5 Reasons The Shane McMahon vs Daniel Bryan Storyline Is Doomed to Fail

One of the biggest questions on The WWE Universe's mind is whether Daniel Bryan will come out of retirement for one more match at WrestleMania 34 and while the occasion would probably make the annual pay-per-view one of the most viewed in the company's history, it also comes at a price.

Unfortunately for The WWE Universe, that price is what it will do to Daniel Bryan's legacy in the long run and what fans have seen so far isn't painting a good picture of what is to come.

In fact, Dave Meltzer speculated on a recent edition of The Wrestling Observer that WWE was turning Daniel Bryan heel in order to make him less of a draw in the indies.

With that being said and the rumour now out in the open for everyone to see and decide for themselves, here are five reasons why The Daniel Bryan versus Shane McMahon feud is doomed to fail. Whether that actually happens or not remains to be seen and will play out in the weeks leading into WrestleMania 34, but it's definitely going to be interesting to watch.

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#5 Bryan probably won't wrestle

At the time of this writing, Daniel Bryan has not been cleared to compete by WWE doctors and while several other doctors outside of the company have said he can compete, WWE seems to be steadfast in their ways on this one.

Unfortunately for The WWE Universe, this means that no matter what situation is set up in this storyline, fans are going to get a lacklustre or no blowoff.

In fact, it's probably more likely that WWE will have him involved in a match in some way shape or form and have him attack Shane McMahon after tempers boil over. Sure, that will probably lead to him doing his Yes Kicks or even locking McMahon into The Yes Lock, but neither are those worth the things fans are being given now.

With that begin said, a lacklustre payoff is only going to be a disappointing end to a disappointing storyline and could very well help tarnish the legacy of the fan favourite.

#4 Extremely slow build up

It's no secret that the feud between Shane McMahon vs Daniel Bryan looks great on paper, especially if WWE were actually able to do the unthinkable and put Bryan back in the ring one more time, but WWE has seemingly done everything in its power to make this feud unbearable to watch

Of course, a lot of that has to do with the pacing around the feud and while the storyline has definitely had a few interesting moments, they are just so few and far between to really get into the experience. For example, it took almost three months for the storyline to transition from Shane McMahon versus Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to McMahon versus Daniel Bryan.

That wouldn't be too much of a problem if WWE kept the main focus on the title picture in the meantime, but they seem to be making it more and more about Bryan and McMahon. That would work too if WWE wasn't building it up so unbearably show, but with the way things are going right now, it looks like that trend will continue.

In fact, it just seems to be the same thing every week! Bryan and McMahon disagree on something, McMahon backs off and claims he trust Daniel Bryan and then Bryan makes a decision that leaves everyone shocked. Its the same formula, same boring build and it honestly just looks like lazy storytelling at this point.

Again, WWE would be much better off if there was some kind of payoff to it all here, but just watching Owens and Zayn outsmart everyone again and again while Bryan just looks on like an idiot is troubling to watch. Hopefully, WWE changes that before WrestleMania comes around, but things really don't seem like they are going to pick up all that much.

#3 Horrible booking decisions

While The WWE has seemingly been successful in pacifying The WWE Universe with the inclusion of Daniel Bryan in a major storyline, even that cant hide the fact that this is probably one of the worst booked feuds in recent memory and keeps giving fans lacklustre payoffs week after week on Smackdown Live.

Not only is the booking slow, plodding and gives little in the way of payoffs, it also takes away from the realism of the storylines being portrayed. For example, why would Bryan book AJ Styles in a two on one handicap match against Owens and Zayn for The WWE Title? It's horribly unfair for the babyface and also makes Bryan look horrible in the process.

Then there's the fact that Bryan seemingly allowed Owens and Zayn to keep their jobs multiple times, which on the surface seemed realistic due to the fact that Bryan was only trying to protect them for Shane's biases, but to continue to do so after all their shenanigans and blatant manipulation just makes Bryan look absolutely stupid.

Finally, there's the payoff of it all, or in this case, a lack of one. Sure, WWE allowed Zayn and Owens to keep their jobs at Clash of Champions, but only after Daniel Bryan made the save with one of the quickest three counts in WWE history. Not only did that tarnish the payoff of seeing Zayn and Owens either leave or stay on Smackdown live, it also hurt Bryan as well.

With that being said, it seems like any pay off from here on out is going to come at the price of Daniel Bryan's legacy Sure, Zayn or Owens might win The WWE Title from AJ Styles at The Royal Rumble and go on to compete at WrestleMania 34 in the main event, but that is only going to further tarnish Bryan more and more in the meantime.

#2 WWE not taking it seriously

Daniel Bryan, Shane McMahon, — Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan having a discussion backstage.#2 Doesn't seem to be taken seriously

Is it just me, or is WWE failing to take any part of this storyline seriously? In fact, it's almost like WWE wants this storyline to fail in order to make sure Daniel Bryan leaves the company on the lowest note possible before heading to the indies to finish his career. Don't believe me? Let's look at what's transpired so far.

First WWE Creative decided to bring back The Yes Movement, but instead of actually using it to get two top stars like Owens and Zayn over with the audience, its been turned into a joke by being called The Yep Movement. Not only is that incredibly lazy on WWE's part, it just looks like a cheap shot at Bryan and his connection with fans.

Then there's the fact that Bryan is being easily manipulated by Zayn and Owens, which while could just be a plot device in order to allow Bryan to redeem himself later when he turns on Zayn and Owens, its completely out of character for Bryan to fall for something like that and just takes away from the realism of it all.

Is it intentional? Its hard to say on this one, but it should be noted that WWE is making some very questionable decisions here. Booking decisions that not only harm those taking part in it but the entire storyline its self. In the end, its all about realism and being able to immerse yourself in a storyline and that just doesn't float well with most fans.

#1 Turning Daniel Bryan heel

Forget the fact that he probably won't be cleared to compete at WrestleMania 34. Heck! Forget the other three reasons on this list entirely if you want to. The fact of the matter is that this storyline is ultimately doomed to fail because WWE is trying to turn one of their biggest fan favourite superstars heel.

Why WWE would want to do that to someone who has been loyal to the company throughout their career there is just completely beyond me. With that being said, Bryan stacking the deck against Styles with the two on one handicap match and the fact that he has aligned himself with heels speaks volumes to the fact that WWE is trying to turn him heel as well.

In the end, this hot mess of a storyline is doomed to fail on that basis alone and it will be interesting to see how the dumpster fire unfolds. While some might see that assessment as ridiculous and provocative for the sake of being provocative, just look at the reaction Bryan got when he first announced the title match at The Royal Rumble to see just how bad it is.

As someone who watched the Yes Movement storyline unfold live back in 2015, there was no instance during that time period where The WWE Universe wouldn't respond to a 'Yes' chant.

Unfortunately for Bryan, his call for a yes chant after making the announcement of the handicap match on Smackdown Live was met with the most mixed reaction he has ever gotten.

That's not good!

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Edited by Rohit Nath