The Breakdown – Breaking Down Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan, What Does Buried Mean? & More

I’ll never let you down, I’m a shine on sight
Keep your mind on your grind, and off mine’s alright? Right
Hard I’m a ball on them squares I float
Quarter million dollar cars everywhere I go
I know in the lead it may seem they might be
But no matter what they doin’, they don’t do it like me
Like a G I hold it down for the town I’m at
And I flash like that
Recognize I’m back!

What’s good PWMania? I’m Rey Ca$h, and this is The Breakdown. I owe you guys an apology for last week. Life got a bit hectic, and I wasn’t able to write a column. I take this gig seriously, and I apologize to any and all of you who were looking for it. Likewise, I’ve been pretty swamped this week as well. So, since I refuse to miss two weeks, I’m going to change things up a bit. If you guys read the comments on the editorials and news items around here, I’m pretty outspoken about certain things, namely this Authority storyline. I’ve been wanting to do a one off, standard column for a while. So, here’s the special edition of The Breakdown.

First off, let me admit something. I am a WWE homer. I tend to be an elitist when it comes to things of this nature. For example, I don’t necessarily care what an athlete did in college; the pros are where your reputation is created. So, while there is a certain respect earned from Independent feds such as Dragon Pro and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and popular but not top level companies such as Ring of Honor, AAA, or New Japan Pro Wrestling, I am a WWE fan through and through. TNA deserves respect for being the #2 wrestling organization in the world, but that’s the only reason it deserves respect. My point is that I could care less how legendary someone was on the Independent circuit. Until you do it for the biggest company against the best competition under the biggest lights, it’s irrelevant to me. That brings me to Daniel Bryan.

I kind of created my column writing name on Daniel Bryan. I was a very proud and outspoken hater of Bryan from day 1. I hated hearing people call a guy who WWE or TNA wasn’t even trying to sign the “best wrestler in the world.” That would be like calling Joe Blow in Norfolk, VA the best basketball player in the world, only he plays on weekends at the YMCA. It’s totally asinine and preposterous. Then, he was signed and debuted on NXT. I never doubted the guy’s talent, as that was apparent. I did, however, doubt his charisma, mic skills, attitude, and overall star appeal. See, I’m a fan of sports entertainment. I love the in ring portion of the business, as that’s where the stories are told. But, how can I get invested in a story if I don’t care about the guys telling the story? Would you care that Walter White from Breaking Bad was dealing meth if you didn’t know that he was an underpaid chemistry teacher with a baby on the way, a son with cerebral palsy, and terminal lung cancer??? No, and that’s what hooks the viewers in – his story. Daniel Bryan’s story was as boring as a Great Khali match.

I’ll be the first to admit that Bryan has made a believer out of me. He’s shown a level of charisma I never imagined him to have, first as the grandstanding boyfriend of AJ, to the hug-inducing comedy with Kane, and now with his serious, underdog character. He stood toe to toe with some of the best talkers in the business. He’s shown that he can make himself look like a star. And of course, there are the Yes! chants. He’s truly earned not only a shot at the top, but a permanent spot at the top.

Cue the IWC villain, Triple H. The man’s reputation precedes him. He was a nobody until he married the boss’s daughter. He was never the guy in the company. He only has so many title reigns because of his father-in-law. And of course, the coup de grace: he hates other wrestler’s success so much that he buries them every chance he gets, in ring and backstage. For reference, here is Wikipedia’s definition of the word buried:

Burial

The worked lowering (relegation) of a popular wrestler’s status in the eyes of the fans. It is the act of a promoter or booker causing a wrestler to lose popularity by forcing him to lose in squash matches, continuously, and/or participate in unentertaining or degrading storylines. It can be a form of punishment for real-life backstage disagreements or feuds between the wrestler and the booker, the wrestler falling out of favor with the company, or the wrestler receiving an unpopular gimmick that causes him to lose credibility regardless of win-loss record.

Is Daniel Bryan losing squash matches? No. Is Daniel Bryan participating in unentertaining or degrading storylines? I’d argue no, unless you think him being called “goatface” is degrading. Is Daniel Bryan being punished for a real-life disagreement with Vince or HHH? No, actually the contrary; Vince and Triple H gush about how much the love the guy. Is Daniel Bryan the recipient of an unpopular gimmick? Actually, he has the most popular gimmick in the company – the resilient underdog. Finally, is Daniel Bryan being lowered in the eyes of the fans? Let me answer that question with another question. Was CM Punk “lowered” in the eyes of fans by not going after the title after a 434 day title reign? I’m sure all of you would say no. Coming off losing the title to The Rock at Royal Rumble, losing the rematch at Elimination Chamber, and losing at WrestleMania 29 to The Undertaker, Punk took a sabbatical. On his return, he beat Chris Jericho at Payback, lost the Money in the Bank ladder match, and then lost to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam and Paul Heyman (!) at Night of Champions until finally getting his wins back against Ryback at Battleground and Hell in a Cell. So, wrestling fans…

Was CM Punk buried???

95% of you will say no. Why? You’ll say no because Punk has had his “moment,” and he’s not in the top feud in the company. Let me read that back to you. Punk lost 6 of 9 major pay-per-view matches (one to Paul Heyman!), is in a midcard feud after being the WWE Champion for 434 days, and he’s not buried??? But Daniel Bryan has won nearly every match he’s been in, main evented nearly every show he’s on, won the WWE Championship twice (once over John Cena, clean!), and is only losing matches due to massive interference. Not to mention he never lost his second WWE Championship, he was stripped. Despite all of that, Daniel Bryan has been buried and CM Punk hasn’t?

Guys, we’ve all been jaded as wrestling fans. We love the sport so much, we go on sites like this one and use insider terms, thinking we know the business. If Daniel Bryan was being buried, why is he happier than he’s ever been? Why is he doing more promotion and appearances than he’s ever been? I’ll gladly admit that I’d have enjoyed seeing Bryan get over on the Authority more, but think about this. As great as Bryan is, he’s going against 5 men at all times, 6 if you count Shawn Michaels involvement at Hell in a Cell. The fact that he’s been as successful at his size is an amazing feat alone! But because we’re jaded wrestling fans, and because we all know Bryan Danielson when he was wrestling in armories for $50 a night, we feel like he’s being cheated. But CM Punk isn’t even close to the level he was just months ago. The Miz hasn’t had one positive moment in months, and neither has Dolph Ziggler. Daniel Bryan is the most successful wrestler of the past 3 months, but you wouldn’t know it because fans take one loss of his like he lost at WrestleMania to Jinder Mahal by submission. Get real guys.

Bryan has been taken out of the championship picture for the time being to team with CM Punk to face the Wyatt Family. Bray Wyatt and his brothers, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, are on the verge of making a real impact in WWE. Why not let them face off against two of the three biggest stars in the WWE? In fact, I’m going to give you six reasons why Bryan and Punk VS The Wyatt Family makes PERFECT sense:

1) The Wyatt’s are on the Survivor Series poster – outside of R-Truth being on the Hell in a Cell poster, most WWE posters are indicative of a major wrestler at the event. The Wyatt’s needed something relevant to do

2) WWE is trying to make Survivor Series a major event again – most fans want Survivor Series to mean something again. Won’t Team Bryan/Punk VS Team Wyatt be a major match?

3) Fans were already tired of Bryan VS Orton – I had to hear how much people were tired of Bryan VS Orton matches – after hearing for years how there weren’t longer, drawn out feuds anymore – so now you’re getting something new and fresh

4) WWE gets to see if Bryan is a real draw – the way WWE sees a real draw is if the wrestler draws attention when he’s not in the main event. Punk did it just recently with the Paul Heyman feud, and now Bryan gets his chance.

5) This gives Punk, Bryan, and Bray Wyatt something to do until the Royal Rumble – If Bryan would’ve won the title, he wouldn’t have had any reputable title contenders. Orton has a ready-made feud with the Big Show, and Bryan, Punk, and Wyatt have a two month filler feud until Mania season starts at the Rumble

6) This all could end up revolving back around Triple H – you guys want to see a resolution to the Bryan/HHH storyline? Bray Wyatt kept saying “the Devil made me do it” when he attacked Punk and Bryan. Reports are, the “devil” is Triple H. If so, this could easily lead to a Bryan WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, or the much anticipated Bryan/Triple H match.

I want all of you to put your pitchforks down. The WWE is setting up Daniel Bryan up for longevity at the top. Triple H does not carry a shovel around WWE Headquarters. They will be fine, and if we all take off our smark hats and realize that it’s not that serious. Wrestling is supposed to be a reprieve from our regular lives. Some of you are putting more hate and energy into wrestling than your regular lives. Step back, and enjoy the theater.

If you hated this, loved this, or felt in between, follow me on Twitter @ItsReyCash or email me at reycash88@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.