WWE Elimination Chamber: 4 Reasons Daniel Bryan Should Lose His Title

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Heading down the road to Wrestlemania 28, WWE's Showcase of the Immortals is already beginning to take shape.

Despite the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, fans are already penciling CM Punk/Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan/Sheamus into the Wrestlemania title matches for the respective brands.

While the Punk/Y2J feud seems to be progressing nicely, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan haven't even hinted at a potential match, so here are four reasons Daniel Bryan should drop the World Heavyweight title at Elimination Chamber.

There Are Better Feuds for Sheamus.

With Sheamus presumably challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship, one is left to wonder what, other than the title itself, do Sheamus and Bryan really have to fight about? While the opinion that the belt itself is worthy of a feud, there are other competitors with whom Sheamus has established believable bad blood, making for a much more gratifying Wrestlemania showdown.

Sheamus and Randy Orton fought for the WWE Title once at Summerslam in 2010, with Orton winning via disqualification, and The Celtic Warrior's dealings with Wade Barrett are well documented over the last several months, most recently in a tables match on Sin City Smackdown a few weeks ago.

A match between Sheamus and either of these two, or even a Triple Threat match given the clear build for an Orton/Barrett feud, instantly adds some much needed gravitas and animosity, both to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and to the Wrestlemania match that already appears to be playing fourth fiddle.

Daniel Bryan Has Not Established Himself as a Credible Champion.

Daniel Bryan has been the champion for a couple of months now, and in that time I can't think of any time where he scored a clean pinfall or submission victory.

A series of obvious mismatches against The Big Show and Mark Henry were an attempt to establish him as a sneaky, conniving heel, but his recent dream match with CM Punk only served to point out, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his gimmick is not working.

While Punk gets the crowd on his side by claiming to be the best wrestler in the world—and putting on consistently good matches to prove it—Bryan's best shot to get fans to hate him is to tell them that he doesn't eat meat? That he goes on nature walks?

I can't buy him as a successful heel, or as a threat to The Great White, who has been, and will continue to be, on an absolute tear as Wrestlemania gets closer.

Daniel Bryan Can Finally Get over as a Legitimate Heel.

It's time to face facts. AJ is not helping Daniel Bryan get the kind of heat a heel champion needs. What reasons do fans have to hate Bryan that have to do with AJ? He hasn't told her that he loves her? Raise your hand if someone ever told you they loved you when you weren't sure if you felt the same way about them. That's what I thought. To hate Daniel Bryan for not uttering those three little words is to turn our backs on logic.

All he has ever done is be there for AJ, especially when she found herself on the receiving end of a Michael Cole tirade. Coming out to defend the damsel in distress does not, a successful heel, make. How can I hate Daniel Bryan if he's saving AJ from Michael Cole, a far more annoying heel?

If Bryan drops the belt at EC to an established and legitimate heel like Wade Barrett, for example, it has the potential to set a fire underneath him. The man who, at every opportunity, reminds us that he's the World Heavyweight champion all of a sudden finds himself without his beloved title, realizes what his true priorities are, and immediately goes on a mission to get it back by any means necessary.

Fans know he's conniving and devious, but it's hard to accept him as truly vicious. Maybe he starts berating AJ without provocation. Maybe he attacks Superstars without motive, getting more ruthless and intense in each match leading up to Wrestlemania. He ignores the rules and maybe even puts a low-card face out of action for a while, just to prove how seriously focused he is. When the big night comes, Daniel Bryan sets about getting the title back the best way he knows how...

Money in the Bank Needs to Dazzle on the Grandest Stage.

With his heel status firmly cemented, Daniel Bryan enters the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second year in a row, instantly providing a spark for the match in its return to Wrestlemania. His recent streak of brutality manifests itself, as he uses the ladder to its fullest extent, punishing his opponents without mercy.

I'm not saying he has to win the match. I'm saying that he needs to do what he hasn't been able to do in his entire reign as champion before or since Raw's clash of champions: put on a show. He needs to remind people why he deserves to be in the main event picture. He really is a great wrestler. The only thing that has ever been lacking is his character.

Dropping the belt at Elimination Chamber is the first step toward establishing himself as a believable heel, setting up angles for the next few months, and becoming a multiple time champion in the future.