Where does Daniel Bryan stand right now in the WWE?
After Daniel Bryan was shifted out of the WWE Heavyweight Championship scene and got involved in a rivalry with The Wyatts, it was expected that he would defeat them and restart his run for the title. Nothing like that happened on TLC. Rather, Bryan was dominated for most part of the match. He did build some momentum but ended up on the receiving end of the Sister Abigail.
The way the match ended gave no sign that this rivalry will end anytime soon. Many think that this will delay Bryan’s another run for the title. But, a main event match with Randy Orton on the recent episode of Raw could prove to be a revival of Bryan’s chance of involving in a WWE Heavyweight Championship match soon.
Bryan has been involved in this rivalry with The Wyatts for nearly two months, and at TLC (where it was thought that this rivalry will end) he lost when he had to win. It’s a possible sign that it would only stretch his feud with The Wyatts, a feud which has already placed Bryan outside the title contention. Though, The Wyatts have proved to be great rivals for Bryan, the question that how good this rivalry is for Bryan still remains. Wasn’t he supposed to be the WWE Heavyweight Champion right now? He definitely deserves the title more than Orton, who is behind him in terms of charisma, fan connection and also wrestling abilities. Then, why is he still stuck in this rivalry with The Wyatts?
Backstage politics can be considered a possible cause for Bryan’s present position. We all are aware about the fact that Vince McMahon doesn’t want Bryan to be the face of the company. If we consider the fans, the reason why Vince’s company exists, they will always choose Bryan over Orton as the Champion, but Vince will never care for the fans, he will do what he likes. That’s why we have Bryan all stuck up right now.
Though in his angle with The Wyatts, he was accompanied by CM Punk for a while, but Punk moved on and got involved with The Shield, and Bryan remained stuck with The Wyatts. In fact Punk even won his handicap match against The Shield at TLC. What many considered a possible outcome of this angle, a heel turn for Bryan, never happened. Rather, it couldn’t have happened. If you take a look at the ovation that Bryan got from the Seattle crowd on the Slammy edition of Raw you will understand why Bryan can’t and shouldn’t turn heel.
Truth is that the match at TLC was never in Bryan’s favor, he couldn’t have defeated The Wyatts, who have been built as the most evil and big-sized characters in the WWE, plus it was a 3-on-1 handicap match. So, the odds were never in Bryan’s favor. This defeat is definitely a low for Bryan, and it looks like that this rivalry will continue [at least] until Royal Rumble. But his recent match against Orton which ended with John Cena’s involvement hints at another possibility in the future of the “Flying Goat”.
A triple threat match between these three could also be a possibility for the Royal Rumble. In this case many might fear that Bryan might not be involved in the Battle Royal, but he can participate in both the matches. Even if he continues his feud with The Wyatts and eventually defeats them just before the Royal Rumble, it will build him as a possible winner for the Battle Royal. And if he wins the Battle Royal, he will also end up headlining WrestleMania and lift the WWE Heavyweight Championship at “The Grandest Stage of Them All”.
So, despite whatever feud Bryan is currently involved in, he will eventually rise up and win the WWE Heavyweight Championship sooner rather than later.