One month in to 2014 and people the world over are still in the midst of starting/failing their new year’s resolutions, planning holidays, starting new jobs, moving away, etc. In arguably what is the most depressing month of the year I like to think of January as a reflection period and look back at what the previous year had to offer. In wrestling terms you could argue that no one had more to offer the entire industry than current WWE standout Daniel Bryan.
Formerly on the company’s endangered species list (and once even fired) Bryan excelled in 2013 and got more over than he ever has in his entire career and did it all through sheer hard work, fantastic wrestling and creating a character that audiences found so damn amusing they simply had to chant along with him. It’s for that reason that in this writer’s opinion Daniel Bryan should be the most logical choice for the winner of the 2014 Royal Rumble match.
As it currently stands Bryan’s chances of even being in the Royal Rumble match aren’t fantastic as he was recently diagnosed with a concussion and the rumours flying around the internet are that he won’t be in the Rumble match itself but will compete against Wyatt family head honcho Bray Wyatt. Given how easy it is to access information in this day and age WWE has previously changed booking plans on the fly even when they made no sense at all (Matt Hardy turning heel on Jeff Hardy at the Royal Rumble 2009 as opposed to a returning Christian getting the role) just to keep fans on their toes.
In an ideal world Bryan’s up in the air status could turn out to be a gigantic swerve and WWE may be purposely trying to mislead their audience to the point they don’t believe there’s any chance of Bryan appearing in the Rumble bout at all. After all they purposely have lied about the extent of John Cena’s injuries time and again and without question there is no one hotter in the entire company right now than Daniel Bryan.
The show closing angle of Raw on January 13th featuring Daniel Bryan breaking free from the clasp of the Wyatt clan is one of the runaway highlights of Raw in the last several years and the noise of the crowd was absolutely deafening.Not since one of the most celebrated era’s of all time, the Attitude Era, have we heard such a unanimous roar of approval for a single WWE superstar where each and every single fan in that building was on their feet chanting YES as loud as they possibly could. In what could become a career defining moment ironically enough Bryan’s memories of the night are shady as he suffered the concussion in that bout. What a shame that was but since then the wrestling masses have rallied together to let the former independent standout know exactly how incredible a moment it was by bombarded him with messages and tweets of their approval.
That moment proved that without question that, unlike as WWE has previously thought, it’s not just the “internet” fans that love Daniel Bryan it’s the whole fan base of WWE. Women, children, teenagers and men were ALL on their feet for the guy. Leading in to this year’s Royal Rumble based on that moment alone Bryan deserves to win the match. However it’s not just for that reason. He has consistently put on incredible matches and has won over worldwide.
In the current climate where it’s more common than ever for WWE to bring in a big name for a big buy rate such as Batista, Brock Lesnar, The Rock and even The Undertaker the time is now to really launch Bryan’s career. The attitude’s of yesterday where he was deemed too small, an internet darling, etc are gone. Building for the future is the most prioritised mission of WWE right now and with CM Punk contemplating retirement, John Cena getting a few more years and mileage on the body clock there is no better option than Bryan. WWE did a damn good job with the start of his big push last year which culminated in a great WWE title match against John Cena at Summerslam but a not so great title reign which saw Bryan lose his feud with newly heel turned Randy Orton and slide down the card after.
If WWE were to fully get their weight behind Daniel Bryan this time and not just for the start of his push but to push him so forcefully that he remains over he could easily be a top level main event guy for years to come. More over WWE and professional wrestling fans as a whole are ready to embrace him as a top level guy. Just imagine the scenes of jubilation of Daniel Bryan getting a clean win over a John Cena/Randy Orton level guy in the main event of Wrestlemania 30 after defying the odds and winning the Royal Rumble 2014 with a concussion. The 70,000 plus fans in New Orleans, Louisiana would be on their feet chanting YES in ways we’ve never seen before. WWE has the story readymade. They just have to write it now and surely a Daniel Bryan sustained push is what’s best for business?
– By Matt Roberts | @matrob90
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