10 Ups And 14 Downs For WWE In 2015 (So Far)

4. Return Of The Goat

Daniel Bryan€™s latest career-threatening injury is a major downer for 2015, but it€™s his premature return to action that is drawing this criticism. Bryan had been shelved since May 2014, but he returned to action just ahead of the 2015 Royal Rumble and entered the match. It seemed like the storybook tale from 2013 was going to play out again. And then it didn€™t. WWE booked uber-fan favorite Bryan to enter the Rumble €“ in Philadelphia, no less €“ and then have him get eliminated midway through the match and have Roman Reigns win. Bryan€™s mere presence in the match was enough to overshadow everything else that happened. Unless Bryan won the Rumble, fans were going to crap all over it, and they did. Bryan then challenged Reigns for the #1 contender€™s spot at Fastlane, giving fans another glimmer of hope. That hope was then ripped away when Roman won the match. D-Bry got the consolation prize of competing in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania, and while he won that bout, fans couldn€™t help but feel that it was a poor substitute for the title he never lost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ3m9waPHkA Bryan€™s injury that forced him to surrender the IC title this spring was the latest chapter in a confusing and disappointing 2015 for the goat-faced warrior.
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.