Why Daniel Bryan Vs. The Miz Is ALREADY Such A Disappointment

We were made to wait for Bryan’s first programme of any real quality. Every absurdly optimistic ideal opponent Reddit thread, WhatCulture list, whatever, was rendered a grim parable of the folly of optimism. It was as if we’d travelled back in time not to 2015, but 2011. Bryan, once more, was the “good little hand,” dispatched to the ring to make the acts WWE would ideally prefer to push look better.

Enter Big, boring Cass.

Their initial meeting, at Backlash, did so much to normalise Bryan. At the same glacial pace at which Cass lumbered around the ring, substituting good heel work for intentionally basic and provocative bullsh*t, the excitement surrounding the news story of the year dissipated. Their Money In The Bank sequel was a much-improved effort, but by then, the magic was already gone. Bryan was just another guy in just another worthless and meaningless programme. The cynical quarters of the online wrestling community expressed their concern, and were waved away for that cynicism.

Just wait, they said.

But really think about the Daniel Bryan Vs. The Miz programme. Shouldn’t it feel much hotter than it is? Its fictional and meta-textual history is almost absurdly rich and storied. The character dynamic is writes-itself perfect. Both performers desperately want and arguably need to make it work. It is a fantastical, crude Photoshop match graphic made real at last. It is eight years in the making…

…but WWE hasn’t made it matter. The Miz doesn’t feel like the final boss in this scenario. Bryan hasn’t arrived at this ultimate moment of redemption, of catharsis, having reestablished his credentials throughout a series of testing and terrific matches. Bryan has very suddenly arrived at The Miz after two ultimately trivial programmes that have stymied his character development. As The Miz (all too accurately) has pointed out, Bryan’s return has amounted to a “total bust”. This is a deflating betrayal of the grand heft the story demands. Happenstance has meticulously plotted a more coherent and dramatic tale than WWE’s writing staff.

Their SummerSlam match will be excellent, but it could have been something so much more than that. What’s the chorus without the verse?

CONT'D...