Does the WWE Universe & IWC ONLY want Bryan winning?

[newteenforbb]

I understand the whole argument behind "WWE screws with the fans two years running at the same event" idea but the main similarity between the two happens to be Daniel Bryan.

So I gotta ask, do people just want to see Bryan winning all the time? As in, he should have won the Rumble, he should win at Mania, and hold the championship forever? Seems like any loss to the guy is going to result in "we will riot" type feelings.

I can only assume had Ziggler or Ambrose (maybe Wyatt) won last night, the reaction would have been somewhat better but still not the desired pop you would expect from a face winning the Rumble. So it really makes me wonder if this is just going to continue because people simply refuse to accept the notion that Daniel Bryan could ever lose a match.

 

[Teddy Irving]

I think the biggest problem was that Show and Kane systematically took everyone out in the rumble until it was just Reigns left and everybody knew neither of them were going to win it. This annoyed people because it meant that Reigns was getting a massive superman push there. What all the others couldn't do he could eliminate both big guys. If Ambrose and Reigns had knocked out Show and Kane and fought the reaction would have been different I think.

 

[MoRtAnDaD]

Believe me, if Ziggler Ambrose Wyatt or even Rusev whould have won last night, people would have been happy. (or at least the people that didnt wanted reigns).

It wasnt that much of people wanting DB to win, and more of the "any other but reigns".

Bryan will be over until he stop being over, thats something that audience will decide. Guys like stone cold and rock once they went over with the people...they never ever went back to average status.

not saying DB is there or will be there sometime. but most of the people dig the guy right now, and its been over for way more than a year...since team hell no i must say.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

No.
I didn't want Reigns to win, but I didn't want Bryan to win either. Reigns wins & you look down at a boring feud. Bryan wins & yes, he might be facing Lesnar in a big match, but there's the same "Authority" stuff going on as last year, him being held back. We'd get another big moment for Bryan & Wrestlemania would end the exact same way it did last year.

I wanted Ambrose to win. Then Rollins to cash in the briefcase at some point meaning we'd get Rollins vs Ambrose. It doesn't sound much, but at this point, I'd much rather pay to see that than Lesnar vs anyone ending the show.

 

[Wald]

This time it wasn't just about Daniel Bryan. It was about Reigns being handed a spot that he isn't ready for and that has been denied to guys like Ziggler, Punk, Ambrose and is one Bryan and the fans had to fight for tooth and nail last year to get for him.

Reigns is sadly the collateral damage to all of this in the same way Batista was last year. The fans are really booing Vince and telling him to stick it.

One thing that annoys about all of this is that next time Vince makes a special appearance he'll be cheered. If fans really want change than shit all over a Vince, Triple H or Stephanie segment and keep shitting all over them. Only way they'll listen.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it's more complicated than it just being about Daniel Bryan, though Bryan is at the very center of things. Here's the thing: WWE fans have rallied around Daniel Bryan over the course of the past few years. Many are tired of seeing the guys with the more traditional cosmetic image that Vince prefers being the ones who're the centerpieces of the company. Many are tired of pretty, heavily muscled superheroes as the ones that get pushed to being at THE top of the company. They're investing their time in guys who aren't 6'3" 250+ pounds with jacked bodies because when they look at the roster, there are simply wrestlers that they enjoy more because of their ability to establish a rapport with them, their work ethic, promo abilities and in-ring capabilities. Even in this day & age, people want to see hard work rewarded, they want to see passion & ability promoted as it should be and Daniel Bryan is someone that embodies that for many of them.

For a decade now, fans have had the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton constantly pushed. Now that's not to say that Cena & Orton haven't deserved or earned everything they've accomplished in WWE because that's just simply not the case. They're both two damn good professional wrestlers who haven't been handed anything despite what some of their more vocal haters would have you believe. But, as I said, people are burned out on them. They're tired of seeing wrestlers who fall into that very specific Cena/Orton formula being pushed ahead of wrestlers that they're more interested in and feel are more talented.

Roman Reigns falls into that category in terms of having the formula, thereby the cosmetic image, that Vince McMahon prefers personally. However, it's more than Reigns fitting that particular image, it's also because most fans simply do not see Roman Reigns as being ready for this spot. He hasn't demonstrated that in terms of his ability on the mic, his ability to establish a rapport with the fans or his ability inside the ring, at least in the eyes of many fans. Factor that in with what many fans are also believing is an outdated and out of touch formula, and you have the situation WWE finds themselves in right now.

If it was someone along the lines of Dolph Ziggler or Dean Ambrose, I think it MIGHT have been enough to pacify some people. However, since neither of those guys have the momentum right now or nearly as much fan support as Daniel Bryan, it'd still be kinda iffy. The simple truth of the matter is that Daniel Bryan seems to be who the WWE fans have chosen, he's the one they like, he's the one they want and he's the one they've chosen to support. It's time for Vince to accept that and simply stop trying to impose his will because it's just not gonna work in Bryan's case because he's the most universally over babyface they've had in years. That doesn't mean that every single fan is a fan of Bryan of course, but a very significant majority are and they're simply not going to roll over just simply because Vince wants them to embrace "his guy." It's supposed to be all about the money according to Vince himself, but I don't see the money in Roman Reigns because Bryan is the one that most of the fans want. The only way to get Vince's attention is to hit him where it hurts: his wallet. Fear of poor financial returns at last year's WrestleMania facilitated Daniel Bryan winning the title and being inserted into the main event; Vince McMahon has idiotically found himself in the exact same spot and will probably have to make the exact same decision if he wants to save his biggest show.

 

[FreezeIzGAWD]

Man eat a Dick with that Reigns isn't ready BULLSHIT!!!

This is his trial run. He might just be a transitional champ. He was just getting his first WM moment.

Man give him a chance. It is just sooooooo CRAZY to Me that this time last year you all LOVED the SHIELD. Couldn't wait for them to break up and start to become Main Eventers. Well they broke up. Seth is the next Champ in line and the Future. They were giving Reigns a small run and Ambrose is SOOOOOOO OVER. Bray Wyatt is looking hell a Strong. Ziegler is getting a push and instead of being Happy. YOU BOOOOOOO THE GUYS OUT THE BUILDING!!!!!

Pathetic.

Oh and I find it ironic that this time last year the guys on this very site were DESTROYING RUSEV.....

Saying he was NOTHING SPECIAL. He will be released in a year. Hated him because of the STALE OLD RUSSIAN gimmick and yet these same fans were BOOING BECAUSE HE DIDNT WIN THE RR THIS YEAR!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I swear you guys are RIDICULOUS!!!!

 

[Kidpolean]

The end was poorly booked which made the moment even worse. Once Ziggler was eliminated I looked at my girlfriend and told her exactly what was gonna happen and I was 100% correct even with The Rock run in. Nobody I'm that arena believed that Ambrose, Rusev, Big Show, or Kane even had a chance.

As far as DB goes...no I didn't want to see him win. I would have prefered Dolph. My honest opinion is that fans will turn on anyone the WWE tries to push. I think that is just where we are headed to. Not saying that fans are wrong but what WWE needs and what the fans want are miles a part. WWE needs a big, good looking guy so that he can get media attention outside of wrestling but fans want the smaller more athletic guys that put on good matches. This used to be where the IC title made a difference, the small guys the fans love would fight for that. The WWE has destroyed the midcard titles prestige so now its pretty much world title or nothing and that is what I think the biggest problem actually is.

Could you imagine DB, Kidd, Cesaro, Rollins, Ziggler, and Ambrose all in the midcard fighting for the IC title? That would be amazing and that imo is how it should be.

 

[justinept]

There are more elegant ways to put this, but the bottom line is that no one wants to see Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania because 1) Reigns isn't ready for that spotlight and 2) the moment is being forced as opposed to being earned.

The audience gets that the WWE needs to create new stars. The audience will even admit that Reigns could very well become a star one day. But the audience simply won't accept the WWE trying to force something. In this case, the WWE is trying to force the audience into believing Reigns is a star right now, and that belief is so far from reality that the audience sees no choice but to voice its displeasure.

So to answer your question in earnest - no, Bryan didn't need to win last night. There were a handful of guys who the WWE would've accepted over him. Clearly Reigns was not one of them.

 

[MWRedskins]

i think WWE fans and some of the IWC wanted Bryan winning, but i think it's more of the fact that he had the chance to win it and WWE decided to say a big "who cares" to the fans and had him weakly eliminated instead of having him cheated out of it. also it doesn't seem that Bryan has a clear feud for WM and that also hurts. Rollins seems to be feuding with Orton while Cena gets Rusev, Reigns gets Lesnar, Sting gets Triple H and Wyatt gets Undertaker which leaves Bryan with who??? Kane, that would just have the fans boo their match. WWE would've been smarter by not having Bryan in the match at all or having him win it and then losing the title to Rollins via cash in.

 

[pipebomber]

There are more elegant ways to put this, but the bottom line is that no one wants to see Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania because 1) Reigns isn't ready for that spotlight and 2) the moment is being forced as opposed to being earned.

The audience gets that the WWE needs to create new stars. The audience will even admit that Reigns could very well become a star one day. But the audience simply won't accept the WWE trying to force something. In this case, the WWE is trying to force the audience into believing Reigns is a star right now, and that belief is so far from reality that the audience sees no choice but to voice its displeasure.

So to answer your question in earnest - no, Bryan didn't need to win last night. There were a handful of guys who the WWE would've accepted over him. Clearly Reigns was not one of them.

This! Exactly This! Look at ANYBODY who has ever REALLY gotten over and you will see it was organic and not forced by the company. Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, The Ultimate Warrior, Brett Hart, Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, Sting, Austin, Rock, Even John Cena got over organically. The Crowd getting behind a star has to be the fans decision. The Fans don't want to feel like sheeple who just follow and like who the great overlord VKM tells them to like.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It's NOT Bryan!!! OR REIGNS!!! that is the important thing here... I'm gonna do an "article" on this later when I get of work... who knows, maybe I'll get back on the site... but there is a lot more at play here than it being about Daniel Bryan but one "part" of it is this...

People felt cheated last year that he didn't win... then they felt cheated his reign ended so abruptly... they didn't get their fill... the guy nearly had to retire and he gets that? Reigns got sick too, nearly died remember... I'll go into more detail later.

 

[kumarjtk]

i hate bryan. Bcoz his underdog persno is killing wwe roster. He is the virus in wwe. Wwe lost batista bcoz of bryan. Even bryan had a super push at mania by beating top stars at one night. People stills complaining about wwe is ridiculous. My only request to wwe is dont listen those boos and chants. U go ur way with roman and make him a top star. Bryan is not a face of wwe. Roman is suitable person.

 

[MartialHorror]

The annoying thing is that while I personally rooted for Bryan, this should've been Ziggler's rumble.

It pains me to say that, as I believe Ziggler is the most overrated person on the roster (excellent in-ring skills, subpar psychology, bland character). But beyond having the most fan support outside Bryan, this was his story. He overcame the odds against the Authority and seems to be the center of their ire (arguably even moreso than Cena). For him to win would be meaningful.

Reigns could've worked- ignoring the backlash- if his focus was still on Triple H. Honestly, the Authority barely seems to involve itself with Reigns, outside of the Big Show. Bryan and the Authority are still fighting, but Bryan has been treated as an afterthought by them. Their focus is on Cena and the guys who were fired. I agree with the claims that Bryan hasn't been around enough since his recovery to win the Rumble, but I also believe they should've waited until after the rumble before he returned.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

I liked the rumble, if in the final showdown the winner would have been Ambrose I would have had no problem with it.

Ambrose proved times and times again his worth, while reigns to today I am still not sure why is he having a push higher than the tag team division, where he belongs.

 

[Mac]

It's not that the fans always want Bryan to win. It's just the simple fact that Bryan never got a real good run with the title nor did he get a sustained run as the top guy. Had these things happened the fans wouldn't react the way they did. We want to see Bryan get his run at the top. He deserves it. The second issue is the guy they chose in Reigns. The fans like him but he's not ready and we know it. Ziggler could've been a legit option but he wasn't built up the right way, so that wouldn't have made sense.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I understand the whole argument behind "WWE screws with the fans two years running at the same event" idea but the main similarity between the two happens to be Daniel Bryan.

So I gotta ask, do people just want to see Bryan winning all the time? As in, he should have won the Rumble, he should win at Mania, and hold the championship forever? Seems like any loss to the guy is going to result in "we will riot" type feelings.

I can only assume had Ziggler or Ambrose (maybe Wyatt) won last night, the reaction would have been somewhat better but still not the desired pop you would expect from a face winning the Rumble. So it really makes me wonder if this is just going to continue because people simply refuse to accept the notion that Daniel Bryan could ever lose a match.

I don't even think Daniel Bryan was the #1 choice last night. Being there live, I think Philly was a slightly more pro-Ziggler crowd. Bryan's elimination got a chorus of boos, but Ziggler's got a much, much more negative reaction, and his entrance also got a bigger pop than Bryan's. But in any case, Ziggler, Bryan, or Ambrose would have been an acceptable choice to the Philly crowd. By the end of the match, they were cheering for Big Show and Kane to win the Royal Rumble. Literally ANYBODY but Roman Reigns. Reigns got the single most negative reaction I've EVER heard in 20+ years of watching wrestling. It made Batista's reaction last year sound like the return of Shawn Michaels by comparison. I don't think there's any way Reigns can recover from that kind of overwhelming, NUCLEAR heat.

 

[MartialHorror]

To be fair, Ziggler being eliminated in 2 minutes might've been the real response for the super negative reaction. Bryan at least got to kick some serious ass when he was still there and lasted for awhile. Ziggler being taken out so quickly honestly felt kind of spiteful.

And I'm not even a fan of Ziggler.

 

[thebigbadfox]

I think it is also how Bryan, Ziggs, and the rest were eliminated.
Bryan looked like a rookie and chump the way he was eliminated and it didn't set any feuds up or anything.... where does it leave Ziggs and Bryan? Ziggs back to fighting for IC Title and Bryan doing what? fighting authority for a chance? No creativity there....
Hell Bryan won the main event at Mania last year and this year gets bumped off the rope? Could have been a little better story or way to do it.

 

[MartialHorror]

Bryan did look like a rookie by wasting so many intense techniques so early on, which arguably foreshadowed his elimination (as he got to do his spot while he could). As JBL was saying, "Pace yourself Bryan". Ziggler 'showing off' makes more sense than Bryan.

 

[justinept]

i hate bryan. Bcoz his underdog persno is killing wwe roster. He is the virus in wwe. Wwe lost batista bcoz of bryan. Even bryan had a super push at mania by beating top stars at one night. People stills complaining about wwe is ridiculous. My only request to wwe is dont listen those boos and chants. U go ur way with roman and make him a top star. Bryan is not a face of wwe. Roman is suitable person.

So your recommendation is for an entertainment company to not listen to the audience reaction? Good God that's the dumbest piece of advice I've ever heard. As a performer, I'm going to let you in on a little secret - a performer's main job is to connect with the audience. The only way for a performer to connect with the audience is to be cognizant of the audience. When performers aren't doing that - as the WWE has honestly failed to do for years now - the audience rejects it.

 

[Kidpolean]

So your recommendation is for an entertainment company to not listen to the audience reaction? Good God that's the dumbest piece of advice I've ever heard. As a performer, I'm going to let you in on a little secret - a performer's main job is to connect with the audience. The only way for a performer to connect with the audience is to be of the audience. When performers aren't doing that - as the WWE has honestly failed to do for years now - the audience rejects it.

As long as reaction doesn't effect ratings than it wont matter. Vince doesn't care what the crowd does if the money he makes doesn't change. Its simple! If my cash flow stays consistent than I dont give a damn what the consumer thinks and thats pretty much every business/product.

 

[justinept]

As long as reaction doesn't effect ratings than it wont matter. Vince doesn't care what the crowd does if the money he makes doesn't change. Its simple! If my cash flow stays consistent than I dont give a damn what the consumer thinks and thats pretty much every business/product.

I have to disagree with this assessment. Not only are ratings down from where they need to be, but they're down to such a degree that they've negatively affected the stock value - and that means Vince has lost money due to poor/unqualified ratings. The ratings issue directly impacted the final price tag for the TV rights, which came in at such a low value (comparative to its estimate) that the WWE stock went from $19.93/share to $11/share over night.

...so not even the loss of revenue has prompted change from the WWE.

Now, the WWE is really sticking its neck out on the line with the WWE Network, so it'll be interesting to see what the fallout might be should the #CancelWWENetwork movement put any kind of dent into the overall subscription numbers. Maybe it won't, I don't know - but should it happen, then the WWE is in real trouble. The subscribers the WWE is at risk of losing are the exact people the WWE can't afford to lose. Since they're upset about a recent show, it stands to reason that these people watch the WWE regularly - they're not just old school fans who purchased the network for the content value of yesteryear. Further, these are people with legitimate buying power. And that's the key thing...

If you recall the issues to the WWE TV deal, it was that the average WWE viewer makes less than $50,000. That's a number heavily skewed because a large number of fans are too young to earn a living - but it's an important figure since advertisers take it into account when purchasing ad space on TV shows. The lower the average yearly earnings of the viewers, the less value the ad space has - and in effect, the less money a network (NBC Universal) is willing to offer the content provider (the WWE) for their content (Raw/Smackdown.)

I don't think it's a leap to assume that the folks threatening to - or who already have - cancel(ed) their network subscription have buying power. if they have the power to cancel the network, then they're likely the person paying for the network in the first place. And if the WWE loses a huge chunk of that demographic, then the average yearly salary of their viewers is going to decrease in a big way - further devaluing their TV rights in the future.

It'll be interesting to see if anything comes from the Twitter 'movement' or if its just another case of some upset fans who like to bark but have no bite.

 

[kadroan]

I understand the whole argument behind "WWE screws with the fans two years running at the same event" idea but the main similarity between the two happens to be Daniel Bryan.

So I gotta ask, do people just want to see Bryan winning all the time? As in, he should have won the Rumble, he should win at Mania, and hold the championship forever? Seems like any loss to the guy is going to result in "we will riot" type feelings.

I can only assume had Ziggler or Ambrose (maybe Wyatt) won last night, the reaction would have been somewhat better but still not the desired pop you would expect from a face winning the Rumble. So it really makes me wonder if this is just going to continue because people simply refuse to accept the notion that Daniel Bryan could ever lose a match.

I don't. I think that's bad for anyone, people get tired of repetition. Seen it happen with Cena, Sheamus and Punk. Despite the threats from fans at live events, nobody has yet to riot. With security at arenas these days, I doubt anybody would do anything crazy.

Fans are just going to have to get over it. Bryan had his turn last year, unfortunately he got hurt last year but Reigns is the next man up.

 

[justinept]

..Reigns also got hurt last year - but I digress.

The fact is that there are ways for people to look strong even while losing. That was not the case with Daniel Bryan... hell, it wasn't really the case for any Royal Rumble participant other than Kane and Big Show... And that's the problem.

When Bryan was eliminated after about 5 minutes in the ring, my first thought was: "Oh my God... I can't believe they're that stupid" because I knew exactly how the crowd was going to react. They basically booked Bryan to look like a putz who was in way over his head. When you do that to a guy people care about, the people react negatively. When you repeatedly do that a guy - as the WWE has done to Daniel Bryan - the crowd builds off that negativity and it grows exponentially.

Building off the rest of the Rumble - who looked good in defeat?

Bray Wyatt - He looked great throughout the match, but then he was knocked unconscious off camera and tossed out like a bag of garbage by Kane/Show

Dolph Ziggler - He lasted about 3 minutes in the Rumble before being tossed out like a bag of garbage.

Bad News Barrett - He lasted about 5 minutes and had no memorable moments...

Cesaro - He lasted about 5 minutes, too - but at least he got to use the Cesaro Swing again... Quick question: Why hasn't he used that for most of the past year? Oh yea... it's because the WWE didn't want his star to rise faster than Roman Reigns. So they told him to give back the brass ring that he apparently grabbed without permission.

Mizdow - The crowd was ready to get back into the match when he entered... they were ready to cheer for somebody, anybody - but then he got tossed out in 30 seconds.

Rusev - He tossed out a bunch of people, and he lasted until the final 2 --- but he'll always be remembered for being a monster heel who hid under the ring for about 10 minutes. And that overshadows any positive momentum he could have built from this match.

Come on now - these are your future guys, and the WWE basically used them as fodder in favor of two guys in the mid-40s and a 3rd guy who doesn't get the half the crowd reaction they do...