But upon finally watching the conclusion of last week’s RAW, I’m going to say that the steam has just been released out of the Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton/Best for Business storyline. When Orton confronted Brie Bella in the back was one thing, but as soon as Brie Bella ran out to ringside to helplessly plead with Orton and then watch him beat down on Daniel Bryan, the entire storyline to me, went from one that was a test to see if Bryan Danielson the performer, could hold the WWE’s torch in a time of need, to one that is now being used to conveniently hype the continuation of Total Divas.
I really hope I’m wrong about it, because as a fan, the rise of Daniel Bryan is the best thing that has happened to the WWE in quite some time. This is the first year in numerous years where wrestling has managed to keep a hold of my attention on weekly basis throughout an entire baseball season, and I’m making conscious efforts to keep up with weekly shows, even if I am DVR-skipping most of the actual action, just to see where the storylines are going. Because that’s what’s the best thing about wrestling now – the interesting storylines.
It’s a classic tale of scrappy, fan-favorite underdog versus the corporate machine that doesn’t think he’s right for a top position, because of his size, appearance and persona. Helmed by Triple H, who has really been emerging as a really solid character that’s not only just part-Vince McMahon, but just about every negative corporate stereotype there could be. Out of the storylines, fans have seen Daniel Bryan rise to the occasion twice on pay-per-view and competently carry two marginal, less-talented wrestlers to halfway decent matches. The only thing preventing Bryan from holding the strap at this very moment is the fact that the WWE knows it can drag this storyline out further right now and the fans will continue to pour money into wanting to see their hero ultimately triumph.
The introduction of Brie Bella into the storylines is a terrible idea, in my opinion. I understand what this does to the storylines and how it creates a “getting too personal” angle, variables and several alternate directions for the next pay-per-view, but ultimately in the end, it just feels like a cheap advertisement for the next half-season of Total Divas.
I like Brie Bella, after all I think she’s the superior of the “twins” and ultimately she’ll do whatever the creative team tells her to do, but I still think that this is not a smart move by the WWE. And as gay as it sounds, I have watched all of the aired episodes of Total Divas, because I’m a wrestling fan, and I love how it gives a glimpse of the workings of the machine, as well as those fascinating moments of backstage candor among performers, both of the divas as well as the men. But I felt that the strength of the show was the fact that they didn’t let it directly impact any of the weekly programming, thus keeping the wrestling shows the wrestling shows, and the reality television, reality television, aside from feuds and storylines involving, exclusively WWE Divas.
But putting Brie into the mix now crosses the line of involving Total Divas into the main event picture, and more so, that the WWE is so willing to divulge personal information on live television. Hardcore insiders and anyone who watched Total Divas already know that John Cena is in a relationship with Nikki Bella, Jimmy Uso is engaged to Naomi, Tyson Kidd is now married to Natalya, and that even Randy Orton is robbing the cradle, dating the new chick, Jojo. Regardless, all of these relationships are kept hush-hush on live television, while Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella’s relationship and recent engagement is being exploited to try and make a storyline personal.
To me, after watching Brie attempting to act all mortified at the actions of Orton and concerned for the well-being of her new fiancée, all I could think about how much the choice of this direction takes a tremendous amount of wind out of the sails of the storyline. Week after week for months, fans have seen Daniel Bryan, when it was time for him to take a beating, take massive beatings, and be flat on his back, dead to the world, until he showed up either later in the show or on the next Smackdown or next Raw, and get some retribution, to which the crowd would go apeshit and chant “YES! YES! YES!” Classic exchanging of momentum, moments of triumph, moments of failure, but all the shoulders of Daniel Bryan, himself.
Throwing Brie into the mix now means there’s a very good chance that she’s going to be present in the impending Orton/Bryan match, which means she’ll be involved one way or the other. It would be best if Brie didn’t get involved at all, but it’s hard to say someone coming down to ringside doesn’t get involved, but even better would be if the WWE forgets this ever happened Brie doesn’t show up at all in the main event. So here’s what I see happening – either Orton threatens her in an attempt to trap Bryan, causing Bryan to lose, causing Bryan to have reason to resent his fiancée, or Brie takes a bump but Bryan prioritizes winning the WWE title over her well-being, heading down the road of the abusive spouse trope. Whichever of these outcomes happens, I certainly don’t think it’s best for business.
