How To Book A Feud: Daniel Bryan/The Big Show & Mark Henry

[Yesiamaduck]

The way this program has been built has been superb on the WWE's behalf... everything has followed logic and the program heading into Royal Rumble has me interested in all 3 guys (the first time in ages a triple threat has done this for me in the WWE). The story it has told has been very strong, even if the WWE had their hand forced after Henry got injured, they've managed to write their way out of it in what has been, as of this date, one of the best handled feuds in recent memory.

* The Big Show Gets injured by Mark Henry
* Daniel Bryan wins money in the bank & says he'll cash in at Wrestlemania
* The Big Show returns and is looking for revenge on the now World Champion Mark Henry
* Daniel Bryan gets bullied by Mark Henry, The Big Show aligns himself with Daniel Bryan
* The Big Show encourages Daniel Bryan to seek opportunity and teases a successful cash in on Mark Henry
* The first swerve, Big Show wins the title only to lose it to Bryan
* Big Show is emotional over the loss, teases heel turn but sticks with Bryan but the is an undertone of animosity there
* Swerve 2 Daniel Bryan lets the world title get to his head and slowly turns heel on The Big Show
* Mark Henry hasn't picked sides, he still hates them both and just wants his title back (this is a realistic approach the doesn't always need to be clear sides HEEL VS FACE)
* Daniel Bryan cheats his way threw 3 title matches, but in a smart way, the only way to stop this would be to book a match with no DQ & no means of escape without victory
* Daniel Bryan sacrafises his girlfriend, the is a degree of personal story telling underneath this feud (Daniel Bryan's mistreatment of AJ & lack of gratitude for how The Big Show helped him & playing with his emotions by getting him to injure his girlfriend, The Big Shows career almost being ended by Mark Henry & Mark Henry's continued bullying of Daniel Bryan early in the feud)
* A cage match is booked with both the Big Show and Mark Henry after months of build, this SHOULD end it and it feels like a feud ender & anything could happen!

In conclusion: Best feud in the WWE in quite some time, follows logic well and doesn't have any sudden changes in character on any of the 3 involved. This is strong story telling and I hope the WWE follows a similar model more in the future

Do you agree? Is this the sort of build thats been lacking in the WWE in recent years?

 

[The Ram]

Yes I agree this feud has been pretty good with nice build and things haven't been moving too fast. Daniel Bryan turning heel was definetly a better option than Bigshow turning heel. I didn't really like Daniel Bryan when he was face and now that he's heel I legitamately hate him. I read the smackdown spoilers this week and I watched the main event and I was kind of hoping the spoilers lied to me and Mark Henry would take the title. I want the title off of Bryan not because he's doing a bad job because he's doing a great job, he's making me legitamately hate him which many heels can never do. I mean I hate his cockiness why would someone as small as Bryan tell a Big tall Bigshow he better not come to smackdown like Bryan's such a huge threat. At the match I would like Henry or Bigshow to win but realisticly I think Bryan is gonna hold on to the title.

 

[roethlisberger78]

Hey I gotta agree and I feel most people wanted DB to win the title but I'm not sure they was expecting this out of him which is brillient. Now that he is caught between two monsters it seems impossible but he is smart and will let them destroy each other and move onto wrestlemania... I really honestly feel like Jericho is gonna win the rumble and take on DB and we will so true wrestling.. Then I feel in the same night Jericho Vs CM Punk titles to be joined.... (sorry for going off topic).. but yes very good booking very solid and true to how it would be in real life..

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Daniel Bryan is putting out his best work right now. He's stellar in the ring and on screen he's just fucking great. He's twisting everything up.

I was a Daniel Bryan fan before this, but he is becomming one of my favorites right now. He is a great heel and this feud is crazy... I love how he keeps skipping out in the fashion he does. He's making it look like he's not the bad guy.

Hope Daniel Bryan gets the win at the Rumble, that'd be legit. He looks good with the title and I think were seeing the birth of a top tier heel.

 

[SpoodBeest]

This program for me has been very interesting. It has made me tune into SmackDown every week, well I usually did regardless but this has been a main reason why I SmackDown always has my close attention. I wasn't initially a fan of Bryan cashing in on Big Show as I thought it was kind of dumb for up and coming face to sneak a title win a way from one of the most over stars on SmackDown but that was before I knew where they were going with the "Fighting Champion" character of Daniel Bryan.

This heel turn has been going slow but it has certainly been affective. Bryan has been able to develop as a character, he gets more mic time and he is garnering a serious reaction from the crowd in terms of heat. In fact I think he gets more heat now than Rhodes or Henry do to be quite frank. I've been loving Bryan's promos since he started his whole cocky as hell persona. Crocodile Tears, dissing The Big Show, talking down to the fans, all while trying to say he's the good guy in all of this.

And as the OP alluded too if you take into account when the title mess between all these men started way back in the fall, it has evolved perfectly as a storyline. Henry taking out Show, winning the title, Show comes back for revenge, fails in trying to take the title, influences Bryan to cash in earlier than Mania, all leading to Bryan taking Show's advice and cashing in on him in the long run and the title going to his head and becoming one cocky prick of a champion.

I'm looking forward to both world title matches, I'm looking forward to Kane/Cena, and I'm sure as hell looking forward to the Rumble match itself. The pay-per-view should kick off this year with a bang. So back on point this storyline is the very best thing that SmackDown has going for it at the moment.

 

[HeartStingerJericho]

Yes, this is has been a classic feud that has gone on since the summer, starting with Mark Henry creating the Hall of Pain all the way until now and to me, it has made Smackdown the most entertaining show in professional wrestling. I remember groaning when Mark Henry was getting another push as a monster heel but it has been done so well this time and I hope he does get the title back and that Sheamus wins the Rumble. If you remember, their business is not done. Yes, Mark beat Sheamus but Sheamus took all he had and was never put out. I think Henry should get the belt back and have everything wrap up at WrestleMania with Sheamus in the main event.

 

[Ellye]

What I'm loving in this feud at the present moment is that there's no clear "heel" or "face". WWE should do more of this.

Yes, it's clear that when this all ends, Daniel Bryan will very likely be a heel, but right now I like the fact that we're seeing shades of gray.

This especially puts Mark Henry in a very realistic, as OP cited, position. He's feuding at the same against a Face and against a halfway Heel. Because, for him, it doesn't matter - he just wants his title back. I love that.

(By the way, I wont be surprised if Mark Henry comes out of all this as a face, in the end, specially if Show ends up also turning heel. Heck, the possibilities are so many... this feud is, indeed, masterfully crafted so far.)

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In many ways, I think the feud has been idea. It's been extremely logical from the start and has been believable in its overall booking.

Going into a program against these two, Daniel Bryan is a believable underdog. Why? Because both his opponents are much bigger and much stronger than he is. Big Show is a legit 7 footer and, realistically, weighs right at the 400 pound mark. Mark Henry is also right around the 400 pound mark and is, quite literally, one of the physically strongest human beings on the planet. Bryan is a shade under 6 feet tall and about 210 pounds. Just going by sheer looks, Bryan is at a disadvantage and WWE has played that up perfectly. Also, Show & Henry have taken Bryan lightly because of the size & strength difference. They've underestimated him in many ways.

At the same time, Bryan hasn't been cowardly or tried to duck his opponents. He's gone into his matches against them and has given each of them a tough going. He hasn't really cheated in his matches against them either, nor can he really be blamed for the outcome of these matches. In his bout against Big Show, it does look as though Bryan intentionally provoked Mark Henry to get a response. At the same time, it can also be logically spun that Henry had been talking trash about both of them on commentary, including yelling out at the top of his lungs at them a few times. When it happened, Bryan was in the heat of competition and going over ideas in his head to combat Show after he'd gotten out of the LaBell Lock. He could have lost his temper with all the stress and frustration going on and merely lashed out at Henry. Is that exactly what happened? I dunno but the WWE has arranged things in which that's a believable and even logical alternate explanation of the first match. As for the no DQ and no count out match, again, I think it's difficult to lay blame for the match's ending on Bryan's heel tactics. After all, his girlfriend came out to support him because she believes in him. Bryan was giving Show another hard fight and AJ just happened to have gotten into the way. Bryan's reaction toward Show after the match was perfectly set up to make it as though Bryan really isn't the bad guy in all this and that Show might have been a tad reckless. As for Bryan's match against Henry last night, again, how can Bryan be blamed for the 20 lumberjacks around the ring going nuts and just going at each other like it's the Royal Rumble? Both Bryan & Henry were on the receiving end of beatings from the lumberjacks and the match had to be ruled a no contest due to all the chaos.

Bryan's heel turn has been subtle and very well done thus far. The turn has come about mostly due to Bryan's somewhat change in attitude. He's more confident now, he's more outspoken and has said some things in his promos that do carry a ring of truth to them. Bryan just hasn't really said those things in the way a babyface is supposed to. Henry continues to be booked as this intimidating beast and Show has done a good job of selling his frustration over the situation and his emotional response to running over AJ was perfect. He looked distraught and had real tears streaming down his face.

So yeah, all in all, I've really enjoyed the way this feud has been booked thus far.

 

[CloakandDagger]

While the booking of this feud has been top class, considering what they have had to work around with injuries etc there is one major problem I have with DBD's emerging heel persona and that's Michael Cole.

Cole is supposed to be a heel announcer for the most part and he's been burying Bryan since his debut. However, now that Bryan has essentially become the character that Cole has been accusing him of being, "the voice of the WWE" needs to change his tune and get behind DBD.

Having a heel announcer bury a heel just doesn't work and has made for some awkward listening on Smackdown as Josh and Booker scramble to play Devil's Advocate.

 

[XXJJ]

Its been a good feud. A lot of triple threat feuds just seem randomly thrown together...Punk/ADR/Miz recently. This one is actually well thought out. With all screwy endings the last couple of weeks, a cage match at RR is the perfect way to end it.

I still think Daniel Bryan promos are weak. I thought the one recently on SD was garbage, Henry kind of saved the segment. But I thought he did a great job with the Big Show and AJ stuff. I have been enjoying his heel turn.