The Elephant In The Room

[Jack-Hammer]

As of right now, due to what we saw on Raw last night, it appears that the four top matches for WrestleMania XXX will be:

Randy Orton vs. Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H

There's still roughly 5.5 weeks until WrestleMania and there's still plenty of time for various changes to be made or for stipulations to be added.

Orton vs. Batista has absolutely no chance of not being hijacked by fans. WWE officials MUST be aware of this by now. As a result, a lot of people still have hope that Daniel Bryan will somehow be added to this match. As it stands, there's simply no way the fans won't crap all over it.

Taker vs. Lesnar is gonna be highly physical. I don't see Taker coming out of this match uninjured no matter what, but I think one way of lessening the potential for injury would be for Taker to get in most of the offense. At the same time, however, I don't think people will be into the bout if it's lopsided with Taker dominating. As a fan, I'm both looking forward to this match and am concerned for Taker's well being. If they use their past history and really establish Lesnar as the biggest threat Taker's ever faced at WrestleMania, it could be a real treat.

Cena vs. Wyatt looks as though they're setting Wyatt up for a potential win. Given that the artist who wrote & sings Wyatt's entrance theme will be performing it live at WrestleMania, it hints that Wyatt MIGHT go over. It looks as though they're going to write a knee injury angle into the storyline, which Cena masterfully sold last night to the point that just about everyone thought it was legit. As a result, this could be a means of protecting Cena by suggesting he's not 100% going into the match, which could give Wyatt a strong and clean victory. If they have Cena rally and just overcome Wyatt, I think it'll be a big waste.

Bryan vs. Triple H is a match that a lot of people should be looking forward too. For me personally, I'll be satisfied with it if it has the right outcome. Bryan should go over here and a victory over Triple H, in my opinion, all but assures that Bryan will be WWE World Heavyweight Champion sometime in 2014. From a storyline standpoint, it makes a lot of sense when you consider that The Authority have repeatedly screwed Bryan out of the title since SummerSlam.

The elephant in the room, hence the title of the thread, is that it's a safe bet that a significant majority of fans would prefer Daniel Bryan to be in the title match. If that happened, then I honestly believe a good deal of the negative feelings towards this year's show would evaporate. As I alluded to, there's still time for changes to be made and stipulations to be added.

During the Raw pre-show last night, Triple H made reference to the whole "A Player" stuff, indicating that he considers himself above Daniel Bryan. As a result, it's possible that Triple H will refuse to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX. There are a couple of POSSIBLE storylines that could come out of this. Again, these are just ideas I had rolling around in my head. Not saying they're good ideas or ideas that anyone else should like. Just a little fantasy booking:

1. Since Triple H considers Daniel Bryan beneath him, that he isn't worth his time. Since Bryan accused Trips of not caring about what the fans want and since the crowd response could be used as an indicator that they "want" Bryan vs. Trips at WrestleMania, Triple H could continue that image by not giving them what they "want." However, Triple H gives Bryan one final opportunity to show he's an "A Player" by adding him to the title match. IF Bryan is able to win the championship and overcome all the odds, thereby showing that MAYBE he's an A Player, he'll get a match with Triple H at Extreme Rules. Overcoming the odds is a loaded phrase because there are no disqualifications in triple threat matches, so Bryan would not only have to overcome Orton & Batista, but also whatever type of shenanigans The Authority comes up with via interference. If Bryan wins, Triple H takes on the attitude that the only one in the entire company worthy of being "the face" of WWE is himself. He'll meet Bryan at Extreme Rules, defeat him for the title and declare himself "the face" of WWE as the only guy on the roster worthy of carrying the company since neither Orton or Batista could beat the "little troll."

2. In the coming weeks, Bryan continues to verbally taunt Triple H to the point where he even physically assaults him. Triple H's attitude changes from one of smug condescension to one of anger and hatred, adopting the attitude of the Triple H of old. Bryan says that he wants to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he's an "A Player" and continues to challenge Triple H by going one step further. If Triple H accepts his challenge and loses, then Bryan is added to the title match at WrestleMania XXX. He'll prove he's an "A Player" by beating Triple H, Randy Orton & Batista in the same night AND walk out of WrestleMania the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

 

[Wald]

I added this to a thread on Bryan so I'll add it here too as I think it would be the ideal way to kill that elephant in the room you talk of.

You could possibly use Hogan to set up a match between Triple H and Daniel Bryan with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets inserted into the main event. In the weeks prior to this I'd have Triple H keep refusing to fight Bryan at Mania by continuing to say Bryan isn't at his level. As a means of punishing Bryan for calling him out every week on Raw I'd have Triple H say that Bryan can have the night off at Mania as well.

On the Raw before Wrestlemania have Hogan play up to the fans like only he can, have him ask them if they're excited for Batista vs Orton (crowd will inevitably boo), then have him ask them if they'd rather see Daniel Bryan vs Orton vs Batista (crowd will inevitably cheer). He can book that match there on the spot as a means of drawing Triple H out to say he can't do that, that Hogan doesn't have the authority. Hogan can respond that he does and that if Triple H looks at his contract he'll see that as host of Wrestlemania it's his job to make it the best one yet and that includes being able to book matches. Trips could then play into the fact Bryan has done nothing to earn it and right there Hogan could agree with him and say that Bryan has to earn the shot. So, with that in mind, he's booking the match Triple H has been ducking for months and making Triple H vs Daniel Bryan for Wrestlemania with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets in on the title match in the main event. Close with Hogan saying that if Bryan is as ready as all the WWE Universe says he is than he now has the opportunity to join the immortals at Wrestlemania.

Two matches booked, Hogan looks great, Wrestlemania looks must see, Bryan gets in the main event with Hogan endorsing Bryan as being on par with him, Austin, Rock etc. and Bryan gets to beat Triple H, Orton & Batista all in one night to prove that he belongs on that level.

Won't happen though. Last night Bryan made no mention of wanting in the title match at Wrestlemania for a reason. He's trying to condition his fans to believe that the match he wants, and by proxy what they want, is against Triple H. Michael Cole even asked people to tweet #YES if they want Bryan to face Triple H, so that Yes Movement the fans created has been hijacked as well. It will still be interesting to see how they combat Batista vs Orton's crowd, because going the Cena route of saying they actually like fans expressing their opinion won't work.

 

[MCMG]

The WWE World Heavyweight Title match is going to get a crap reaction. No matter what. People are sheep and it is inevitable. The general consensus is that Batista isn't in great condition and may struggle to work a good match. Moreover, he isn't Daniel Bryan. It is completely unfair on Orton. He has had a great run and this is, I'm sure, a big moment for him as well.

It makes a lot of sense to add Bryan into the match. The crowd are going to hate it no matter what. Even if they turn Orton face and Batista heel (which I'd be against) the crowd are going to boo both. The crowd will be chanting; JBL, CM Punk, Randy Savage etc.

Bryan vs Triple H is an exciting prospect. It should be a great match that is the payoff to a long feud. The stipulation of having "If Bryan wins, he is in the main-event" could work. It doesn't even need to be HHH would adds it (I'm thinking Hogan) and it gives the fans what they want.

If they have guaranteed Batista the title then there isn't much they can do. He is in a fairly big movie and him being champ is important to them. The WWE can't have predicted this reaction to Batista. I'm sure they would have been counting on him getting a cheered.

My solution is to do nothing. Let the fans do what they want and if Batista is to justify his pay-cheques then he'll be able to make them forget about Bryan just for 20 minutes. Difficult, I'm sure, but Orton is a high quality superstar and Batista has been around a while.

 

[three count bout]

Monday should tell us more about the overall direction of WMXXX. If Punks coming back I'd assume it would be in Chicago. I can't imagine him still being employed with the company but not having some role at WMXXX. Vince is another variable in all this as well as he can easily just put Bryan in the title match because it's "Best for business". But Daniel Bryan not even mentioning his championship aspirations last night worried me, and it seemed to all but confirm he really might not get the shot. It's not set in stone just yet but WWE better figure this one out because Batista is getting eviscerated by the crowds and turning him heel won't be enough to fix this trainwreck. I thought Monday would have been a perfect time for Batista to gain sympathy he could have said he realized Bryan was routinely getting screwed and gave him a match for the #1 contendership. He would have lost clean they shook hands and Batista probably would have been salvagable. Instead we got a guy cutting a gassed "Cena-lite" promo showered by boos.

 

[kadroan]

The WWE World Heavyweight Title match is going to get a crap reaction. No matter what. People are sheep and it is inevitable. The general consensus is that Batista isn't in great condition and may struggle to work a good match. Moreover, he isn't Daniel Bryan. It is completely unfair on Orton. He has had a great run and this is, I'm sure, a big moment for him as well.

It makes a lot of sense to add Bryan into the match. The crowd are going to hate it no matter what. Even if they turn Orton face and Batista heel (which I'd be against) the crowd are going to boo both. The crowd will be chanting; JBL, CM Punk, Randy Savage etc.

Bryan vs Triple H is an exciting prospect. It should be a great match that is the payoff to a long feud. The stipulation of having "If Bryan wins, he is in the main-event" could work. It doesn't even need to be HHH would adds it (I'm thinking Hogan) and it gives the fans what they want.

If they have guaranteed Batista the title then there isn't much they can do. He is in a fairly big movie and him being champ is important to them. The WWE can't have predicted this reaction to Batista. I'm sure they would have been counting on him getting a cheered.

My solution is to do nothing. Let the fans do what they want and if Batista is to justify his pay-cheques then he'll be able to make them forget about Bryan just for 20 minutes. Difficult, I'm sure, but Orton is a high quality superstar and Batista has been around a while.

Yeah, it's going to be an interesting next couple of weeks. Unfortunately I could see even if they put Bryan in the main event, they'll still be chanting for Punk. I doubt WWE would put on a fatal four way, seems like there's no way to please the masses no matter how hard they try