WWE: Is Daniel Bryan the next Ryback?

Daniel Bryan

You can only have a man lose so many times, before people start to get tired of seeing the beloved hero get knocked down time and time again at the hands of the villain. Since winning the WWE title at Summerslam, WWE has done just that by ruining his chances of winning the title, and his more than ten mouth super push.

The first incident occurred after Daniel Bryan defeated top WWE baby face, John Cena, at Summerslam. Just as Bryan began to celebrate the culmination of his momentous push, Money in the Bank briefcase holder, Randy Orton, made his way the ring ready to challenge the newly crowned Champion.

Bryan promptly accepted the challenge from Orton, only to fall victim to a vicious pedigree from Triple H, who served as special guest referee in the initial championship match against Cena. The sudden heel turn by Triple H sent shockwaves through the arena, as a devious Orton quickly cashed in his briefcase and covered Bryan for the quick victory.

The next night on Raw, Bryan was subjected to a vicious verbal thrashing by Stephanie McMahon, who tried to apologize for her husband’s decision at Summerslam the night before, but that he was still only a B plus player and not capable of being the face of the WWE. Bryan didn’t take to kindly to the thinly laced insults, telling Stephanie McMahon that he could be described with a word that started with the letter B.

What happened next was a all out explosion of yes chants throughout the arena, as Bryan was detained by security and escorted out of the building, per Stephanie McMahon’s order. This segment really started to solidify Bryan as a Stone Cold Steve Austin type hero in the WWE, but of course the push was again buried, as Bryan fell victim to countless onslaughts in the coming weeks by The Authority, The Shield and Randy Orton.

Bryan’s burying continued at WWE Night of Champions, where he battled valiantly, but once again came up short due to The Authorities devious deeds against the former World Heavyweight Champion. Just as it looked like Bryan would secure his victory over Orton by hitting his signature running knee, the finish was plagued by a controversial fast three count that would put the winner of the match in question.

The controversy boiled over the next night on Raw, as Triple H stormed to the ring in the opening segment and stripped Daniel Bryan of his newly won title. Tempers continued to rise as Orton, who was the victim of the fast three count the night before, made his way to the ring and gave Bryan a vicious RKO right as Triple H ripped the title out of Bryans hands.

Triple H then announced that the WWE title would be held in abeyance until the upcoming pay per view, BattleGround, where he would again face Randy Orton for the title. This decision alone wasn’t the defeating blow to Bryan’s push as a top guy in the WWE, but it certainly began to make fans weary of if Bryan could be a legitimate main event superstar for the company.

Things didn’t get much better from there, as Bryan was subjected to ambush after ambush by The Authority, even receiving a K.O punch from a emotionally torn Big Show, who was ordered by Stephanie McMahon to do her bidding. Over the next few weeks, Daniel Bryan mounted momentum with wins Over The Shield and few moral victories over the Authority, but fell victim to countless ambushes and beat downs from Randy Orton and The Authority as well.

The intensity of the feud reached a fever pitch on the final Raw before the BattleGround Pay Per View, when a verbal segment between Orton and Bryan turned into a fight, as Bryan was violently beaten around the ringside area, before finally being RKO’d through the announce table . The assault left Bryan beaten and motionless, as his fiancée, Brie Bella, ran to ringside to comfort her man.

The idea to involve Brie Bella in the storyline was a great way to get Bryan over even more as a top baby face in the company, and even helped Brie somewhat solidify herself as a believable face within the company. The only issue with the ending was, again having Bryan on his back after being beaten down by Orton in a vicious manner.

Fate reared its ugly head again at the Battleground pay per view, where Daniel Bryan was once again screwed out of the title by fuming big Show, who interfered in the match and knocked Orton, Bryan, and referee Scott Armstrong, out with his vicious K.O Punch.

Ryback

The match was quickly ruled a no contest, and the title and was vacated until Hell In A Cell next month. That decision not only help to further bury Bryan’s push as a WWE frontrunner, but also was a screw job for many fans in the WWE Universe, who were looking to see a new champion crowned at BattleGround.

This horribly scripted screw job continued the next night on Raw, as Brad Maddox, who was blamed by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H for the controversy the night before, announced a fan vote on the WWE app to determine the special guest referee for Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton’s rematch at Hell In Cell.

After an evening of pointless campaign speeches from the three candidates selected for the special guest referee spot, it was eventually announced that Shawn Michaels won the most votes on the WWE App, and later promised that the WWE would have a newly crowned champion at Hell In Cell.

By this point, the WWE Universe was in limbo concerning Bryan’s chances at the Hell In Cell pay per view. On one hand, Michaels was the very man that mentored and trained Daniel Bryan, but on the other hand, Michaels’s best friend was still Triple H. The man whose only concern was what’s best for business.

In many fans’ minds, this would be Bryan’s last chance at the title. This would be the match that would ultimately determine if the WWE was just burying him and building up Orton for the coming months, or if the WWE finally believed in Daniel Bryan, and was ready to solidify his push as a superstar and face of the WWE.

Before the big match at Hell in a Cell, Bryan and Orton would meet in the ring one last time for a contract signing to make the match official on Sunday. Although the contract signing appeared to be a gimmick to get the WWE Universe excited about the upcoming Pay per View, it also shed the light on what Triple H and the company really thought about Daniel Bryan and his potential as a main event superstar.

During the contract signing, Triple H responded to Bryan’s request for him to trade in his suit and tie for some wrestling gear and take him on himself, by telling Bryan he would only suit up to take on a true star, not a B plus player. The barrage continued, as Triple H told Bryan, if people like Edge, Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam became the face of the company, that everyone would be working for Ted Turner right now.

As if that wasn’t enough to derail the already slowed down Daniel Bryan train, Triple H also responded to a comment by Randy Orton about Shawn Michaels plotting against him, saying that at the end of the day Shawn would do what was right. the question was, the right thing for who?

Unfortunately, The WWE Universe got their answer to that question at Hell In a Cell, where Bryan was once again deprived of the title in bizarre fashion. The chaos began when Bryan accidently pushed Orton into Michaels, who then fell to the mat unconscious. Triple H, who was at ringside for the main event, quickly demanded to be let into the cell so he could get medical help for his longtime friend.

As Triple H and the medical staff attempted to get inside the cell, Bryan nailed Orton with a vicious running knee, and then went over to his old mentor to try to wake him and get the three count. Upon entering the cell Triple H tossed Daniel Bryan aside and attended to his longtime friend.

This move angered Bryan, who with help from the WWE Universe, dialed up another running knee, this time to The face of The Game. As the WWE Universe erupted in applause for their hero, Michaels regained consciousness and saw his best friend knocked out on the mat. Then in one split second, nailed Bryan with Sweet Chin Music, and then waited for Orton to cover him for the three count and the win.

The loss not only effectively buried the ten month super push of Daniel Bryan, but also killed his momentum as a future main event competitor. We can now put Bryan in the same category as Ryback, who had also received a main event push in 2012, and again in 2013, but was just used to put superstars that the company did believe in.

Now, like Ryback, Bryan will be forced back to lower-card status, and will be put in meaningless storylines that fans won’t really care about. And why should they? No amount of mid-card opponents will ever make up for the fact that Bryan couldn’t get the win when it counted.

After his monumental push over the past year, it will remain to be seen if Daniel Bryan can climb the corporate ladder again and make another legitimate claim to the title. Ryback did receive a second push back in May, when he challenged top baby face, John Cena, but like his three month feud with CM Punk back in October, he came up short time and time again of winning the companies top prize.

Is Daniel Bryan the next Ryback? Should Daniel Bryan leave The WWE due to their misuse of his potential? Are you happy with his new feud with The Wyatt Family?