Vince McMahon's SummerSlam Comments Reflect Poorly on Daniel Bryan

It was literally business as usual this past week at WWE's Q3 quarterly conference call, but Vince McMahon pulled no punches when describing SummerSlam's poor performance.  Last year, a SummerSlam pay-per-view highlighted by Triple H and Brock Lesnar in the main event drew 358,000.  

This year's WrestleMania of the summer drew a buyrate of only 296,000.  2013's SummerSlam was headlined by up-and-coming Daniel Bryan as he took on John Cena, who played the Goliath role. 

When asked about the drop in performance, McMahon said, quite plainly, "They didn't buy the attraction, and these PPVs are attraction-based." 

Vince went on to give a more blunt analysis of WWE's big-four pay-per-view, reiterating "SummerSlam was not the right attraction.  That was a swing and a miss." 

McMahon slyly averted laying any direct blame on the select few superstars who were trusted to make SummerSlam a successful outing.  Instead, he blamed an ambiguous "attraction", which served as more of a veiled shot, but at whom?  

It's worth mentioning that the one-man box office juggernaut Brock Lesnar was booked at this year's SummerSlam, so he too could be included in McMahon's passive-aggressive napalm of blame. 

Problem is, Brock was not booked as a main event performer.  When Lesnar main-evented SummerSlam 2012, and even Extreme Rules that same year, his presence caused a profound jump in pay-per-view buys. 

After money-drawing feuds against mainstream stars like Triple H and John Cena, Lesnar was booked opposite CM Punk this year.  Despite Punk's immense talents, he has always had more of an avant garde appeal.

This is where Daniel Bryan plays the role of the goat (pun intended) for SummerSlam's disappointing numbers. 

John Cena will always be considered a top draw, but he needs a viable threat that makes him appear vulnerable to lose.  This time around, his lingering triceps injury posed as more of a threat than Daniel Bryan.  Last I checked, softball-sized elbows don't draw. 

Maybe it was how Bryan was chosen as the No. 1 contender, which was TomJohnfoolery comparable to a game of duck-duck-goose. 

Maybe it was the WWE brass continuing to assert that Bryan is an undeserving B+ player.  Whatever it was, Bryan as a No. 1 contender is an attraction that fans simply did not buy into.

In all fairness, stars are no longer created overnight in WWE.  The casual fans, the ones who move the proverbial needle at the box office, usually need time to become accustomed to a main-eventer, especially one as unconventional as Daniel Bryan.

This was the exact case with CM Punk, a former midcard performer who WWE stuck with through 2011's summer of Punk.  Punk only gained momentum with a historic WWE title reign that culminated in a Royal Rumble blockbuster against The Rock. 

That match moved units.

Daniel Bryan may be in the same boat.  All it takes is time.  Unfortunately, Bryan is currently in danger of falling back to the midcard, which has proven to be eternal purgatory for one-time heirs like The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. 

In light of Vince McMahon's recent comments, one must question whether Bryan's time has run out. 

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