along, but that Roman's recent performance has brought him around. If that's what it is, it isn't a bad way to go. Honestly, I feel the same way about Reigns; at the beginning, I felt he fit in the framework of a team more than as an individual, but he's brought me around with the marked improvement he's shown in the past couple months.

Let's face it; WWE has invested a lot of creative effort in deciding Roman Reigns is to be the next big star....and I feel they were surprised and dismayed to have so many fans turn against him. So, they're trying to change people's impressions by helping Roman become a finished product with a lot of hard work......plus the endorsement of the super-over guy whom he just defeated to earn the main spot at WM31.

After that, they hope for the best.

Sure some people hate reigns just because but many resent him because he leap frogged more deserving individuals and that Daniel Bryan was treated like a chump at the rumble because of it, so now that they're treating him like more of a chump by losing clean and singing his praises only serves to upset those people more. That he's getting better isn't enough, anything at all is getting better he should have been better before he got here.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Yes. I thought it was perfect. Fans finally can accept Bryan won't be main eventing WrestleMania this year because Reigns and Bryan had their one-on-one. If they never had it, it would always be that "What If" question if they went with a Reigns vs. Show or the Rollins/Show vs. Cena/Reigns main events. I think it helped Reigns a lot, especially since he won the match clean and the match was actually good. If Sheamus or Ziggler would have interfered, it would have hurt Reigns more in being seen as a credible main event wrestler. I don't think it hurt Bryan. He's a little guy. Realistically, he's not going to beat all the big guys and losing to the bigger, younger, stronger guy is believable. I could see if it was Show or Kane that Bryan lost to.

I think you might have missed my point a little. I'm saying Bryan was hurt by doing the job to Roman, I'm saying that the feud itself didn't actually help Reigns all that much and hurt Daniel Bryan more. Kayfabe is dead, winning and losing has never mattered less.

That's a very reasonable point, yet perhaps having Daniel endorse Roman was the only practical way to get this done. Saying "I booed Roman but now I'm for him" indicates that Daniel isn't trying to sell us on the idea he liked Roman all along, but that Roman's recent performance has brought him around. If that's what it is, it isn't a bad way to go. Honestly, I feel the same way about Reigns; at the beginning, I felt he fit in the framework of a team more than as an individual, but he's brought me around with the marked improvement he's shown in the past couple months.

Well that definitely is what it is, but my point is that it's ridiculously transparent and forced, and people aren't really going to buy into it for the most part. People aren't just going to like someone else because they are told to by a person they currently like. Roman's detractors, the ones that fervently wanted Bryan in the main event spot, aren't going to support Reigns getting that spot, no matter what. But by having Bryan "support" Reigns they may lose some respect for him and it may hurt his babyface reaction overall. It just seems as though having these two clash hurts Bryan much more than it benefits Reigns. So in my opinion it was an error in judgement (then again, the Rumble finish was an error in judgement to begin with).

The attempt to make Reigns more of a badass and less of a classic babyface was a smart move, so it made sense to have Reigns acting somewhat heelish during the feud. I remember saying awhile back that if the WWE ultimately wanted Reigns as a big babyface long term the best plan would be to position him as a heel, because it would give him more credibility as a badass and the fans today won't get behind a traditional big babyface push like they did in the 80s. I think it's fair to say I was correct about that, and the WWE tried to at least adopt part of that philosophy with the Bryan feud, but it was rushed and they weren't able to go all the way to make him a full heel.

 

[DB-Fan]

I think you might have missed my point a little. I'm saying Bryan was hurt by doing the job to Roman, I'm saying that the feud itself didn't actually help Reigns all that much and hurt Daniel Bryan more. Kayfabe is dead, winning and losing has never mattered less.

Agreed completely. Bryan was still extremely over upon his return from injury and up through the RR, but since then he's clearly lost some of his "pop" from the overall fan base. Forcing the audience to choose who they would root for was a gutsy move by the brass, but it looks like it has paid off at least a little for Reigns. Not a bunch, but a little.

Roman's detractors, the ones that fervently wanted Bryan in the main event spot, aren't going to support Reigns getting that spot, no matter what. But by having Bryan "support" Reigns they may lose some respect for him and it may hurt his babyface reaction overall. It just seems as though having these two clash hurts Bryan much more than it benefits Reigns. So in my opinion it was an error in judgement (then again, the Rumble finish was an error in judgement to begin with).

Agree again. This move hurt Bryan more than it helped Reigns for the reasons you stated. And while I don't think Vince & Co. envisioned this happening (I think they were only trying to get Reigns a rub, not sabotage Bryan's popularity), I guarantee you they are happy its' gone down this way. Just like the anti-Bryan fans on this board are happy.

But I'm not positive it's completely over yet. If the brass get too cutesy with this and try to move Bryan down the ladder too much at Wrestlemania, they might be in for "Yes, Yes, Yes" Pt 2 all over again. There's a chance that won't happen, but there's also a chance it will. Just depends on how the WWE plays this. If the fans feel like Bryan is getting the shaft again they might revolt again. We'll see how it all plays out.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Did Bryan/Reigns accomplish anything?

Well, as much as they tryed they still have a lot of "Boo" and " He isnt ready" on Roman. But if you look that Reigns before this didnt have any singles PPV match and they tried to show that he could "hang" with the likes of Bryan and look good, they acomplieshed that. No mather that the cause of match was onesided, they did prove that he can be good. So he comed out little better then he came in that match so kudos to WWE for that.

 

[Navi]

It did accomplish something. It showed that the WWE when at their wits end will do almost anything to help endorse the chosen one.

Before this happened almost everyone in the audience liked Daniel Bryan. Even if you weren't really a fan, it was the one person that you knew would get a positive reaction from the crowd. And a loud one at that. Now he's not getting that reaction or at least not as loud for the simple reason they needed him to put Reigns over. And I think it did hurt him.

Reigns couldn't do it himself, the Rock couldn't but Bryan did in a way. It still doesn't mean though that he is going to get a favourable reaction in the future he's still not ready. Fans will not go along with that. I kind of feel sorry for Bryan. He worked his ass off last year, won the title and should have had a rematch before Reigns got the shot. I just hope the WWE gives Bryan the shot he deserves down the line.

 

[steven87gill]

I think you might have missed my point a little. I'm saying Bryan was hurt by doing the job to Roman, I'm saying that the feud itself didn't actually help Reigns all that much and hurt Daniel Bryan more. Kayfabe is dead, winning and losing has never mattered less.



Well that definitely is what it is, but my point is that it's ridiculously transparent and forced, and people aren't really going to buy into it for the most part. People aren't just going to like someone else because they are told to by a person they currently like. Roman's detractors, the ones that fervently wanted Bryan in the main event spot, aren't going to support Reigns getting that spot, no matter what. But by having Bryan "support" Reigns they may lose some respect for him and it may hurt his babyface reaction overall. It just seems as though having these two clash hurts Bryan much more than it benefits Reigns. So in my opinion it was an error in judgement (then again, the Rumble finish was an error in judgement to begin with).

The attempt to make Reigns more of a badass and less of a classic babyface was a smart move, so it made sense to have Reigns acting somewhat heelish during the feud. I remember saying awhile back that if the WWE ultimately wanted Reigns as a big babyface long term the best plan would be to position him as a heel, because it would give him more credibility as a badass and the fans today won't get behind a traditional big babyface push like they did in the 80s. I think it's fair to say I was correct about that, and the WWE tried to at least adopt part of that philosophy with the Bryan feud, but it was rushed and they weren't able to go all the way to make him a full heel.

The problem is that many fans see the tricks of he trade WWE have been using to try & get Cena over for the past decade being used yet again with Roman.

The crux of the issue is that that the more fans rebel the more stubborn VKM tends to get. Why do you think Cena's title runs in 05/06 & 07 were seemingly never ending?

 

[stonecoldstunner]

Absolutely NOT. Another example of the VERY PREDICTABLE outcome. Bryan loses and tries to give Roman a push to the fans with his support. YAWN... Nobody wants this except the people making the decisions unfortunately.

 

[#1druid]

It showed that vince doesn't take Daniel Bryan seriously and probably never will.