We should all be expecting at some point for Daniel Bryan to retire. D Bry's injuries have left him a shell of his former self, and having to hand over both the Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Championships have devastated his value as an in-ring draw. The only thing left though is for Daniel Bryan to "do some business" on the way out of the door. WWE could promote a "Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night" on the WWE Network. The idea would be a special-invite event at NXT, where Bryan himself would appear, and book a show full of matches that he'd want to see to celebrate his life in wrestling. Of course, after the main event, Bryan would get into the ring to deliver a speech, and Samoa Joe's music would hit. Announcers would put over Joe and Bryan's history, and Joe would say that it was a shame that they couldn't wrestle one more time. Joe then wisecracks, "if we had that match, we know who'd win, and he's the 'Samoan Submission Machine.'" Bryan would then retort that he wanted to ask the WWE Universe who'd win, and he asks if they thought he had a chance versus Joe, which would be followed by a loud "YES" chant. While Bryan would be leading the building in cheers, Joe would sneak attack him, and then lock him in the Kokina Clutch, threatening to break his neck. The show would end with Joe yelling at Bryan while he was in his submission hold if he wanted to quit wrestling forever and if Joe was the greatest of all time. The show would end with Bryan being forced to say "Yes, Yes Yes" to Joe's questions, with a sadistic smile forming on Joe's face. Wanna make Joe into a WWE player? Have him retire a Wrestlemania main eventer. He'd be set for life.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
