Projecting Daniel Bryan's Future Following Payback

Despite the best efforts of Stephanie McMahon, Daniel Bryan still has his WWE World Heavyweight Championship following Sunday night’s Payback pay-per-view.

Stephanie’s grand plan to convince Bryan to willingly surrender the belt by threatening to fire his new wife Brie Bella backfired spectacularly when the former Divas champion quit on her own—but not before delivering a vicious and crowd-pleasing slap to her former boss.

Credit: WWE.com

So thanks to Brie’s selfless act, Bryan still has his title. But what is in store for him—and the belt—in the upcoming weeks and months?

Well, thankfully it looks like WWE won’t be stripping him of the title anytime soon. Presumably, Bryan’s neck injury wasn’t as serious as initially feared, and he’ll be cleared either by the next pay-per-view or the one after that.

That Brie is being distanced from her husband in the storylines is probably for the best. She hasn’t really added anything to his act and, honestly, may actually be detracting from it.

Credit: WWE.com

(Presumably she will be back at some point, but I can see WWE just deciding to stick her back into the Divas division.)

Bryan, meanwhile, can continue to be effective in a non-wrestling role. Really, all the 33-year-old has to do for the time being is come out and cut the occasional promo, and most will be satisfied.

Of course, this might be where the good news ends. Per F4WOnline.com (h/t WrestleZone.com), Bryan and Kane are set to continue their risible feud and clash again in a Buried Alive match soon.

Credit: WWE.com

How bad is this idea? Even Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross—who for the most part has actually been very classy and respectful about his former employer—has openly called it a bad idea, as WrestlingInc.com notes. Ross has generally been critical of the angle for weeks now.

Most of the Kane/Bryan segments—particularly the one in which a demented Kane chased after Bryan and his wife while they tried to flee in their rental car—have been unintentionally hilarious. Not since Tommy Wiseau's cult classic The Room have I seen such bad acting and nonsensical plotting.

Why WWE is eager to continue with this feud is beyond me. Maybe the company feels it needs closure. Or that it doesn't have anyone else. Or maybe it doesn’t feel comfortable pushing the likes of Cesaro or Rusev in main event spots just yet. But continuing to return to it is doing Bryan no favors whatsoever.  

You have to wonder how much the champion is getting out of his feud with The Authority too.

Credit: WWE.com.

The angle—in which Stephanie and Triple H set out to sabotage the former Ring of Honor performer because they don’t feel he has it in him to be a top star—has been going on for almost a year now. It’s getting somewhat stale. And even at it's best, it wasn't exactly Vince McMahon vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the '90s.

Is it time for all involved to try something else?

For Bryan fans, there was good news at Payback: Their man still has the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

But, really, Bryan is still facing the same underlying problems he was before his neck issues popped up: He’s stuck in an awful feud with Kane—and The Authority—that passed its sell-by date in terms of quality ages ago.