Daniel Bryan is arguably the most popular superstar currently in the WWE, with maybe only CM Punk rivalling his love from the audience. His rise to the main event of this year's SummerSlam seems like the true realisation of his position in the WWE as a legit main event attraction. Yes he has been World Heavyweight Champion, but that title is firmly treated as secondary to the WWE Championship, and yes from December 2011 when he won the World Heavyweight Championship through to July 2012's Money In The Bank PPV Bryan was in World or WWE Championship matches every month on PPV. Despite all this prior success and 'main event' status SummerSlam 2013 will be Bryan's first actual main event match at a PPV where his match closes the show (Not counting SummerSlam 2010's 7 on 7 match). And whilst I'm excited for Bryan to finally get the WWE Championship and the success he deserves I think it would be in the best interest of all involved, Bryan included if he were to job to Cena at SummerSlam. And here's why...
The Bryan vs. Cena Feud Needs More Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yj469n2J68 On the surface it doesn't seem like the pairing of Daniel Bryan and John Cena is the best feud either of them could be involved in. The smaller Bryan doesn't really fit the usual mould of a John Cena opponent. Love him or hate him, John Cena is a face in the Hulk Hogan superhero mould, and the natural opponent for this kind of figure is usually someone equally big and strong if not bigger and stronger. Put Cena against a Mark Henry, Batista, Brock or Great Khali and the odds look against Cena, Cena plays the underdog and then somehow manages to win somehow and save the day. Of course CM Punk previously broke this mould, but he was more of the Lex Luthor to Cena's Superman and even then was (just about) big enough to be a believable threat to Cena physically. Bryan however isn't big enough. Bryan is the natural underdog against Cena, and his comically unstable character doesn't let him be the CM Punk style more cunning threat (even though he is every bit as talented as Punk in the ring). So with Cena being forced out of his usual role of underdog and into the more obviously dominant role you have to wonder how their pairing could have the potential to be so good. The biggest asset the WWE to make this feud work currently is Total Divas. The Diva based reality show which just began in the US shows the real life relationships between the Bella Twins and Cena and Bryan. Now it may not be the best choice to explore to have the obvious route of Bryan and Cena muddling up which of the identical Bellas they are schtupping, but its always an option. Perhaps the more PG friendly option is to have Daniel and John cause a rift between the Bellas as their inability to get along could easily cause strain between the sisters if their respective boyfriends cannot coexist. But thats not all the fuel the WWE have to potentially add heat to this fire. Bryan has recently had the storyline which called into question if he was the weak link in Team Hell No with Kane. The current route they have booked with Bryan is to seed doubt of whether Bryan is championship material, not the typical WWE guy and that Cena picked him as an easy opponent who wont be able to dethrone his reign. This further plays on Daniel Bryan being the underdog, which is good, but there is still more back story which can be used in this plot. When Bryan was fired in 2010 for his actions during the original Nexus angle it was John Cena who took to twitter and campaigned for his return to WWE rings. This was strange at the time, as Cena who is a company man through and through was publically going against the companys decision to release Bryan. The fact that Cena was supporting Bryans return could have been taken as an obvious sign that he was destined to return, and its quite possible that Bryans return was always on the cards given that his release came from pressure of complaints about his actions and not actually from the WWE management. When Bryan returned at SummerSlam 2010 he was introduced by Cena as the mystery seventh member of Team WWE against The Nexus. Cena in effect had brought Bryan back to the WWE. This sets up an interesting scenario where by Cena can credit himself with Bryan even being in the WWE right now, along with any success he has achieved since. By keeping this feud bubbling away for several months the fans will become more and more desperate for Bryan to overcome his underdog story and take the belt. If Bryan wins now then they will miss the chance to make a bigger star of him as there is no better way to establish Bryan as the new top man for the company then to have him defeat the current top guy in a meaningful context. Currently there is nowhere near enough meaning to their feud, but by Survivor Series this could be the hottest rivalry of the year.