Last month at Summerslam, Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena to win his first WWE Championship. The crowd loved it and it looked like a new era was about to begin. That wasn’t necessarily the case, because Randy Orton cashed in his money in the bank contract, thanks to help from Triple H, and stole Bryan’s moment and WWE Championship. The question here is rather the money in on Bryan’s chase to regain the title, or if it will end up as a wasted opportunity.
The next night on Raw, Triple H declared Orton the new face of the WWE, put aside the fact that he’s an 11-year veteran and 10-time champion, but hey, he hasn’t held the WWE Championship in three years, so apparently that makes it new and exciting. Orton has since aligned himself with Triple H, who wants to do what’s best for business, which in his mind is keeping Bryan from regaining the WWE Championship. At Night of Champions, Bryan’s chase continues when he faces Randy Orton. If he wins, he will have redeemed himself for Summerslam, if not, his momentum is likely to suffer.
Losing to Orton two pay-per-views in a row will make Bryan look weak. The more times he comes up short, the less believable it will be when, or even if, he defeats Orton. Two, three, or even more loses in big-time matches will get to boring fast, and less fans will be interested in watching anymore of the chase. Even if Bryan wins the title back, it won’t have the same impact as it had if he won after so many opportunities.
I feel it would have been better for Bryan to leave Summerslam with the title. Triple H would have still pedigreed him after the match with Cena, but in an unexpected twist, Bryan kicks out when Orton covers him and then taps him out to the YES lock. That would have meant he defeated both Cena and Orton in a matter of minutes and his popularity would have likely skyrocketed. Triple H and Orton would be furious and would devise plan after plan to get the title off Bryan. Bryan would defeat Orton in the rematch and then move on to other challengers selected by Triple H to beat him, but he would keep winning month after month. In that situation, Bryan is the star, several superstars get their chance to face him, and when he loses the title, it will be a big deal because whoever takes it from him will have defeated the biggest star in the WWE.
I have a feeling they are going to hold off Bryan’s win until it’s too late. I don’t see him beating Orton at Night of Champions; I see it happening far down the road. By that time, it the chase will have run its course. While I would have rather wanted to see my idea, I’m still interested to see how it goes down. Maybe the money is in the chase, or maybe it will be a wasted opportunity? Time will tell, but it should be an interesting road ahead.
Until next time readers, don’t chase any wasted opportunities
-Nick
