Should Daniel Bryan Take A Page Out Of Crash Holly's Playbook?

[Tequila Dave]

Daniel Bryan, despite being number one on Booker T's "fave five," has not been looking very strong lately. If he truly is going to be a future World Champion and Wrestlemania Main Eventer, he has to do something fast. A lot of people have need suggesting a heel turn, but how about this instead?

In 2000, Crash Holly declared he would defend his Hardcore Championship twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, to prove he was the best Champion of all time. The result? Some hilarious skits that got Holly over.

I say, why not have Daniel Bryan prove he’s worthy enough to hold the briefcase by defending it anytime, anywhere; like Holly? It’s been almost a decade since the Hardcore Championship was retired, so the idea would feel somewhat fresh. Brian simply isn’t getting the reaction of a future champion, and this would be a great way to get him over, provide some quality TV/funny moments, and make him look stronger. He could go on a little undefeated streak before cashing in or losing in briefase (while still looking strong.)

What do you think?

 

[4realpeoples]

So you want to take an accomplished former World Champion submission specialist and turn him into a comedic role? Doing that would fail. Turning the Money in the Bank briefcase into the Hardcore Title is just as big of a fail. Both Bryan and the briefcase are taken seriously in WWE. Have you not noticed how strong Bryan looks in his matches even though he's losing most of them? Pretty damn strong. Right now WWE wants him on a losing streak. When the "Road to WrestleMania" begins, Bryan will probably go on a huge winning streak and take the title at the big stage. This losing streak is only going to make the inevitable winning streak even stronger.

 

[Tequila Dave]

So you want to take an accomplished former World Champion submission specialist and turn him into a comedic role? Doing that would fail. Turning the Money in the Bank briefcase into the Hardcore Title is just as big of a fail. Both Bryan and the briefcase are taken seriously in WWE. Have you not noticed how strong Bryan looks in his matches even though he's losing most of them? Pretty damn strong. Right now WWE wants him on a losing streak. When the "Road to WrestleMania" begins, Bryan will probably go on a huge winning streak and take the title at the big stage. This losing streak is only going to make the inevitable winning streak even stronger.

Sure he's a former World Champion and "submission specialist", but do you know how much that counts for to 90% of WWE's audience? Nothing. If he wants to be cheered by the average fan, he needs to be unique. He needs to do stand out. Is he standing out now?

And I apologise for not articulating my thoughts well enough, I never meant to give the impression that he’d purely be a comedic character. But I do think the occasional funny promo would help him get over (most of WWE’s top stars have had their share of funny moments).

A winning streak is not enough to make Wrestlemania main event worthy; and Bryan doesn’t have the mic skills to be involved in a feud that would elevate him enough. He needs something different, something that will A) catch people’s attention and B) not require him talking. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[AnvilForever]

I do agree that DBD needs something to really make him stand out, but having him follow Crash Holly's example isn't it. Don't forget that most of the time he didn't really "defend" the title. He just avoided pin falls and ran away like a pussy. I really got tired of his shtick fast, and every time he scampered up the ramp with the belt in his hands, I hoped that somebody would be waiting up top to deck him with a garbage can and take the belt while he was stunned. I don't want DBD to be like that.

 

[ABMorales787]

Crash Holly was a comedy guy. We are supposed to buy Daniel as a Wrestlemania headliner. How do you go from running around Funhouse USA, to the main event of Wrestlemania? How's that gonna make him gain momentum? Pinning guys backstage, in hotel rooms and such are gonna get laughs, not support.

 

[4realpeoples]

Sure he's a former World Champion and "submission specialist", but do you know how much that counts for to 90% of WWE's audience? Nothing. If he wants to be cheered by the average fan, he needs to be unique. He needs to do stand out. Is he standing out now?

And I apologise for not articulating my thoughts well enough, I never meant to give the impression that he’d purely be a comedic character. But I do think the occasional funny promo would help him get over (most of WWE’s top stars have had their share of funny moments).

A winning streak is not enough to make Wrestlemania main event worthy; and Bryan doesn’t have the mic skills to be involved in a feud that would elevate him enough. He needs something different, something that will A) catch people’s attention and B) not require him talking. Do you have any suggestions?

If we want Bryan to be unique then instead of making him resemble Crash Holly why not change his gimmick to "The American Dragon"? A nickname will make him unique and noticeable. Especially if he gets more aggressive in the ring. With a more aggressive character I think Bryan's mic skills will be better.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I say, why not have Daniel Bryan prove he’s worthy enough to hold the briefcase by defending it anytime, anywhere; like Holly?

Well, it's a thought. After all, the winner of MITB holds a unique position in the months before he cashes in, but it's hardly one of distinction. The whole concept revolves around the guy going after the title by taking a shortcut, which is hardly the stuff of legend. In fact, is Daniel the first good guy who's won it? If so, maybe the company can alter the gimmick, which is running thin already, by having Daniel be the first to challenge for the title against a champion who hasn't already engaged in a brutal match that evening. Or, maybe he can be the first guy who fails to beat the champion. Or, maybe he could cash in by demanding a match that isn't for the championship! That would be a first, wouldn't it?

In the meantime, he's walking to the ring holding the damn briefcase, but is hardly distinguishing himself these past weeks with match results that would make us look forward to seeing him cash in. Perhaps the OP's idea of doing a Crash Holly routine would add a little intrigue.....sort of a "gimmick to set up the gimmick."

 

[Dagger Dias]

I think that is a bad idea. Having the Hardcore Championship up for grabs 24 hours per day and every show certainly lead to some interesting moments, but it was also what eventually led to the downfall of the title. It became a joke, multiple champions would be seen winning the title per show.

We all know Bryan is not going to lose the blue briefcase unless he makes a mistake similar to Kennedy. So if we know he will win each time, then why have him put it up for grabs each show? It would be better for him to just keep getting wins in matches to show off his submission skills instead because that will help him break into the main event level. Constantly defending the blue briefcase won't, that will get old.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

So you want to take an accomplished former World Champion submission specialist and turn him into a comedic role? Doing that would fail. Turning the Money in the Bank briefcase into the Hardcore Title is just as big of a fail. Both Bryan and the briefcase are taken seriously in WWE. Have you not noticed how strong Bryan looks in his matches even though he's losing most of them? Pretty damn strong. Right now WWE wants him on a losing streak. When the "Road to WrestleMania" begins, Bryan will probably go on a huge winning streak and take the title at the big stage. This losing streak is only going to make the inevitable winning streak even stronger.

It's not that simple. You can be comedic and still be a badass - 2000 - 2002 Kurt Angle is a prime example of this; Crash Holly is another. But I agree that even with his frequent loss record, DB still looks pretty strong.

I sort of see what you mean OP - make DB into an even bigger badass with the good ol' 24/7 rule. Personally I prefer that the briefcase be won in, and only in, the MitB match itself. But if Bryan had, like, an Intercontinental title run with that rule, after Rhodes has had his run ... yeah, I could dig it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I could possibly be on board with Bryan defending his MITB briefcase on very, very rare occassions but not on a regular basis. If you do that, then you basically just turn the briefcase into a championship. And, to go even further, you just wind up trivializing the MITB concept if you apply defending the briefcase under a 24/7 rule.

The WWE Hardcore Championship was, possibly up until the introduction of the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship, the single most trivial and useless title ever used by a major professional wrestling company. That was due in huge part to the 24/7 rule. It literally turned the title into a meaningless prop. In less than 4 years of existence, it changed hands more than 200 times. The MITB matches are arguably the most popular gimmick matches in wrestling today partially because the WWE has managed to keep the concept of MITB consistently relevant.

As for Daniel Bryan himself, the only time I can say that I've thought he's looked weak was in that 5 minute match against Sin Cara. It was just some pretty unusual booking when you consider the fact that he'd taken former World Heavyweight Champion Christian and current WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio to the limit in competitive, 12-15 minute matches. However, I think people honestly need to relax about Daniel Bryan a bit. As of today, it's almost exactly 7 months until WrestleMania XXVIII. That's plenty of time for the WWE to turn Daniel Bryan into a legit World Heavyweight Championship contender. Look what happened to CM Punk. He went from being a very talented mid-card guy who'd made occassional runs in the main event picture to being the single hottest and most talked about wrestler in the world practically within a 24 hour period. I'm not saying that to start some sort of Punk vs. Bryan debate or anything, I'm just saying that I don't think the WWE will have a big problem getting Bryan ready for WrestleMania.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Daniel Bryan looked strong in his matches against Wade Barrett, Christian and WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio (Rio sold the hell out of DB's moves!). I was worried about Daniel Bryan to be honest. I thought his losing streak meant that the WWE was slowly losing faith in him and eventually leaning on passing the briefcase onto someone else in one of those BS challenge matches. I know Mr Kennedy's situation was different, because he was injured, but the possibility of a match like that happening to DB looked apparent due to the losing streak. I'm not sure what to think at this point, but it wouldn't hurt to have DB win some matches too. In a way, it does sort of cheapen DB as a World Champion competitor when he can't even defeat top tier guys. This cannot be compared to the Miz's run with the MitB, since the Miz is a cowardly heel.

 

[4LC]

DB is only losing to credible people, this whole follow crash hollys playbook is stupid because crash holly was not a very strong or credible character, him and the hardcore title was like the definition of LOW CARD. There is still so much time until wrestlemania, since DB is not a charismatic guy how bout NOT giving him a 'funny' gimmick unless you want to destroy a seriously good wrestler