How WWE is Burying Daniel Bryan Without Actually Burying Him

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A young wrestler (or one who is relatively new to the WWF/E) with a pretty large fanbase is thrust into the main event scene with an established heel (or face). The young’un pleases his/her fanbase because it looks like the WWE is finally listening to its fans (read: “the IWC”) and doing something that doesn’t involve Cena, HHH, or who-the-hell-ever is the flavor of that decade. This is even if the angle initially involves Cena. This newbie starts winning matches, getting people behind him, and gets placed into some big storylines.

But, then, out of nowhere, this newbie is in every storyline and the “fans” start to revolt, saying things such as “oh, this doesn’t make sense” or “why is he in this storyline, too?” People start getting restless, wanting a resolution to the initial feud, but there are often DQ finishes, new characters placed in the feud, etc.

Enter HHH, Stephanie, Shane, Linda (?) or Vince, ready to add some fire to the storyline–which usually ends with the McMahon-Levesque family taking center stage and still pushing the newbie, but still allowing themselves to bask in glory too. It’s a bit of an unintentional (sometimes) burial that results in everyone scratching their heads. Eventually, fans, smarks, marks, etc., they lose sight of what’s really going on in the storyline and start to focus on mid-upper-card feuds.

It happened with Stone Cold.
It happened with CM Punk.
And, lo and behold, it’s happening to Daniel Bryan.

“Look at Speed, trying to talk about something he has a bit of knowledge on. Stick to rap,” some wrestling fans are probably saying right now. Why? Because Daniel’s still in the main event, he’s still in the top feud of the company, and he has a legitimate shot at walking out Hell in a Cell with the WWE title around his waist. For real real this time, not for play play, like the last couple times.

And while this is true, the Bryan feud, for the “most prestigious belt” in the company, is taking several seats right now. First, we’re dealing with the Rhodes/Shield thing. Then, the Paul vs. Paul feud. Oh, don’t let me forget to mention. Super Cena is back. Granted, he’s in the WHC chase against Del Rio (which could mean that either Cena’s going to help put Sandow over with a MITB cash-in, or that Cena’s going to run Big Blue for a while) so not all hope is lost for Bryan to be the face of the WWE’s A-Brand. But, with so much going on (not to mention current IWC darling Bray Wyatt’s feud with The Miz and the ever-so-sexy AJ Lee returning to action), it’s surprisingly not that hard to forget the Bryan vs. Team “What’s Best For Business” feud.

AJ Ass Gif 2k14 Redux.

And, that, my friends, is how Daniel Bryan is being buried without actually being buried. But, fuck all that for now. Just marvel at AJ Lee’s asscheek being palmed by Layla. Nothing else matters at the moment.