by Ethan Lewis
The Royal Rumble is tomorrow night and I'm feeling quite doubtful going into it. I'm feeling this way because the popular belief is that Batista will win the Royal Rumble and go on to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. This news has been dissappointing to me. Once again, it looks as if WWE is going to put a veteran who is with the company part time ahead of building a new top star. What new top star do I think WWE could/should build and solidify during WrestleMania season this year? There are many options, but I think the obvious choice for this is Daniel Bryan.
Going into 2014, I still had faith that Daniel Bryan's payoff would come in the new year. I wasn't happy with the way they handled his main event push in the latter half of 2013, but I kept a positive mindset. This hope was crushed when WWE announced that Batista was returning. As soon as this was announced, I knew that Bryan would be pushed to the side.
What I think will happen with Batista returning is similar to what happened with The Rock returning last year to win the WWE Title. As many of you know, I wasn't happy with that decision. Yeah, I understand it from a business perspective. The Rock draws money and ratings just like Batista. My thing is - why can't they at least build him up a bit before handing him the title? I personally think it's a slap in the face to guys who have worked all year with hopes of being the guy that is picked to win the Royal Rumble and headline WrestleMania. Some of you probably tweet me after reading this and say "It makes sense, Batista draws, it's about the money". I know that's why WWE will likely do this, but does that make it right?
WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the game today. They are loaded with money. Don't you think they could spare taking the "money" route for once in favor of building a new star? Can't they go with the charismatic, easy going, hugely popular, outstanding young wrestler instead of the 45 year old guy who hasn't wrestled in several years that likely won't be with the company for an extended period of time?
This column isn't meant to be a jab at Batista, but if WWE keeps giving every opportunity like this to older guys that have already made a name for themselves - how will they ever build new stars? Now would be the perfect time to finally let Daniel Bryan have his run as Champion. You have near three months to build towards it and create a perfect story.
After all of this you are probably thinking "Well how would you book this whole scenario to make it better than what WWE is seemingly going to do?" It's simple. Bryan wins the Rumble despite overwhelming odds. Book Cena to defeat Orton and become Champion. And there you have it, the highly anticiapted rematch between John Cena and Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30. Can Daniel Bryan finally win the WWE Championship? Can John Cena beat Daniel Bryan or will he fall victim to the submission specialist? It would be a huge draw. John Cena and Daniel Bryan are the two most popular wrestlers in WWE today and they put on an outstanding match at SummerSlam. Put them on last at WrestleMania 30, give them 30 minutes to create another classic and in the end Bryan emerges victorious. During the build up to this match, have Cena say the only reason Bryan won at SummerSlam was because Cena was injured. This would make Bryan's win even more meaningful. Cena and Bryan shake hands after the match. Bryan finally accomplishes the impossible. The long journey is finally over and he achieves his dream. He wins the WWE Championship and doesn't get screwed out of it. Plus for storyline purposes, he earns John Cena's true respect. A new star is born and the last image you see as WrestleMania 30 goes off the air is Daniel Bryan standing in the ring with the WWE Championship with a crowd of nearly 100,000 people with their hands in the air chanting "YES!".
Doesn't that sound better than what WWE is most likely going to do? Batista comes back. Wins the Rumble a week later. Faces Orton in the main event of WrestleMania in a mediocre match and wins the title. What does that accomplish? Whoo hoo, it boosts ratings for a bit, but he's not planning to stay in WWE long. Some say he won't even stay until the end of this year. Daniel Bryan will likely be in WWE for years to come and giving him the big push he deserves would be a long term successful investment. So for those of you who say that the best reason for WWE to have Batista win and headline over Bryan is money/ratings/buy rates, what is your response to my argument? Building a new star is a long term investment. Not just a quick jolt of more money and a slight ratings increase. It's not a one time thing, it would be a consistent thing.
Daniel Bryan winning the Royal Rumble and going on to win the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 30 would not only be a long term financial investment for WWE, it would also produce a much better story than a Batista/Orton feud would. John Cena and Daniel Bryan arguably had the feud of the year last year. It was emotionally charged and intense. Their promo battle the week before SummerSlam was epic. Bryan showed how bad he wanted to win the title and how much he loved the wrestling business. John Cena showed why he is the top guy in the company and demanded to have Bryan's respect as a wrestler not an entertainer. They went on to SummerSlam and had a classic match. Then the hype ended as Bryan lost the title to Orton and Cena went out for surgery. They only had one match in their feud so putting Cena and Bryan together again would be still be very fresh. Most definitely more interesting and fresh than a Batista/Orton program.
I don't think there is much else left to say. If this column hasn't already convinced you that now is the time for WWE to give Daniel Bryan his permanent spot at the top, there's nothing else I can say to sway you. Anyone with any knowledge of the wrestling business will understand why I believe this is the right decision. Will WWE do what I've discussed in this article? I doubt it, but as a passionate fan of many years, this is something I had to get off my chest.
Agree? Disagree? Comment what you think about this article or tweet me your opinion on Twitter. My Twitter name is @StylesClashx (twitter.com/StylesClashx)! Thanks for reading and spread the word on this article! I would love to hear your feedback!
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