From @RcRyderOrRiot: Can WWE afford a backlash like last year with the Rumble and not give Bryan the win?
Sure they can. I know that people probably expect me to say that WWE has to give Bryan the Rumble win and put the WWE Title on him at WrestleMania 31, but I'm not sold on that idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Bryan fan. He's my favorite performer in WWE. Watching him win the WWE Title at WrestleMania 30 in person was a fun moment for me. It made going to New Orleans worth it. However, that was last year and it's a different story this year. Bryan will get the loudest ovation at the Royal Rumble. We know that's probably true. That doesn't mean he has to win. We saw him headline WrestleMania last year. Not a lot of wrestlers get to headline WrestleManias in back to back years. As much as we like Bryan, WWE management may be reluctant to go that route again. Think about it from WWE management's position. They already did the Bryan push last year. It should have been a Rumble win leading to the WWE Title, but they still got it right by the end. It's a new year, though. If they want to give that push to Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler or somebody else then more power to them. There aren't a lot of guys that can say they won the WWE Title at back to back WrestleManias. Bryan's a special talent, but in WWE's eyes he may not be special enough to warrant such a monster push again.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
