Who carries the show, now?

[AegonTargaryen]

With the reports of Daniel Bryan being injured circulating around and assuming that he's going to be out of action for a couple of months, what will the WWE do about the title picture? Despite so much mid-card talent talent right now, the WWE seems to be lacking in star power to carry the brand as both its top stars in Randy Orton and John Cena are involved in storylines and I'm sure we're all tired of seeing them both as champions.

CM Punk is gone. Daniel Bryan's party is likely to be crashed and I'll be the world's happiest man if that comes true. Batista is leaving in all probability and even if he stays, will making him champion because DB is injured make him any more credible or likeable to the audience? Who challenges him, Roman Reigns?
I also envisioned Brock Lesnar returning and becoming champion- but no- implausible.

The only likely and novel choice I see to "step up" and reclaim his WWE WHC is HHH. And the idea/thought of Big Show, Mark Henry, or Kane having one more world title run seems gigantically SCARY. It's also noteworthy that John Cena-Bray Wyatt has been a very awesome story so far, Shield and Evolution has now become a protracted feud, and the only storyline that will likely see its abrupt end will be the Kane-Bryan feud. So, whom do you think will/should/must carry the show as WWE WHC now?

 

[DarksideEric]

I wouldn't put it past Creative to do a title tournament to lead into Payback, leaving the winner open just in case Bryan may be able to return (from what I gather they're still not sure, at least last I checked).

If he's able to return by Payback, he's a last minute entrant.

If he's unable to come back... it would actually be very interesting to see a Wyatt/Cena finals that Cena would ultimately win.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

I wouldn't put it past Creative to do a title tournament to lead into Payback, leaving the winner open just in case Bryan may be able to return (from what I gather they're still not sure, at least last I checked).

If he's able to return by Payback, he's a last minute entrant.

If he's unable to come back... it would actually be very interesting to see a Wyatt/Cena finals that Cena would ultimately win.

Not an entirely implausible idea but the problem with it is that it's done too many times and Bray Wyatt and John Cena's feud is already too loaded with intriguing elements for it to be given the WWE WHC. I thought of an even more creative idea, though it's probably unlikely to happen. HHH comes out and announces the cancellation of The Shield vs Evolution. What will happen instead is the three of Evolution will face the three of Shield in singles matches, with the winners facing each other at the end of the night in a triple threat match for the WWE WHC. In fact, HHH could cut a solid heel promo explaining how nature/evolution eliminates the "weak" and how the strong survive temporary defeat(i.e. WM XXX) and it'd almost seem like a mocking of DB when three individuals win singles matches to eventually have a triple threat, and ironically HHH will win that match.

I can clearly see HHH and Roman Reigns being the participants set in stone, and Randy making the perfect third challenger. Of course HHH wins, thus setting up HHH vs Roman Reigns at Summerslam for the WWE WHC. This could lead to a long HHH reign as the WWE WHC, with a long list of dissatisfied superstars wanting title shots, from Randy Orton to Batista, to Daniel Bryan. Even Brock Lesnar could at some point return and challenge HHH.

 

[Steve-O-Matt]

Well this is all dependant on wether or not he'll be stripped of the title, which I highly doubt would happen (why would you WANT it to happen, you know if it did it'll just go back to Cena again). If it was me booking it, I would have a tournament in the coming weeks to crown a new champ, then when Daniel is back and ready, he's already in prime position to feud for being the uncrowned champ.

I would also use this oppotunity to majorly push someone who's been overdue a push... Cody Rhodes! With the heel turn Cody has been teasing, I can see him slowly go up the tournament bracket, eventually meet his brother in the tournament and beat him for a place in the final. I've been campaigning for Cody to get a push for a while and whilst people say they don't see it, or that he's not a good talker I ask, what oppotunity has he got to talk? He was incredible when he was anti-dashing, plus the last real time he had the oppotunity to do so was last year when he was fired. He gave a real heart felt speech about how the McMahons have put his dad in poka dots and how they messed up his brother, I was incredibly impressed.

TL;DR: Push Cody Rhodes as the anti-Bryan. A heel version of Bryan (that doesn't mean have him start chanting "No"). If they can build him the right way, I can see them having an epic rivalry. Lord knows Cody has put in the hours and is prime and ready.

 

[theblasterkid]

Well this is all dependant on wether or not he'll be stripped of the title, which I highly doubt would happen (why would you WANT it to happen, you know if it did it'll just go back to Cena again). If it was me booking it, I would have a tournament in the coming weeks to crown a new champ, then when Daniel is back and ready, he's already in prime position to feud for being the uncrowned champ.

I would also use this oppotunity to majorly push someone who's been overdue a push... Cody Rhodes! With the heel turn Cody has been teasing, I can see him slowly go up the tournament bracket, eventually meet his brother in the tournament and beat him for a place in the final. I've been campaigning for Cody to get a push for a while and whilst people say they don't see it, or that he's not a good talker I ask, what oppotunity has he got to talk? He was incredible when he was anti-dashing, plus the last real time he had the oppotunity to do so was last year when he was fired. He gave a real heart felt speech about how the McMahons have put his dad in poka dots and how they messed up his brother, I was incredibly impressed.

TL;DR: Push Cody Rhodes as the anti-Bryan. A heel version of Bryan (that doesn't mean have him start chanting "No"). If they can build him the right way, I can see them having an epic rivalry. Lord knows Cody has put in the hours and is prime and ready.

I was also thinking tournament as well. It makes perfect sense! Also, I'm agreeing about Rhodes as well. He is impressive and the ring and has had multiple IC title reigns. What more can he do in the mid-card? Rhodes is definitely deserving of a push. He should have won MITB for the WHC instead of Sandow, which was a waste by the way. I understand it was part of Sandow and Rhodes storyline but they wasted the MITB for Sandow to get fed to Cena as well. Interesting enough though, I'm in my first year in 2K14's universe mode and Rhodes won MITB.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Well this is all dependant on wether or not he'll be stripped of the title, which I highly doubt would happen (why would you WANT it to happen, you know if it did it'll just go back to Cena again). If it was me booking it, I would have a tournament in the coming weeks to crown a new champ, then when Daniel is back and ready, he's already in prime position to feud for being the uncrowned champ.

I would also use this oppotunity to majorly push someone who's been overdue a push... Cody Rhodes! With the heel turn Cody has been teasing, I can see him slowly go up the tournament bracket, eventually meet his brother in the tournament and beat him for a place in the final. I've been campaigning for Cody to get a push for a while and whilst people say they don't see it, or that he's not a good talker I ask, what oppotunity has he got to talk? He was incredible when he was anti-dashing, plus the last real time he had the oppotunity to do so was last year when he was fired. He gave a real heart felt speech about how the McMahons have put his dad in poka dots and how they messed up his brother, I was incredibly impressed.

TL;DR: Push Cody Rhodes as the anti-Bryan. A heel version of Bryan (that doesn't mean have him start chanting "No"). If they can build him the right way, I can see them having an epic rivalry. Lord knows Cody has put in the hours and is prime and ready.

I don't have a problem with Cody Rhodes' push or anything but the problem is that there's so much new talent now that it's hard to conceive Cody Rhodes to be suddenly elevated to the World Title picture just because of a tournament. The elevation/growth IMO, should be organic and natural and Rhodes certainly could make a decent contender/world champion because he's already overachieved in the tag team division and he's been the IC title, feuded with a top guy(Randy Orton) and won some matches against him.

There's so much mid-card talent in the WWE right now, with even former WHCs such as Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio either descended into obscurity or holding the mid-card title. With Roman Reigns, Cesaro and Bray Wyatt being the big 3 top superstars to win the WWE WHC in the foreseeable future, John Cena and Randy Orton still having 3-4 solid years as full-timers left, and contenders like Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan always ready to go, it's hard to conceive guys like Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, or Dolph Ziggler to win the WWE WHC anytime soon.

Will Cody Rhodes make an excellent champion even if he were to win it very soon? Sure as hell.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In all honesty, given what's going on with Cena, The Usos, The Wyatt Family, The Shield and Evolution, it's not as if WWE looks to be hurting for star power at the moment. If necessary, they could simply focus on these feuds as they were doing last night for the short term.

As has been pointed out, it all depends upon how serious this issue, whatever it happens to be, regarding Bryan's neck is. Given that they didn't strip the title from him last night and if the reports know what they're talking about, it seems that officials are operating under the assumption that the issue is minor and will only require Bryan to be out a short amount of time. The reports from last night allege that his recovery time MIGHT be short enough that he's back in time for Payback. Another sheer guess on my part is that Bryan's doctors are of the opinion that it's a minor issue and that the surgery will be "minimally invasive", though it's possible that it's more serious than they thought. After his surgery, they'll know more about what's going on and if it's something that'll require extensive time off, I see them officially vacating the title on Monday's Raw.

If that's what happens, personally, I'd consider keeping the title vacant until MITB and hold a big ladder match to crown a new champion in addition to the WWE WHC MITB ladder match. If Cena was to regain the title, pehaps Mr. MITB could cash in immediately and take the title from him. It's a bit of a gamble elevating someone fresh into the top spot, but that's not to say that it couldn't pay off. Besides, I don't think people are drooling over the notion of yet another John Cena reign at this point in time. My guess, and that's all it is, is that most fans would prefer to see WWE at least give it a shot with someone fresh instead of immediately reverting to the "let's just put it back on Cena" strategy. If the new champ falls flat on his face even if he and creative put forth a good effort, at least fans won't be able to say they didn't immediately revert to formula.

 

[TheDarkforce]

If bryan have to give the tittle away, i think kane gonna get it, since he dragged bryan out on the stage, the fued will continue for sure. so when bryan returns he gonna defeat kane to become champ again and ending the fued, just my prediction

 

[laodaron]

The people that carry the show now are the ones that have been carrying it for a long time:

Cena
HHH
The Shield
The Wyatts
Midcarders like Cesaro
Cody Rhodes
etc.

The recent Daniel Bryan story has me doubting that the WWE knew what to do with him once he became champion. That Extreme Rules match was deplorable, and last week's Raw angle with Bryan was just terrible. It's not that he's bad, but just about anything that involved schmozzing in the backstage area is just shit usually.

Hopefully he comes back and gets into a meaningful feud that involves wrestling in the ring.

 

[No Count Pup]

WWE gave a huge hint on Raw when they derailed the Sheamus heel turn. I think they anticipate Daniel Bryan will miss a few months of action. WWE needs to keep Sheamus face in the interim; otherwise their top stars would be too heel heavy.

Sheamus would be the main beneficiary of a Daniel Bryan hiatus. He's on a 7 day hot streak, winning the US Title, defeating Dean Ambrose on Smackdown, and defeating Rybaxel in succession. The fans are getting behind Sheamus and I could see WWE riding that wave for a few months.

 

[L@RISANO]

The people that carry the show now are the ones that have been carrying it for a long time:

Cena
HHH
The Shield
The Wyatts
Midcarders like Cesaro
Cody Rhodes
etc.

The recent Daniel Bryan story has me doubting that the WWE knew what to do with him once he became champion. That Extreme Rules match was deplorable, and last week's Raw angle with Bryan was just terrible. It's not that he's bad, but just about anything that involved schmozzing in the backstage area is just shit usually.

Hopefully he comes back and gets into a meaningful feud that involves wrestling in the ring.

Agreed.

Even though I am not his absolute biggest fan, having him in such an underwhelming program with Kane was bad enough. Making it last beyond Extreme Rules was an even stranger decision on the WWE's part,tbh.

I have a feeling, IF Daniel Bryan is indeed forced to vacate the title, that either of Cena, Batista or Orton will get it, with HHH as the outside chance.

If say, Batista wins it, it could setup a SummerSlam match of Bryan vs Batista for the title, which wouldn't be too bad, and allow Batista a decent length reign on the way, including being the Champion whilst promoting his movie.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I could do without the tournament. I like the Evolution/Shield individual matches leading to a triple threat for the title idea. My only fear is one of the guys from The Shield coming out looking like Ryback from a couple years ago. Although I think that is easily prevented.

So much of this is about timing. Raw will be just fine without the title. It's rarely defended as it is on Raw. Special Events and house shows will be fine ad well for a little while. I'm sure WWE had some thing in their bag of tricks to entertain and entice without the main title.

I'm just curious if they will carry on the Brie storyline without DB there.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

There is so much potential for excitement and incipience right now that one only wants DB to be injured for a couple of months and thereby stripped of the WWE WHC just for the hell of the title scene to be swept away by novelty and uncertainty. Even DB fans have been saying that the post-WM Daniel Bryan feud has been terrible and awful, for a multiplicity of reasons- from their dislike of Kane as a challenger, to the awfulness of the segments to Brie's terrible acting. Nontheless, the match at Extreme Rules was one of the best Kane matches ever and told quite a good "Survival Horror" story.

Now that there is a slight possibility of WWE without a champion and John Cena, Randy Orton, and pretty much all former credible champions are engaged with something, there are so many routes the WWE can take. Personally, I like Jack-Hammer's idea of MITB having a gigantic ladder match for the title as well as the MITB. I like the idea of Shield members facing Evolution in three singles matches even more because it'd be at once predictable and exciting as we'd all know only Roman Reigns to have the potentiality to become champion, and folded into that potentiality, the potentiality of Shield break-up and yet either of HHH, Batista, or Randy Orton could win. There's also the organic quality in 3 former stable mates each failing to dethrone Daniel Bryan and now getting a new opportunity to crown themselves as champions; which yield this story far more plausibility and credibility than crowning a new and untested champion such as Cody Rhodes , or reverting to the same old John Cena , who fortunately is doing very good with the Bray Wyatt feud. Time will tell how they handle this situation.

 

[kumarjtk]

they may push roman storyline with the title. He won the battle royal or tournnament and won the title and became the face of wwe.

 

[Headman]

I don't think you need to have the guys in the WWE title picture carry the show. Cena/Wyatt and Shield / Evolution will continue to be the dominant story lines. They'll probably or should anyway, give the title to Kane. Kane can feud with the likes of Sheamus, Cena maybe Reigns and retain the title due to help from Evolution or the Wyatts until Daniel Bryan returns. It shouldn't be hard to keep Kane busy. Besides, it's not like DB's segments have been carrying RAW anyway. I don't think anyone has been tuning in to watch DB and Brie run from Kane all night.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think that first off Jericho might well now "clear his busy schedule" as there is definitely an opening... 2nd WWE may make a bigger overture to Punk to return...

3rd option is they debut Sting and have him enter the tourney on a "cindrerella" tale... wins it, only to lose it to Brock almost immediately... perhaps Taker interferes, perhaps Brock figures he took Taker out, time to take another legend... either way the title ends up on Brock but Sting's debut papers the cracks...

I can see all of those 3 being a possiblity... but they'd all be wrong...

At this stage the most likely outcome is Bray Wyatt manages to win the the title. He's over enough with the singing and has the potential to "go viral" as the champion and allow him to go head to head with Cena for the big one... that is the time they bring in a new member to make sure the win takes place...perhaps Kane is revealed as part of the masterplan to get the title onto Wyatt... with Kane Wyatt in the fold then there is scope to debut someone like Sting as part of the angle, involve Taker or let some of the other "up and comers" take a crack at beating Wyatt with his 3 monsters...

It's the most logical move right now... Those saying Sheamus... no, if you're gonna do the streak angle, or blood someone other than Wyatt right now... use it for Barrett, get him over as a face having just won the IC and standing up to Kane if they do "hand the title to him"... imagine the reaction if Barrett ruins Steph's plans and then delivers his line...

 

[FlairFan2003]

Does the average fan see Cody Rhodes, a guy who mostly has been a tag team guy or a comedy act, as the #1 star in the company ? I dont think so.

The next champ depends mostly on how long Bryan is out. If this is a pro longed abscence, till late this year or into next year, WWE needs a proven star with a track record to carry the ball, if this is a shorter absence (back by S-Slam if not earlier) then you can hot shot a mid card guy (preferably a heel), allowing a Rhodes, Del Rio, Swagger, Cesaro type a nice bump before Bryan returns and squashes them to regain his belt.

 

[Headman]

Does the average fan see Cody Rhodes, a guy who mostly has been a tag team guy or a comedy act, as the #1 star in the company ? I dont think so.

Everything you just said about Cody can also be applied to Daniel Bryan before last summer.

Anyway, As I said before the WWE champion doesn't have to be the focus of the company this time of year. And Daniel Bryan, despite his crowd reactions hasn't been the focus anyway. There are two other storylines that get equal or more tv time than Bryan/Kane. All the talk about Jericho and Punk is downright silly. There's no need to overreact and start bringing in part timers or cater to malcontents.

It's the most logical move right now... Those saying Sheamus... no, if you're gonna do the streak angle, or blood someone other than Wyatt right now... use it for Barrett, get him over as a face having just won the IC and standing up to Kane if they do "hand the title to him"... imagine the reaction if Barrett ruins Steph's plans and then delivers his line...

As long as he does it without the cape.

 

[Pablo_316]

IF they strip Bryan of the title, I could see the whole Evolution vs. Shield match scrapped. In its place would be a show opening multi-man match to determine a new champ, possibly a battle royal or a triple threat between the Shield.

The winner, most likely Roman Reigns, would not be given the title by order of HHH would first have to face Orton. When Reigns beats Orton HHH still does not award him the title creating the main event of Roman vs. Batista. Immediately following the defeat of Batista, HHH comes out announces that Roman has one more match against HHH. And finnally with the screwjob, HHH claims the WWE Championship again.

With this single night, Roman is a made man with new personal vendetta against HHH as well as establishing a huge match in Bryan vs. HHH at Summerslam.

 

[LBGetBack]

The Shield. They are WHITE HOT. I'm actuslly shocked that WWE has really not made any mistakes and screwed them up. They've done a good job.

The Shield is just as hot as Bryan. Truthfully, they've been carrying the show since Mania, with Bryan being stuck in the crappy Kane feud.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

IF they strip Bryan of the title, I could see the whole Evolution vs. Shield match scrapped. In its place would be a show opening multi-man match to determine a new champ, possibly a battle royal or a triple threat between the Shield.

The winner, most likely Roman Reigns, would not be given the title by order of HHH would first have to face Orton. When Reigns beats Orton HHH still does not award him the title creating the main event of Roman vs. Batista. Immediately following the defeat of Batista, HHH comes out announces that Roman has one more match against HHH. And finnally with the screwjob, HHH claims the WWE Championship again.

With this single night, Roman is a made man with new personal vendetta against HHH as well as establishing a huge match in Bryan vs. HHH at Summerslam.

You just laid out a very good and protracted HHH-Shield storyline but quite frankly, wouldn't it be too similar to "HHH and Authority screws Bryan" ? ; except that Roman Reigns would be actually a bona fide guy(almost like The Rock back in 2000 against McMahon-Helmsley Regime) in contrast to Bryan. Even without the screwjobs, the 3 shield members can face HHH, Orton, and Batista in singles matches, which would then lead to the winners facing in a triple threat, and HHH winning the title. That'd make things more interesting because on one hand, we'd have a pissed of Roman Reigns(with or without the support and friendship of Rollins and Ambrose), and on the other hand, we'd have a disgruntled Orton. They can either choose Roman Reigns vs HHH for Summerslam, or WM XXXI. IMO, HHH should do it now, just one more lengthy title reign because he's only getting older in the future.

 

[Headman]

You just laid out a very good and protracted HHH-Shield storyline but quite frankly, wouldn't it be too similar to "HHH and Authority screws Bryan" ? ; except that Roman Reigns would be actually a bona fide guy(almost like The Rock back in 2000 against McMahon-Helmsley Regime) in contrast to Bryan. Even without the screwjobs, the 3 shield members can face HHH, Orton, and Batista in singles matches, which would then lead to the winners facing in a triple threat, and HHH winning the title. That'd make things more interesting because on one hand, we'd have a pissed of Roman Reigns(with or without the support and friendship of Rollins and Ambrose), and on the other hand, we'd have a disgruntled Orton. They can either choose Roman Reigns vs HHH for Summerslam, or WM XXXI. IMO, HHH should do it now, just one more lengthy title reign because he's only getting older in the future.

It would be a similar angle but with the right guy this time. People like to compare Bryan to Stone Cold for some insane reason, but we know he's really more like Mick Foley. Reigns could be the next legit top guy in this company or he may not be. But in my opinion he's a better long term option than Bryan.