WWE Extreme Rules 2012: Will Daniel Bryan Earn Even One Fall over Sheamus?

Honestly, there was not a lot of good that came from SmackDown being live this week.

As I have discussed many times, the viewer rating sank. The quality was very poor, and now the wrestling week is over with many days to go before the next starts.

However, there was one bright spot.

Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and A.J. will continue their feud. It was not much of one before WrestleMania, so it definitely makes sense to keep it going.

WWE announced a World Heavyweight Championship match for Extreme Rules in two weeks. Sheamus will defend this title against Bryan in a two-out-of-three-falls match.

Of course, A.J. is likely to be hanging around ringside.

I like this idea for a few reasons.

First, it is something different from the main event. Brock Lesnar taking on John Cena is a huge match, and that will likely close the show.

Nothing is confirmed, but you would also expect Chicago's own CM Punk to defend the WWE Title against Chris Jericho in some sort of gimmick match. That is simply a guess.

Secondly, the Blue Brand needed something to separate themselves on the show. As usual, WWE knew exactly what they were doing.

Finally, by making the World Title match a two-out-of-three falls, it gives them plenty of options going forward. Unless plans do change closer to show time, it gives them some room to work with.

Now, Sheamus will be winning the match. Anybody expecting something else may want to avoid SmackDown for the next few months.

With Sheamus coming out on top, it will be interesting to see how Daniel Bryan is handled here. It is always fun to watch a champion lose his first title and see how they react afterwards.

At WrestleMania, Sheamus defeated Bryan in less than a minute (just as he should have). It is a long shot, but I doubt their upcoming match lasts 18 seconds.

Extreme Rules will likely see a "real" match. You never know, though...

In any case, will Bryan earn at least one fall?

Well, my gut reaction was no. Not only did Bryan take a pin-fall loss on SmackDown, but he is currently involved with a girlfriend problem, not a title problem.

He seems to be distancing himself from the gold. Thus, it wouldn't be logical to have Sheamus take a cheap pin-fall loss to him. It already happened a few Raw shows ago and was a waste of time.

With Alberto Del Rio getting the next title match, that all but secures Bryan being removed from the main event scene. Again, why even give him one victory then?

There have been two-out-of-three falls matches that ended in two straight falls. It has happened before in WWE, so that has to be a thought.

Sheamus isn't tapping out.

Sheamus won't lose clean.

The only way is if Del Rio interferes early on at Extreme Rules and helps Bryan catch a quick decision. That would give Bryan a win, while he waits for Sheamus to defeat him two straight falls.

In the end, I could see Bryan getting one victory, but don't bet on it. Also, do not be so sure WWE will deliver a lengthy match this time around.

While the match will go longer than 18 seconds, it just may last only 36 seconds...

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