WWE: Total Divas Rules, Daniel Bryan's Recovery & Brock Lesnar vs. Who at WM31?

Total Divas Rules

The current season of Total Divas is not short on drama, and it is wonderful to see the compelling personalities in the WWE Divas division carve their own place in the entertainment landscape and prove they have what it takes to engage television audiences. Total Divas is as good or better than any reality show on the air. The stakes are always high, as no less than marriages and careers are in constant jeopardy.

For example, on the Oct. 5 telecast, Cameron—who had just made the decision to leave the main WWE roster to go back to developmental to hone her craft—had to put her career on hold to do a “scared straight” intervention when her teenage brother fell in with a thug crowd. Last season saw Brie Bella convince her sister Nicole about the benefits of sustainable farming, a slice-of-life moment that was worth a thousand PETA shock ads.

On its own, Total Divas is addictive entertainment, whether one is subscribed to the WWE Network or not. For wrestling fans, of course, to look at WWE from the other side of the mirror adds a fun, new dimension to the company's established programming.

Daniel Bryan (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap!) Daniel Bryan

To that point, the Oct. 5 episode also showed some candid moments between the Bellas and Brie's husband, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan.

After a year of baffling creative ups and downs, WWE listened to the “Yes” chants, and Bryan won the championship in storybook fashion at WrestleMania 30. Happily ever after was not to be, however, as real-world surgeries and an uncertain return date forced Bryan to relinquish the championship and let his body heal.

Part of that healing process is being played out on Total Divas. During the Oct. 5 show, while Bella and Bryan were at dinner, Bryan dropped his silverware, the result of a shock of pain visible in his face.

Despite a successful neck surgery this past May, the bad medical news keeps pouring in, as doctors are uncertain about the cause of Bryan's pain. With this diagnosis in mind, the former champion wants to set a holistic path to recovery, while his wife and in-laws express concern that the medical establishment might be the more expedient path back to a WWE ring—and maybe even a safer one, citing Steve Jobs' fateful decision to solely use holistic medicine in the vital, early stages of his cancer battle.

As a selfish wrestling fan, I would like to see Bryan back in the ring as soon as possible, but, as the man himself clearly stated on the Oct. 5 broadcast, the decisions regarding the recovery of his body must ultimately be his own—as it should be for every one of us.

Who Can Beat Brock at WrestleMania 31?

Whenever Daniel Bryan returns full-time to a WWE ring, it will be a success story. From a storyline perspective, though, the ideal return would be to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.

The Undertaker had been undefeated at WrestleMania for a generation until last year, when the former UFC Heavyweight Champion pinned the Deadman in the center of the ring with a clean 1-2-3.

Coming off that historic victory, and with his boastful, irritating advocate Paul Heyman at his side, Lesnar had been booked to be the dominant force in WWE. And the man lives up to his billing. Lesnar and Cena did not have a match, so much as a mugging, at Extreme Rules 2012. By my count, Cena only offered three moves of offense, one of which was the desperation move of clocking Lesnar with a chain.

Watch the reactions from the normally raucous Chicago crowd when Lesnar walks around ringside mid-match, and you will witness people shut up and recoil in fear. That kind of mystique cannot be taught. And this match happened prior to Lesnar beating The Undertaker.

Like St. George to the Dragon, like David to Goliath, who better to slay the Lesnar-Beast-who-beat-The-Streak than the all-too human Daniel Bryan, who walked a long, broken road of recovery to reclaim the championship that was stripped from him?

Time will tell when Bryan's return ultimately will be.

With the year winding down and Lesnar retaining the title after pay-per-view encounters with the industry's No. 1 star, John Cena, it seems unlikely Lesnar will be losing the WWE Championship before WrestleMania 31, an event the WWE Universe is already clamoring for.

The Rock's surprise one-off on the Oct. 6 Raw had fans speculating if it meant a Rock appearance at WrestleMania. As of this writing, a poll conducted by ProWrestling.net shows 40 percent of fans think he will.

A week prior, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross conjectured on his blog that the event's card is already in need of starpower, suggesting/appealing to the retired CM Punk and WWE to open talks.

Not that I am getting my hopes up, but a Punk return would certainly be an intriguing and potentially explosive scenario, a chance for fans to properly say goodbye to Punk, and—if the Punk/Lesnar 2013 Summer Slam encounter is any indication—produce an almost guaranteed great match.

Part of the reason for Ross' statement was that the star WWE was building, Roman Reigns, has been sidelined following an emergency surgery.

WWE loves their beefy superstars like Reigns, and they will push them to the moon. Some experiments work better than others. In 2002, a rookie Lesnar became the youngest WWE Champion at the time, but he got burned out by the business, headlining WrestleMania 19 but leaving after WrestleMania 20.

Bobby Lashley did not have any personality, and he failed to connect with the audience despite being shoved down fans' throats in high-level feuds involving Vince McMahon. Batista had personality in spades, and his ability to express and evoke emotion kept him at the top of the card. Had his 2014 return not been at the perceived expense of Daniel Bryan, fans might have embraced him again rather than malign him.

John Cena is recognized as being one of the hardest-working Superstars today, and his off-the-charts ability to connect with audiences and draw response is undeniable. When WWE had to change their ratings to accommodate the multitude of young fans Cena was bringing, and continues to bring, to WWE, it is little wonder Hall of Famers such as Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and Steve Austin endorse him.

At this point in his career, Reigns, to me, is not displaying an “it” factor, so much as WWE keeps telling me he has one with his booking in the later Shield matches, where Reigns was pushed to look like the de facto leader. As we saw with Lashley, WWE can book anybody to look dominant, but, to this viewer, there was a disconnect in Reigns' performance, that of someone given a role versus someone who brought that role out of themselves.

By contrast, I think Reigns' Shield cohort Seth Rollins was burning with potential, and he already possesses the mark of experience in his presence. He reminds me of a young Triple H, but with an aerial move set. Their partner, Dean Ambrose, is currently connecting with the WWE Universe like some insane mash-up of Steve Austin and Mick Foley.

Compared to such vibrant personalities, and considering WWE's track record, the decision to push Reigns seemed to be based purely on appearance. One would think after the career success of Jake Roberts, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy, Lita, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, WWE would not fall back on the muscle beach trope so much, and actually believe that wrestling fans want to cheer for the superstars they most connect with, regardless of looks.

While I am certain WWE could have manufactured an enjoyable story about a monster like Reigns taking down the Beast, it would also have felt like the path most traveled. Unexpectedly, Ambrose now stands as the freshest babyface in WWE today, the kind who will keep swinging no matter how much you beat him down—a trait perfect for anyone unlucky enough to suffer Lesnar's wrath.

Ambrose might not have been the former Shield member WWE had in mind to main event big pay-per-views, but Steve Austin was not WWE's first choice to win the 1996 King of the Ring, and that turned out pretty OK, to say the least.

There are many remarkable talents on the roster, all with WWE World Championship potential. Cody Rhodes 100 percent dives into and has made a success of every gimmick presented to him, from the Legacy prat, to the disfigured maniac, to himself, and now as a starchild.

Like his father and brother before him, the crowds want to cheer for Cody—as indicated by the response to the Rhodes' family victory over the Shield (Battleground 2013), one of the most emotional moments in recent pay-per-view memory. Imagine the crowd response if Lesnar injured Goldust, and Cody, with Goldust in his corner, avenged his brother at the Showcase of the Immortals.

Former “Heyman guy” Cesaro could have a fun storyline with Lesnar because he never seems intimidated, and intimidation is what the Beast is all about. The Swiss Superman versus the Beast Incarnate would be an epic, hard-hitting encounter. Maybe we should just have this match, anyway, regardless of venue.

Finally, though, since, as Gorilla Monsoon often reminded me through the television airwaves, “Anything can happen in WWE,” is it out of the realm of possibility that Olympic gold medalist and current free agent Kurt Angle could return to the company, especially in light of the rumored negotiations between the two? Angle has stated that the next professional wrestling contract he signs will likely be his last.

From a storyline perspective, it does not appear anyone on the roster—including the oft-unbeatable John Cena—can defeat Lesnar.  It has to be someone from the outside, someone who has a storied history with Lesnar, who wants to avenge a WrestleMania 19 main event championship loss and is possibly the only man Lesnar fears—Kurt freaking Angle.

From a real-world perspective, Angle's wrestling career is admittedly on the wane, and there is symmetry, if not poetry, in ending his sports-entertainment career where it began.

The simple fact is that WWE is the biggest and best wrestling promotion in the world. Yes, they've expanded and diversified into being a global-content provider, but the bread and butter will always come down to what happens in that 20x20 ring. Angle is one of the best to have ever stepped foot in that ring, and the best is where he belongs, especially if he knows it will be to say goodbye.

But the real world is often more unpredictable than the one created for storylines. An off-the-cuff exchange of words between Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker at UFC 121 did more to generate excitement in a confrontation between the two than any of the storyline lead up to their actual WrestleMania 30 match.

The WrestleMania 31 field is open, and as of this writing, uncertainty is the only certainty. Can Bryan or Reigns heal in time to enter the “grandest stage of them all”? Will Ambrose, or perhaps a dark horse like Cody Rhodes, take the torch, rather than wait for it to be passed? Will an expat like Punk or Angle make a stunning return and then say goodbye?

I cannot wait to see.