DANIEL BRYAN vs. BRAY WYATT
Best Case Scenario: Bray finally has a chance to “explore the studio space”, doesn’t screw up the inverted crabwalk, match has an ending which makes sense within the context of itself.
May have missed it if Bray screwed up on the inverted crabwalk — but this was definitely a match that gave the viewer Bang for their Buck. Bray finally was given the opportunity to work a full match against a top worker in Daniel Bryan, and both delivered. Bryan continues to be the most over worker with the live crowds, and while that hasn’t translated to PPV buys or ratings, it definitely adds a significant amount of atmosphere to any match.
And although this match had a lot of great spots — including the fantastic end sequence, when Bray completely dead’d Bryan with the Sister Abigail against the guardrail — it was the atmosphere that made the match feel so much bigger than the curtain jerker it was. The booking decision seems suspect to some, but, the Royal Rumble is always the start of story lines leading to WrestleMania (this is something that will be reiterated several times, be prepared). The significant number of possibilities this brings forth over the definitive end that a Bryan win would have given us makes this the best possible booking decision given the options.
Match 1.0
I’ll admit I was upset about the Rumble – but some perspective from @THEN1CKSTER at @juicemakesugar calmed me down: http://t.co/i0VbtsqntY
Man, the WWE’s strategy of keeping Bryan clear from The Rumble is absolutely genius. Getting covered by the BBC. People calling for protests to “push” Bryan. A change.org petition.
They deprived the fans of the D-Bry they love for two weeks for the Wyatt deal and it ended up with him getting an Austin reaction. Now they deprived him of appearing in the Rumble and it’s glorious.
People are so invested in this. A+++.