I have discussed this at least 20-30 different times over the past year and a half to various people, so I figure I might as well go ahead and type this up. To be quite honest, I was inspired by Jim Cornette’s guest booker style discussion on his podcast following the Royal Rumble 2015 event, where he pitched his ideas on how to “save” WrestleMania without Daniel Bryan in the actual title match.
My personal problem with WrestleMania XXX was that WWE pushed Daniel Bryan too hard and too fast within the span of ONE evening just to cater to the fans’ demands and out of fear of potential fan outrage. Seeing the extent of his injuries currently and possible retirement, I think his health concerns could be different today if WWE played out things a bit more carefully.
I’m going to play this out with two possible outcomes and endings that possibly won’t satisfy both ends of the IWC (internet wrestling community) but I’m saying it anyway for reference to anyone else who asks me how I would have booked this storyline.
1. Triple H def. Daniel Bryan and moves onto Triple Threat Match in Main Event for WWE World Heavyweight Championship versus Batista and then champion Randy Orton
a. OPTION #1 – Vince McMahon names Daniel Bryan as Special Guest Referee
Most people will argue this point right away as this was “supposedly” Daniel Bryan’s year to win the “big one” at the grandest stage of them all, but he could also win in a different way and get the last laugh on the Authority by preventing Triple H or Randy Orton to win the title and allow Batista (who returns to being a babyface) go over as champion. That way WWE’s plan to market Batista alongside Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie premiere as their resident champion like The Rock the previous year doesn’t plan out.
Daniel Bryan gets a “win” over the Authority, WWE gets what they want by putting the gold on Batista, and it also gives the Authority something to work with post-WrestleMania after this. They could follow up with “punishing” Bryan, Triple H and Randy Orton could still chase the title, or the Authority could take their frustrations on the entire WWE Universe for laughing at their shortcomings.
b. OPTION #2 – Vince McMahon names Daniel Bryan as 4th participant, making this match into a Fatal 4 Way Match after the Authority’s foul play in the previous match
This could go one of four ways.
i. Daniel Bryan wins – Fairy tale ending and feel good moment of the year (up to this point)
ii. Randy Orton retains – Worst possible outcome IMO. This was one of Randy Orton’s stalest runs as main event champion. Continuing that title reign would lose more viewers than than they already lost by pissing off their fanbase at Royal Rumble.
iii. Batista wins – The IWC would be mad at first but then they would “deal with it.” The lesser of two evils if you think about it.
iv. Triple H wins – Here’s the one that very few people would see coming, much like The Game’s win against Sting in his WWE debut a year later. Sadly, this would be the one that most people would complain about MORE than Batisat winning to be quite honest. In terms of continuing the Authority angle and adding more heat/hatred to the stable, you almost HAVE to go with this option. Why? I’m going to explain below…
2. Daniel Bryan def. Triple H and moves onto Triple Threat Match in Main Event for WWE World Heavyweight Championship versus Batista and then champion Randy Orton
a. OPTION #1 – Vince McMahon or the Authority injects Triple H into the main event to make match into a Fatal 4 Way Match as a clear abuse of power for more heat
The outcomes are the same as above, but let’s go with the option I personally would have gone with – Triple H wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Why, you ask?
Just imagine the promos from Stephanie McMahon rubbing it into our faces each and EVERY week that her husband is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I would tolerate Triple H as champion for a few months just for Stephanie’s promos from the matter. Steph and Paul Heyman would have a field day between bragging rights to ending the Streak and HHH’s being champion. Love or hate her, but Stephanie McMahon is marvelous to watch at her craft as a heel.
Then think of it – if Daniel Bryan still wasn’t cleared or healed enough for Summerslam, WWE could have properly built Summerslam around Brock Lesnar vs. the Authority, with Paul Heyman serving as the Beast Incarnate’s mouthpiece (as usual) and Stephanie McMahon does the bulk of the Authority’s promos until Triple H decides it’s appropriate for him to weigh in. This is a bit of foresight, but I have a feeling that’s going to be a pending storyline in the near-future anyway.
On top of that, here’s the business reason why I would go with this route. Let’s be serious here. Daniel Bryan worked his ASS off in WrestleMania season. His wedding was the week after WM30, so it would appropriate for him to take the time off and enjoy his time with his new bride/wife. It was well-deserved. It would be perfect PR move to show WWE’s skeptics and critics that CM Punk was wrong yet again and they do take care of their employees with well-deserved time off/breaks.
Everyone tends to lean with the opinion that everyone would “forget” or “not care” about Daniel Bryan if he took time off. Look at present day. They didn’t keep him off TV to recover and recuperate from his injuries and he’s looking to be too banged up to even continue wrestling. Truth be told, Daniel Bryan and his fans are looking at the scary reality of his pending forced retirement like Adam Copeland AKA “The Rated R Superstar” Edge. Daniel Bryan could have stepped away while the Authority continued to brag about HHH’s big win and continue to garner heat until either they continued their plan with Brock Lesnar at Summerslam to take the strap or allow Daniel Bryan to take the title off Triple H at that event. While I personally wouldn’t recommend a Brock Lesnar match for Daniel Bryan for the sole reason of Lesnar’s stiff, hard-hitting style, they could have still kept that plan alive too to keep Brock as champion until WrestleMania 31 as they originally intended. Once again, Bryan could have been kayfabe hurt during the match (i.e. The Undertaker at WM30 or John Cena at Summerslam 2014) and WWE offered him with more time off.
Fast-forward to the Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan enters as a surprise entry (without ANY announcement) and wins it – instead of going into that messy Roman Reigns situation that we got this year.
b. OPTION #2 – Match remains unchanged. Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton for WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Fairy tale ending to WrestleMania 30 that we know in history, with Bryan winning the gold, but here’s where the similarities end.
On the following night of Monday Night RAW where Triple H injects himself into a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Daniel Bryan, the reunited “Evolution” would help Triple H win the gold to write Daniel Bryan off television for that aforementioned break above.
We can still have Stephanie McMahon rubbing it in our faces that her husband is the champion for the weeks to come while WWE keeps things moving.
WWE could follow this up with their Evolution (after Batista and Orton take the Tag Team Titles) vs. Shield feud as planned as they are the only ones willing to stand up for “justice” against the Authority. Once again, you can still factor Brock Lesnar’s return into the equation as well as Daniel Bryan getting payback after his extended vacation.
On top of all of that, you would be able to tie in the Bella Twins’ feud with Stephanie McMahon into the mix for Summerslam as well. C’mon, Brie vs. Steph AND Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? If that’s not good enough, throw John Cena into the mix after Nikki Bella’s “betrayal” to her sister to side with Stephanie as the devil on Cena’s shoulder, urging him to go heel – even though we know it won’t happen but it would make for some great segments, matches, and overall dynamics. Then eventually this could revolve full circle and pull the feuding Paige and AJ Lee onto the same page against the combined efforts of Stephanie, Nikki Bella, and another Diva aligned with the Authority against AJ Lee, Paige, and Brie Bella.
Looking for #GiveDivasAChance? Well there you go… Don’t worry I’m going to tackle that topic in an entirely different article altogether.
Ugh, we don’t get great storytelling like this anymore… The hype alone would’ve sold ALL of those matches and built off each other.
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