Daniel Bryan
The Hope: Daniel Bryan doesn’t get hurt.
The Reality: Daniel Bryan doesn’t get hurt, but spends about half the match selling so well it makes you genuinely worried and concerned.
I’m not sure if the Oompa Loompa look was an intentional statement on Cass’s part, but that was about the only worthwhile or interesting involvement he had in this match. Cass isn’t bad so much as he’s not very good, and this match shone far too bright a light on his deficiencies as a performer: In a world with Braun Strowman he looks more Jahlil Okafor than Joel Embiid.
As it stands now, however, Daniel Bryan thoroughly dispatching Big Cass in what was a borderline squash match was the best possible way to book this match considering that Cass is, again, not very good (at this point in his very young career, to be fair.) There should now be no concern that Bryan has lost a step, even if we all wish he’d slow down just a bit.
The after match beatdown, while expected, was also a nice bit of sleight of hand work. It fairly surreptitiously confirmed that the smart money appears to be right on Cass, and he’ll be taken under the wing — or is already in the employ — of the Miz. Now who will make it so he just has to Diesel his way through a year or two before burning out or fading away deserving of being in a match with Daniel Bryan for more than ten minutes.
And, in the meantime, he can be the obstacle Daniel Bryan has to overcome to get his hands on The Miz. Even with that, though, this match was kind just kind of there and probably the worst of the night (as there was no Braun, KO or Sami to salvage almost any of it.) Which is something a Daniel Bryan match never should be.
Match: .4
