Everyone loves Daniel Bryan. And thus Vince hates everyone. The skinny fat vegan indie/IWC darling has been carrying WWE's flagship program every Monday night as of late and in order to get there a great compromise had to be made. Moreoften than not the IWC feels slighted claiming the needs of the younger fans are catered to more so than their own. But in this one particular instance a great compromise was made between Vince's Creative team and dat boy D. Bry's faithful followers and surprisingly everybody won.
Most would agree that the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII was one of the most atrocious things they've ever seen. Daniel Bryan's 17 second loss to Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship was the most disappointing opener to a Wrestlemania I've personally ever seen. Miami played its smart card the following night on Raw however giving rise to the "Yes!" movement, chanting Daniel Bryan's name during other wrestler's matches, and having him shoot appear after Raw was off air to step out and thank the fans for their support. All of that sounds like really good news till you factor in that from a kayfabe standpoint Bryan is supposed to be a heel who received his comeuppance at WM28 for his mistreatment of AJ. Perhaps the WWE Universe is a little desensitized to the heinous exploitation of women (Help us Sara Del-Ray! You're our only hope!) but they didn't buy into it too well and instead passionately cheered Daniel Bryan.
Most would agree that the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII was one of the most atrocious things they've ever seen. Daniel Bryan's 17 second loss to Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship was the most disappointing opener to a Wrestlemania I've personally ever seen. Miami played its smart card the following night on Raw however giving rise to the "Yes!" movement, chanting Daniel Bryan's name during other wrestler's matches, and having him shoot appear after Raw was off air to step out and thank the fans for their support. All of that sounds like really good news till you factor in that from a kayfabe standpoint Bryan is supposed to be a heel who received his comeuppance at WM28 for his mistreatment of AJ. Perhaps the WWE Universe is a little desensitized to the heinous exploitation of women (Help us Sara Del-Ray! You're our only hope!) but they didn't buy into it too well and instead passionately cheered Daniel Bryan.
Creative had to rectify this. Not only was it taking away from the shine of the newly crowed World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus (a big problem for your number two face) but it was diminishing sympathy towards Vince McMahon's soon to be Raw GM. So they hit us where it hurt and took the yes chant. And from their standpoint it was necessary. DB would never be a believable heel if he continuously got that positive pop. So they confused the "yes" term (if I yell "Yes" am I supporting or antagonizing him?) and forced us to pay attention to the direction he was going to be heading towards instead.
The good news is that there was a payoff. Perhaps realizing the grave booking error at WM28 Daniel Bryan has been booked fantastically since then. A great two out of three falls match with Sheamus at Extreme Rules, three matches in a row with Punk, and solid match with Kane at Summerslam and then becoming the tag team champions at Night of Champions. In the midst they gave him entertaining story lines with main-event wresters (that Sheamus wasn't getting I might add) and giving him a chance to shine creatively and show just how good he is on the mic. If the t-shirts keep selling out of every great catchphrase he can come up with Goatface Killah might be hugging it out for cancer this time next year.
Bravo Creative. Well played indeed.
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