From the WWE Rumor Mill: Why WWE decided to let Daniel Bryan receive a beatdown
What’s the story?
Earlier in the week, SmackDown Live General Manager and former four-time WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan was medically cleared to compete in the ring for the first time since 2015 and upon his official return to the squared circle, Bryan was welcomed back with a brutal beatdown at the hands of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Following Owens and Zayn’s assault, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave his opinion on the particular angle and also seemingly revealed when exactly the WWE creative initially decided to book the particular angle between Bryan, Owens, and Zayn, as witnessed on this week's episode of SmackDown Live.
In case you didn’t know…
As noted, on this past week’s edition of SmackDown Live, GM Daniel Bryan was seen firing two of his top Superstars in Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for their cowardly assault on Commissioner Shane McMahon the previous week.
However, following his massive announcement, Bryan also suffered the same fate as Shane O’Mac, as the notorious duo of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn decided to act as the welcoming committee for the SmackDown GM by assaulting him with a Helluva Kick and a devastating Powerbomb on the apron.
The heart of the matter
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, respected Pro Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer revealed one of the major and sole reasons why Daniel Bryan was seen taking such a major bump in the ring, despite missing out on the action for almost two and a half years.
The sole motive of the angle was to try and make sure that the WWE Universe eventually buys into the act and ultimately get the on-going storyline over with the fans. (H/T: Wrestlingnews.co)
“I don’t think he was out there trying to prove anything but to get an angle over but it does show people that right away… you know everything that he did, it was more than unexpected that he was gonna do.”
Additionally, Meltzer also noted that the WWE creative team had initially decided to book the angle and Bryan's physical involvement just hours before the initial kick-off to this week's episode of SmackDown Live.
“Another funny thing about that is him doing something physical on that show was legitimately not decided until just hours before the show. I mean it was thrown in at the last second. Even when he was cleared there was nothing going on where he was going to do something physical.”
What’s next?
With the recent turn of events witnessed on this week’s SmackDown Live, it looks like the WWE Universe is now all set to witness a mega tag team match between the duo of Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
Author’s take
Daniel Bryan’s powerbomb spot on SmackDown Live was certainly hard to watch, considering the fact that he is already dealing with several neck issues that have prevented him from competing in the ring for all these years.
But, on the other hand, it is great to see Daniel Bryan back in the ring and taking bumps as usual.