How WWE Fastlane 2019 Must End
Vince McMahon was again cast as an out-of-touch imbecile for replacing Kofi Kingston in the Fastlane WWE Championship clash. His kids looked on with the same incredulity shown when he removed Becky Lynch from the WrestleMania main event. The company appear to understand the wider perception of his growing insanity and are booking it as a narrative device - but his disinterest in the New Day star could easily apply to the existing Champion.
Bryan - hemp belt and all - isn't nor will ever be the McMahon ideal, but the vast creative freedom he's been afforded in the role at least suggests a level of trust he reserves for few others. This is good - Daniel Bryan gives a section of the fanbase so so much every week, even if they're not permitted to chant "Yes" as he holds his title aloft. The character is layered, nuanced, thoughtful, cynical, logical, human. The character is a human being making decisions that jive with his modus operandi in a way that juggles the stereo reactions that now occur within every fan in the post-kayfabe age. Bryan is a heel the discerning fans can love to hate. All good heels used to be this way - fans old or wise enough to see wrestling's strings weren't looking for baddies to be genuinely bad - just be the very best at portraying it.
It was the paradox every truly great villain approached with vigour, but the industry's ever-changing landscape has made it harder than ever for the heat to feel real. An over babyface provides the solution, but the real world barely provides enough of those, let alone WWE's complex television infrastructure.
In Daniel Bryan Vs Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania, WWE have the problem-solving heel and The babyface problem's solution.
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