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Daniel Bryan is WWE World Heavyweight Champion once again. However, this is not the same Daniel Bryan who won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship more than 4 years ago in the main event of WrestleMania 30.
That Daniel Bryan was the leader of the YES Movement, the ultimate underdog. He was the sympathetic every-man who was being held down by the evil Authority but never took the easy way out and kept fighting for his dream. He was the ultimate babyface and the WWE Universe treated him as such.
But, that was 4 years ago.
This is the New Daniel Bryan. And the New Daniel Bryan, to put it quite bluntly, is a massive jerk. He has turned on the WWE Universe, constantly referring to them as "fickle", constantly low-blows his opponents and uses the environment to shame anyone and everyone.
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What. A. Heel.
The New Daniel Bryan has been a revelation; I never thought that I could ever boo Daniel Bryan again after his WrestleMania 30 win, let alone after he came back from retirement.
But boo him I must, because he is just so darn irritating. Every villain needs a strong hero to oppose him. The problem is that SmackDown Live has a bit of a babyface problem.
So why not bring one of these men over from RAW to face the New Daniel Bryan?
#1 Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins is arguably the hottest babyface on Monday Night Raw.
Now that he has lost the Intercontinental Championship, he really should be in contention for one of the world championships. While facing Brock Lesnar is always an option, WWE could flip the script by having him win the Royal Rumble, and move him over to SmackDown Live to challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.
Seth Rollins looks like a Greek God, is one of the best wrestlers in the entire world, a very good promo, has a unique catchphrase, and is wildly popular with the fans. This is a Superstar who has face of the company potential.
Facing and defeating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 will help him achieve that potential.
#2 Finn Balor
Finn Balor is the first ever WWE Universal Champion. As long as he stays on Monday Night Raw, that is likely to be the only world championship he will win.
Finn Balor looks like a star, carries himself like a star, and the crowd treats him like a star. The only problem is that Monday Night RAW has a heavyweight division including the likes of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley. The one thing those four men have in common? They are absolute behemoths.
Finn Balor, on the other hand, looks positively tiny next to them. He is a very good wrestler, but it is a bit of a stretch to imagine Balor defeating these men on a consistent basis.
Moving over to SmackDown Live changes everything. SmackDown Live has shown us that relatively smaller men are not held back because of their size; they excel. The last two WWE World Heavyweight Champions have been Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. Mustafa Ali and Andrade 'Cien' Almas were prominently featured on last week's episode.
Finn Balor moving over to SmackDown Live to challenge Daniel Bryan would shake-up the entire show. And then maybe, Finn Balor can call himself a World Champion once again.
#3 John Cena
John Cena is arguably the greatest WWE Champion of all time.
He was a consistent draw for more than 10 years. He has main-evented no less than five WrestleManias. He is a former Money in the Bank winner. A former two time Royal Rumble winner. And he has won the small matter of 16 World Championships, tying the two time WWE Hall of Famer, 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair for most World Championships won.
The next logical step is for Big Match John to break the record, and win his 17th world championship.
But a moment like this needs a strong heel champion. A champion like Daniel Bryan. Someone who has the necessary star-power, and will ensure that the match is itself is excellent, but also someone who you really want to see lose.
A moment like this also needs a big stage, the biggest stage possible. And it just so happens that WrestleMania is the Showcase of Immortals.
I know that John Cena is supposed to be filming a movie at the time, but wrestlers have always given wrong information to fans in order to make their returns a bigger surprise (see Jericho). Ronda Rousey was supposed to be out of the country filming a movie when she debuted at the Royal Rumble earlier this year.
So, this match is definitely within the realms of possibility. And if it happens, it will be box office.
Agree? Disagree? Think someone else should challenge Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35? Let us know in the comments below.
