9. Daniel Bryan In The Authority Would Make For Amazing Television
Unlike Stone Cold Steve Austin, Daniel Bryan turning heel and siding with a WWE authority figure wouldn't necessarily be potentially devastating to the company's business. When Steve Austin turned heel in 2001, there were few babyfaces in WWE beneath Austin who had the potential to be a bigger star and more popular than Steve Austin. In 2015, with NXT being on fire and wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose around, Daniel Bryan certainly can be eclipsed in popularity (to WWE's overall benefit as a company). Here's an idea: Daniel Bryan wrestles Seth Rollins in a well-regarded title vs. title match on Raw that goes to a double DQ because of interference. The next week, Daniel Bryan wants a rematch, which Triple H doesn't grant, but he does tell Daniel Bryan that he "might be an A- player." This leads to little things happening, like Bryan being granted breaks and mini-vacations by the Authority, possibly including a sort of "ranking" system for IC title contenders, which on one level is seen by Bryan as good for competition, but Triple H reminds him that it lets him "get rest for his neck and spend time with his wife," too. These little allowances are slowly folded into storylines as Bryan's ability to thwart opponents for the IC championship are tied to the fact that Triple H gives him breaks. This finally leads to a night where Dolph Ziggler (who would be the IC Championship #2 contender) would mouth off to Seth Rollins and end up being scheduled in a tag match main event where Dolph and Seth would choose partners (because the championship wouldn't be on the line). This is when Triple H lets it fly that he thinks that Dolph Ziggler is a "B+ player." During Raw, Dolph would ask Bryan to be his partner. When he leaves the locker room, we see Triple H casually walk in afterwards, shutting the door. Announcers would of course question why. The main event would start, and Dolph would come out. He'd then wait for his partner to be announced, and nobody would come out. Of course, when Seth Rollins comes out, he grabs the microphone and announces his partner...Daniel Bryan! Fans are shocked, and without music or chanting "YES," Bryan calmly gets into the ring and says, "Dolph, we'll talk later. Let's just get this over with." Dolph wrestles Rollins and Bryan by himself, with Rollins winning after a curbstomp. Bryan doesn't celebrate with The Authority, but he does see Triple H when he gets to the top of the ramp, who shakes his hand. This all leads to an episode of Smackdown where we hear that Daniel Bryan was "finally pronounced as the A+ player that we have come to know him as" by Triple H. Bryan says nothing has changed, and that he just earned Triple H's respect, and that he agrees with Hunter in saying that Dolph is a B+ player. Though circuitous, it's a great way to set up a heel run for Daniel Bryan.
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.
