8 Lessons WWE Should Learn From Daniel Bryan's Latest Injury

7. Always Have A Backup Plan

The neck injury that befell Daniel Bryan in 2014 forced WWE Creative to scramble to come up with a major angle to make up for the fact that their top champion was unable to compete. Their response? The Shield split that sent Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins off to become singles stars. In retrospect, it was the right move and really helped shape the next year of programming. Unfortunately, it was a last-minute decision that was incredibly rushed, though necessarily so. Add to that the fact that the company reverted back to the same, tired "John Cena as WWE champion" crutch that they always seem to go to when things get jumbled, and you have an organization very much in turmoil. Fast forward a year and now WWE is faced with a scenario where they must find someone else to build SmackDown around, not to mention picking up the slack in the IC title picture. And, as was the case a year ago, there does not seem to be that one Superstar ready to step up and carry the load in his absence. That is, without rushing along an angle the company may have built for the months down the road. If WWE is going to insist on putting Bryan in these situations, knowing full well that injury could strike at any moment, they must know exactly what to do when that time comes. They cannot afford to look like a disorganized company when so many fans will also have in the back of their minds the possibility that Bryan will not be able to compete.