In 2014 it seemed unlikely that WWE were going to capitalize on the fan support for Daniel
Bryan, but the departure of one of their key WrestleMania stars changed those plans.
I am Luke Owen and this is how Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30.
Headline: WWE’s Revisionist History
In January 2016, WWE Network posted an episode of Legends With JBL where he interviewed Brian
James, the former Road Dogg who is now a part of the WWE creative team.
During this interview, JBL made mention of Daniel Bryan’s road to WrestleMania 30 - calling
it one of the greatest builds the company has ever done which Road Dogg agrees with.
In this version of WWE’s history, Bryan losing throughout the second half of 2013
was “all part of the plan” to crown him champion at WrestleMania 30 the following
year.
Only that’s not the case whatsoever.
Headline: Daniel Bryan - B+ Player
In the summer of 2013, Daniel Bryan was one of the most popular acts in WWE [4-screen].
His ‘yes’ chant was not only chanted during WWE shows, it was even heard during major
sports events around the country.
It was transcending WWE and actually getting mainstream attention.
It was with this that John Cena handpicked Bryan to take the WWE Championship from him
at Summerslam as he was taking time off to heal from an injury.
However after Bryan won the championship, special guest referee Triple H turned heel
and allowed Randy Orton to cash in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE Championship
from him.
This kickstarted the Authority storyline where Triple H labelled Daniel Bryan as nothing
more than a B+ Player in the company, and not someone who could be the face of WWE.
As PWinsider reported, “When [Vince McMahon] had HHH call Bryan a B+ player, that is because
Vince saw Bryan that way.
Vince was just going to screw Bryan in the storylines and then push him down the card.”.
This storyline was reported to culminate at WrestleMania 30 where Triple H would feud
with the McMahons over control of the company - leading to Triple H facing off against an
opponent hand-picked by babyface Vince.
According to Dave Meltzer at the time, the two top names were Stone Cold Steve Austin
and The Rock - however neither man would commit to the match.
Headline: Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania 30 Plans
The next few months saw Bryan unsuccessfully challenge Orton for the WWE Championship - winning
it at Night of Champions [9] but stripped of it the following night, failing at Battleground
and failing again at Hell in a Cell.
WWE then shot an angle where Bryan - who had been screwed out of the WWE Championship by
Shawn Michaels - put him in the Yes Lock - which led to speculation that he might face HBK
at WrestleMania.
Dave Meltzer wrote in the Observer that many people in the company believed the match could
happen, but those close to Michaels said he wasn’t interested.
So where did this leave Bryan in the plans for WrestleMania?
By this point it had been revealed that Batista was returning to WWE to win the Royal Rumble
and face Orton for the WWE Championship, with The Undertaker taking on Brock Lesnar and
Triple H vs. CM Punk - removing the McMahon element from the story that had been teased
at Summerslam.
Bryan was set to be programmed with Bray Wyatt in December and January, with the intent on
getting Wyatt over at a main event level so he could feud with John Cena at Mania.
As Dave Meltzer noted, “It’s not even clear what the direction [for Bryan] is, except
apparently as a way to make Wyatt into a star capable of working with Cena at WrestleMania,
as is the plan.
Where Bryan fits into the show is unknown.”
The fact that Bryan didn’t have a WrestleMania match seemed even more baffling when the John
Cena vs. Randy Orton WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble was hijacked by the crowd
- who then also booed Rey Mysterio entering the match at number 30 because they wanted
it to be Bryan.
Meltzer wrote, “Orton was very upset after the match which was filled with chants of
‘Daniel Bryan,’ ‘We Want Refunds,’ ‘Boring,’ ‘We Want Divas,’ ‘Yes,’
‘We Want Angle’ ‘Randy Savage’ , ‘Y2J,’ ‘End this match,’ [and] ‘This is awful.’”
So if Bryan was so popular throughout the second half of 2013, why wasn’t he factored
into their WrestleMania plans?
Dave Meltzer wrote in December 2013, “The first test was SummerSlam, which did the lowest
total buys and second lowest North American buys of the modern era.
The dynamic of John Cena hand picking Bryan as his opponent, Vince McMahon constantly
reinforcing that he’s not a main eventer, combined with the support of Brock Lesnar
vs. C.M.
Punk, was a swing and a miss according to McMahon.”
In his autobiography and in subsequent interviews after his retirement, Bryan revealed that
his WrestleMania 30 plans were to face Sheamus - a rematch of their 18-second WrestleMania
28 clash.
He told Alternative Nation in January 2015, “I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the
top of the card.
I think I was scheduled to wrestle Sheamus, and probably be 5th or 6th match from the
top, and maybe get a 10 minute match if we were lucky”
Headline: CM Punk Leaves WWE
But then following the Royal Rumble, CM Punk walked out on WWE - or was fired depending
on who is telling the story - and Triple H’s WrestleMania match was suddenly out the window.
Punk confirmed on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling that he was scheduled to face Triple H at
WrestleMania, which he would have won.
Combined with the crowd hijacking Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania plans were also
set to change.
Meltzer wrote in the 9th February 2014 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “WWE
had talked of changing up the planned WrestleMania show based not just on Punk leaving, but the
crowd reactions at the Royal Rumble.
At this point, we are not aware of any major changes.
The belief is Daniel Bryan vs. HHH will take the place [instead] of Punk vs. HHH.”
Headline: WrestleMania 30 Plans Change
With Batista turning heel - after being booed out the building when he won the Royal Rumble
to set up his match with Orton at WrestleMania - several wrestling journalists and fans began
to theorise that Bryan would be added into the main event to make it a triple threat.
Going by the reaction at Royal Rumble, the WrestleMania crowd would not react well to
a heel vs. heel match of Batista vs. Orton.
Meltzer joked, “Without Bryan or Punk inserted into that match, it risked becoming the perfect
ten year anniversary of the Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania 20.”
In the end it was announced that whoever won the match between Daniel Bryan and Triple
H would be inserted into the main event of WrestleMania 30.
Which ended up being Bryan, who then beat Batista and Orton to capture the WWE Championship.
It was an incredible feel-good ending to the show - but one that wasn’t the original
plan.
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