WrestleMania XXX: A Batista win would make Daniel Bryan even more relevant
WrestleMania XXX
WrestleMania 30 is scheduled to take place in New Orleans on April 6th. The biggest stage of them all is set to have a triple threat main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between the current Champion Randy Orton, a returning animal Batista and the winner of the match between WWE COO Triple H and Goat faced top star Daniel Bryan. With all other superstar except Bryan being heels, Bryan would be backed strongly to atleast compete if not win the title at the Mania.
The announcement of Daniel Bryan potentially wrestling twice at WrestleMania XXX en route to a WWE World Heavyweight Championship was a fan-friendly decision. Given the stipulation, however, Bryan becoming a WWE World Heavyweight champion now seems like a formality. WrestleMania has suddenly lost its unpredictability and true passion. WWE has now simply set up the expected final scene of Daniel Bryan and 70,000 of his friends chanting, “Yes!”
Even before the screwing up from Triple H at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan had been heavily over with the crowd. The Yes! and No chants had filled most of the arenas and many of the fans have been patiently waiting for their pay offs by seeing Bryan with the titles. Therefore, when after Royal Rumble, the proposed match for the championship was not having Daniel Bryan involved, it caused a lot of furor among the fans.
The mere thought of Batista and Randy Orton in the WrestleMania XXX main event incited vitriol among Daniel Bryan fans to the point where the potential reaction to that match itself made the main event intriguing. That fury will be inevitably muted with fans getting what they want. Once they get their anticipated payoff, Bryan’s status as a lovable underdog will all but evaporate.
Bryan’s underdog journey, which is the source of his overwhelming support, could not help but become revitalized should Batista win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Bryan’s character had a lot of intrigue primarily because of the fan support and the underdog persona which was felt after repeated screw ups and beat downs from the authority.
If Batista was to win the title though, it would extend the Bryan character as well. Batista, without question, is the top heel in the WWE. He is a person who draws strong reactions from the crowd and is the perfect enemy to the hard working and the deserving Daniel Bryan. While the supporters of Bryan cry foul about the part timers coming in for the glory, Batista can easily count on his physique to comment on Bryan. Batista draws angry, resentful, passionate heat.
Batista has absorbed every iota of anger from fans as a result of Bryan’s mistreatment. For every loud “Yes” chant, there are even louder “Bootista” chants. He is the perfect heel—both physically and from a storyline perspective of a hand-picked, muscle-bound stud who fits the traditional mold of a champion—to be chased by Bryan.
Imagine the pure hatred that would fill the New Orleans Arena the night after WrestleMania if Batista strutted in his skinny jeans as champion. That’s the type of spectacle that enhances the live viewing experience while keeping fans tuned in to see justice served. Justice or not, the diehard fans who support Bryan will continue to tune in regardless.
Legitimate fan sentiments, for better or worse, are what keep the Batista-Randy Orton-Daniel Bryan-Authority storyline interesting. With a WrestleMania coup de grace for Bryan, everything ironically returns to status quo. A happy ending for Daniel Bryan means there will be an ending. The end of an uprising. The end of the good fight. The end of an underdog. Probably a low point in the Yes! movement too.
It would therefore be very intriguing to see how the main event of the WrestleMania 30 fares out. If WWE do go with a heel champion, Bryan can only but profit in getting all the fans sentiments thereafter.