WWE Monday Night Raw: Sheamus Totally Buried Daniel Bryan!

Much like my column last week on the IWC’s absurd overreaction to any name change given to an indie darling upon his arrival in WWE, I feel a need to bring a sense of sanity and perspective to this week’s freakout moment.

On Raw this past Monday, former WWE Champion Sheamus bum-rushed the U.S. Champion Daniel Bryan as the bell rang, trapped him in the corner under the rope, and repeatedly drove his knee into the side of his head. The ref tried to pull him off, only to end up calling for a disqualification.

As Bryan lay there selling the devastating beating, the IWC collectively dropped a steaming load in its pants. Vince McMahon had buried Daniel Bryan, ruining his spot on the roster and making him look like a chump on national television to the point where he will never be taken seriously by the wrestling public.

Wrong.

You’d think Daniel Bryan was some sort of untouchable deity by the way his beloved fans react each time he’s in the ring. By the response, you’d think they expected a 5'9", 175-pound guy to receive a Brock Lesnar push as the next big thing and to run through every potential challenger like a chainsaw through a stick of butter.

Unfortunately for the IWC, that isn’t the case. Rather, this is another example of IWC groupthink and overreaction.

When Daniel Bryan debuted, he did not win a singles match on NXT. He was booted from the show and remained one of the most used characters due to the story he portrayed.

He did a great job at drawing a crowd reaction without a glowing win-loss record, which was probably the driving force behind the creative team’s willingness to push the guy. Of the NXT Season 1 graduates, only Wade Barrett has looked better and risen higher on the card.

The rest of Nexus is just along for the ride, so I don’t consider their “main eventing” of SummerSlam a real accomplishment since only Barrett could truly stand on his own at this point.

Bryan has made The Miz, the rumored recipient of the next huge main-event push, tap out on consecutive PPVs. He’s looked strong every time he’s out there, leading to Monday night’s beating at the hands of Sheamus.

Now that we are up to speed and ready to actually discuss what happened Monday, we also need to recall just who Sheamus is. The Celtic Warrior is a two-time WWE Champion, a menacing powerhouse with a mean streak. He’s pissed because he just lost the night before at Hell in the Cell, his last guaranteed shot at the belt. The tale of the tape will tell you that Sheamus should overpower Bryan, and in a test of strength, Sheamus easily has the upper hand.

So both men are standing in the ring. The bell sounds and Sheamus pounces like a caged animal. Bryan, who has not been established as a brawler, is stuck and the Irish bully pins him against the mat and won’t relent.

In the end, Sheamus gets his heat back from the loss to Randy Orton the night before. Bryan is where he belongs on the card, serving his purpose of being subservient to a two-time WWE Champion, and could possibly end up getting a rub off of this.

Here is where my biggest gripe with the overreaction comes from: We don’t know the creative direction at this time.

From what we saw on Raw, The Miz with Alex Riley will be focused on building a team for Bragging Rights to face off against Edge and Team Smackdown. Wade Barrett won the battle royal to get a title shot at Orton at the next PPV.

This all leaves Sheamus without an opponent or a feud. There are no signs pointing to a HHH return at this point, so he’s directionless right now.

What if Bryan is backstage and cuts a promo about how he’s still feeling the ill effects of Sheamus’ beating from last week?

He still hears the ringing in his ears from the knee shots driven into the side of his head. But he’s still standing, he’s still the U.S. Champion, and if Sheamus wants a fight, he’s picked the wrong man to mess with.

Of course, it could be a complete one-off. There's a chance this assault is never referenced again and all parties will move forward in their respective programs as if it never happened at all. Depending on how many matches they want to have on the Bragging Rights card, both Sheamus and Bryan could easily be part of Team Raw.

Nonetheless, the thought that Bryan was “buried” by a single beating is absurd. In WWE, losing a match or being on the receiving end of a thrashing is not a burial. If WWE chooses to leave him off TV for several weeks or lets him flounder without a feud or any direction for months on end, then we can begin the discussion of misusing his talent.

If he’s booked on the next PPV and is involved in a subsequent feud, then all of this garbage about creative ruining his push will be forgotten.