WWE Money in the Bank: Booking Daniel Bryan's Push

Daniel Bryan is a unique performer, and his status on SmackDown is equally unique.

He’s an undersized technical wrestler that can throw some vicious kicks and take a beating. In fact, that description makes him sound like a Caucasian Tajiri, which is likely an apt comparison because I’ve long thought Tajiri would have been successful in America if he were, well, American.

Since debuting on NXT, being in, out, and achieving redemption against the Nexus at SummerSlam last year, Bryan’s status within the company has settled into neutral for quite some time. That was until he shocked the world and won the Money in the Bank briefcase a little more than a month ago.

Since then, he has been a steady secondary storyline on SmackDown each week, positioned below the Orton-Christian title feud and the Sheamus-Henry tale of power one-upsmanship. He even rekindled his underlying storyline with Michael Cole.

Last week at SummerSlam, though, he faced Wade Barrett in what was called a strong midcard match, leading to a clean defeat at the hands of the former Nexus leader. As is to be expected with anything Daniel Bryan does, it drew incredible overreaction across the IWC.

As the holder of the MITB briefcase and intended WrestleMania title contender, there is a perception that Bryan must be kept strong in all scenarios, seemingly running a Goldberg-type undefeated streak in order to be credible. I’ve seen this sentiment on a number of columns and comment boards, so rather than spread my opinion across those locations, I opted to put it out long form here.

First, Daniel Bryan, as already described, is an underdog. Despite his poorly grown beard, he’s not intimidating. That doesn’t mean he has to be a Rey Mysterio-type underdog. The booking of Rey as champion is maddening as he wasn’t even allowed to be credible with the belt on his shoulder. Any title reign was viewed as a fluke. It’s possible to be an underdog and a credible contender/champion at the same time, and the next seven months will be very telling of whether or not WWE do with Bryan.

After SummerSlam, losing to Barrett, the feud must continue. With Barrett now holding a victory over Bryan, he can continue his claim that he isn’t deserving of the MITB contract. Bryan tells Teddy Long that he wants another shot at Barrett, but Barrett demands that any rematch include a shot at rights to the MITB briefcase.

Bryan accepts the stipulation at Night of Champions. In the weeks leading to the PPV, Barrett makes Bryan’s life hell, generally bullying him, trying to intimidate him. We can see various backstage hazing practices played out. Barrett tosses Brian’s bags in the shower to soak, etc.

At the Night of Champion, Bryan is no nonsense, pissed at Barrett for pushing him around. He comes at him hard during the match, as the experienced indy veteran has lost his composure. After Barrett shrugs off his attacks a few times, Bryan gets ahold of him the corner and goes to town with a variety of strikes. Barrett gets some offense before Bryan slaps on the LaBell Lock near the ropes. Barrett grabs on, but Bryan refuses the break the count and gets DQ’d. Teddy Long rules that the briefcase is defended on the same rules as a belt and does not change hands on a DQ.

Barrett comes out the next week with his arm in a sling, calling Bryan a coward and, ironically, a bully. Bryan cuts a simple, quick promo that he has a reputation around the world, but he knows that it means nothing in WWE.

He thought he proved himself by winning the US Title. He thought he earned respect when he won the MITB. If you aren’t going to show respect, he’s going to make you respect him. Barrett’s actions the last month and listening to Michael Cole insult his lifestyle and degrade him as a person for more than year has finally pushed him to the point that he’s had enough.

Barrett interjects, that Bryan needs to settle down because he sounds crazy, to which Bryan responds, “Crazy? I sound crazy? Well, let me explain something to you, Wade. If there is one thing you don’t mess with in this world, it’s crazy.”

This promo establishes Bryan as a fiery competitor with a breaking point. It shows he has a temper and a rage. This is simple, intelligent booking because it makes Bryan related. Think about Office Space. That movie was so popular and maintains a cult following because an average worker was pushed too far that he finally snapped.

It’s a character that teenagers can latch on to because they are bullied and want to snap and take it out on their authority figure. The “Don’t Mess with Crazy” mantra can be popularized and repeated on commentary. Bryan has been a vanilla, smiling do-gooder for too long. He needs an edge to him.

At Vengeance (which, by the way, is ridiculously close to NoC) we get a third match between Barrett and Bryan. This time, it’s No-DQ, which Barrett thinks gives him the advantage. Bryan is a better ring technician between the ropes, but as a former “bare knuckle street fighter,” Barrett has the brawling capability to defeat Bryan for his MITB contract. 

Barrett even debuts his new associate, Brodus Clay to assist him in this match, but Bryan fights him off. After Clay charges Bryan, misses and crashes through the barricade, Bryan applies the LeBell Lock with a kendo stick across Barrett’s face in the ring for the quick tap-out victory.

At Survivor Series, Bryan and Barrett are on opposite sides of a traditional Survivor Series 10-man tag. With Mark Henry facing Randy Orton for the belt in the main event, the match is captained by Christian on one side and Sheamus on the other. On Christian’s team, you also have Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase, Wade Barrett and Khali. On Sheamus’ team you have Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Big Zeke and Justin Gabriel. In the end, Sheamus and Bryan are the only two survivors standing tall after Bryan makes Christian tap to end the match.

On SmackDown, furious that he had lost and set on winning back the World Title he held earlier in the year, Christian challenges Bryan to his MITB shot. Bryan says that he has always respected Christian as a competitor, but he’ll only have the match with him under one circumstance. At TLC, his match against Christian is a Ladder Match. I know that such matches are usually intended for blowoffs to longer feuds, but the establishment of TLC as being a PPV that has these types of matches allows for excessive stipulations in the interest of a great match. We all know these two will tear the house down with Bryan winning the match.

At the Royal Rumble, we begin our stretch run to WrestleMania. At this point, Bryan will have participated in two feuds with increasingly bigger names. First, he’ll have run and established a more violent character against Wade Barrett. He’s stood tall in a Survivor Series match and then defeated a recent World Champion in a show-stealer at TLC. Now, to kick-start his final push to the big show, he competes in the Rumble Match where an old rivalry is rekindled.

Of course, I’m talking about Bryan’s longest running thorn, the Miz. At the Rumble, the two run into each other backstage and Miz remarks that he’s surprised how far Bryan has come since NXT. He takes credit for his success having been his trainer. He says that despite his surprise, he’s not impressed as much as he is disappointed in the talent on SmackDown being unable to take out an vanilla midget like Daniel Bryan. He doesn’t say anything in response, just facial expressions. Camera pans out and you Bryan’s fist twitching until he turns and flips the refreshment table and screams.

In the Rumble match, Bryan enters early, somewhere in the first 10. He makes it to the final eight when Miz, who had already been eliminated, pulls down the top rope, sending Bryan flipping over the top and out. Bryan turns and kicks Miz in the head and slaps on the LeBell Lock outside the ring as Miz taps repeatedly until referees swarm to break it up.

On SmackDown, while Bryan is competing in a tag match, Miz comes through the crowd and attacks him, beats him down and costs him the match. After knocking him out with the MITB briefcase, he gets on the mic and says that after the Rumble, he went to Triple H and requested a trade to SmackDown, to which he obliged. He promised Bryan he wasn’t making it to Wrestlemania.

With CM Punk having won the Rumble match, the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match is for the World Title. Miz faces Bryan in a qualifying match and cheats to win, hitting Bryan with a low blow when the ref’s back is turned before hitting the Skull Crushing Finale. At Elimination Chamber, Miz wins the World Title and proclaims that if Bryan thinks he’s getting the belt, he has to go through him to get it.

We get some verbal sparring where WWE allows Bryan to shoot in a manner similar to Punk the last few months. Bryan digs into Miz, saying that while he was living in a Real World House, he was in Japan selling out stadiums. He can also call Miz a hypocrite for trying to hold him down and haze him after listening to Miz bellyache about how poorly he himself was treated backstage upon his arrival. Michael Cole can join in on the Bryan hate as Miz’s manager, and since Cole is undefeated at WrestleMania, he knows he can help Miz defeat Bryan. This also gets Cole off commentary for the match and insert Jim Ross. 

At WrestleMania, it’s a straight up singles match for the belt. You get your standard Michael Cole interference, only for Bryan to fight him off, throw a kick to the head and all leading to Miz finally tapping out to Bryan in the middle of the ring. 

In this dream fantasy booking scenario, Bryan steps up competition gradually. Barrett is on his level, but a powerhouse. After winning here, he moves up to face Christian, who while recently champion, is still an upper midcard competitor. They can put on a smark’s dream of a match, and we all know that Christian is best at putting other people over, and in this case, solidifies Bryan as a threat to the World Title. 

Finally, Miz is the ultimate foil for Daniel Bryan. He is the antithesis of everything Bryan represents in and out of the ring. The promos would be from the heart and grounded in reality, which is in line with what WWE has produced for the last few months. Miz also just beat John Cena to retain the WWE Championship the previous WrestleMania, so he carries a weight and credibility with him to the match.

The opportunity for WWE to tell a compelling story arch that runs two years from Bryan’s debut on NXT, through his mini-feud with the Miz, and success on SmackDown, only to be once again belittled by the Miz, who has yet to recognize his talents or potential, and finally achieve his dream of winning the title at WrestleMania, is something that truly makes a star. And THAT is what WWE needs to be in the business of: Making stars. 

My scenario is just one of hundreds that will be thrown out there and I’m sure it’s not the best, I’m 100 percent positive it won’t actually happen. Ultimately, though, WWE has the opportunity to make Daniel Bryan a star and a marketable draw.

They have seven months to do it, so I plead that the IWC let the story play out rather than taking every speed bump Bryan encounters as a personal attack. If he loses the MITB shot and doesn’t even get onto the WrestleMania card, I’ll agree they completely blew a tremendous opportunity.

Ultimately, if he is in the World Title match at WrestleMania, his involvement at that level is the greatest professional success that he achieved to this point of his career.