The pro wrestling community is rallying behind Daniel Bryan after he was pulled from the Royal Rumble, creating a fan-frenzy in Pittsburgh. Many accuse the WWE are out of touch when in reality the sad truth may be that it is those critics who are out of touch.
[adinserter block=”1″]I watched the Royal Rumble like you did and listened to the fans in Pittsburgh hijack the pay per view out of frustration. Fans in Pittsburgh and all over social media blasted the WWE for ignoring its fans and holding Bryan down. Bryan is more over than anyone right? Well I hate to do this and I know a lot of you are going to hate me for saying this but guess what? He’s still not a draw.
Is there a conspiracy against Bryan? Why would a company hold someone back who is obviously their biggest star right? Of course a company would rather give up profits, sellouts, and big buyrates to prove a point right? Sounds pretty silly right? I think so too.
I have said it many times about Bryan and I’ll say it again. The numbers don’t lie. Bryan may have a chant that is over but he is not. Bryan does not move ratings. All you have to do is go back and look at his quarter hours and see the sad truth. John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and even CM Punk are bigger ratings movers than Bryan.
According to those in the know, Bryan is not a big merchandise seller. Granted why would he be? Who is buying Fear the Beard shirts anyway? However, John Cena and CM Punk still sell more swag than Bryan. How could that be if Bryan is the most popular star? I must have missed it but I didn’t see a sea of Fear the Beard shirts in Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
According to Dave Meltzer Bryan is not a ticket seller and this is a key point. Bryan is not drawing the same kind of money to the house shows that John Cena does. If Bryan was truly a draw you would think that everyone would be running out to the arenas to see him. If you want the WWE to push Bryan you are better off buying a ticket to see him headline a house show instead of repeatedly chanting “Yes” at the television tapings.
The sad truth is the guy is just not a draw. The WWE have listened to their fans. The responsibility that the WWE has is to their shareholders and putting a guy on top with a super push who isn’t a draw is downright irresponsible. So they should appease these fans at the television tapings by giving Bryan a monster push at the expense of the bottom line? That is just plain ridiculous.
This whole idea that the WWE is ignoring their fans or out of touch is just foolish. The only ones out of touch here are the fans who think that the WWE should drop everything and push Bryan ahead of Cena, Batista, and even CM Punk. Bryan did nothing during that four month push on top in the numbers to quantify this…nothing!
[adinserter block=”2″]Now that said, have they really given Bryan a chance? Yes they pushed him to the top but I was also reminded about how he was second best, ugly, a goat-face, not worthy of his position, etc, etc. At the same time he did headline several pay-per-views, including beating John Cena for the WWE championship. None of those shows did well including SummerSlam which was far below par compared to last year’s numbers.
You may think that chanting “Yes” on television is enough but it is not. Buy some Daniel Bryan t-shirts, go to the house shows, and stop watching pirate streams when Bryan is headlining if you really want to see him pushed. Booing John Cena , Batista, and Randy Orton isn’t going to get it done.
The ugly truth here is that Bryan is just not “the guy” that some people think he is. He isn’t anywhere in the league of Hogan, Austin, Rock, or even Cena and Batista at this point. Could it happen? I don’t think so. I think this is the best it is going to get and that isn’t a bad thing. Until loud “Yes” chants are accepted for currency that isn’t likely to change.
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Daniel Bryan (as a character) suck balls. I don’t understand why people love him so much. I guess it’s just cool to be non-Cena-mainstream at the moment. Highly overrated. He’s gonna win WWE Championship, and lets see whether people gonna boo him for the next two years just like they did to Orton or Cena.
U lot are there talking about Daniel bryan wwe suck lately and I ain’t goin to lie I hate daniel bryan he ain’t got the looks for being a face and his just a copy cat the yes chants are just like the whats chants so he took the from stone cold steve austin and wen he get mad he starts shaking up that wat hulk hogan fone hogan hulk up Daniel bryan just a copy chat have u seen the rating they get when there in uk it’s sh*t coz they now it shit wwe uk ratings are crap
Im not saying everyone is pirating, but come on. the internet goes nuts, but the numbers dont show. something has to give
Let's be honest, DB should have been in the Royal Rumble, but for whatever reason was left out. I suspect he was pulled very late, after the match with Wyatt, and hence the idiotic inclusion of JBL.
On the subject of JBL, I understand they need a "heel" announcer, but his comments are beyond stupid and if anything probably cause more people to turn off then any other.
It's all about the crowd. No crowd = getting pushed aside for someone else. Hate Cena all you want, but he gets a reaction from the crowd nightly. Daniel Bryan has won the crowd over though. A crowd booing during Royal Rumble once Daniel Bryan wasn't going to come, the crowd being totally involved in the Bray match and yelling, and even booing Orton vs Cena. Last time I checked the SummerSlam match was a very good match and many believed they ruined it by letting Orton cash in and Triple H helping.
I don't know if agree with you on Bryans "push". If you recall starting with Summerslam he ended around six straight shows on his back. Not much of a "push". More of a push for the newly created Authority. Also you can't pin Summerslams low buyrate solely on Bryan, it's not like he main evented by himself you would have to throw Cena under the bus with him.
say, Eric, did I notice a 3% drop in Raw's rating after a PPV? 🙂
Say did I notice a huge bump in ratings as compared to when Bryan was on top in the fall:)
you mean the annual lull that occurs every football season?
Eric , Great blog. However, the reason for DB not being a draw is the booking. Sure he was booked in the major matches at PPVS, but in the building he was portrayed as second rate and lost. How does anyone expect fans to get behind a character booked like that? He is seen already as a bum and when he gets to the match, he loses. Who can get behind that? How can Vince expect DB to be a draw like rhat?
Well if you are pirating, don't get mad when he isn't pushed.
Exactly! Why should the WWE push him when his fans are pirating streams as opposed to Cena whose fans are actually buying the shows? Chant Yes all you want but if you aren't going to buy shows he is headlining than you aren't helping him at all.
Why are you assuming that all of Daniel Bryan's fans are pirating the shows? That is bad generalization.
Well either a) there aren't as many Daniel Bryan fans as people think or b) they aren't paying to see him or else he'd be in a better position. I am certainly not saying that all of his fans pirate shows. I am saying that a bigger majority of his fans do as opposed to Cena.
Maybe I pirate all the ppvs because I don't want to spend $60 just to watch the DBry match? Their crappy buy rates speaks more to the product they are pushing on a whole than any superstar.
The reason why Bryan is not a draw is that the booking and writing surrounding him is awful. He lost major matches in his feuds against The Authority and The Wyatt Family. Bryan never got comeuppance against any of them. Sure, WWE booked Bryan as a headliner for several PPVs but they have booked him as a choke artist like Lex Luger and no one wants to see a choke artist.
You make a valid point Eric but there is a difference in the "push" DB got and a true push with the whole WWE empire behind you. How long did Bryan hold the belt when he won it at Summer Slam, 3 minutes. Wow, they really gave him a chance to shine. The Fear the Beard shirts suck, they should make him "YES" shirts in 30 different colors, just like they do for Cena. Instead of saying how resilient and determine he is, and how he is technically superior, and playing up everything that is good about Bryan, they do the opposite. So, has he been given a real push? No no no….
I think he's more popular the way they're pushing him (or not) now. They put him in thr RR and he loses, so what, maybe a mention. They don't put him in, its all over the web. Personally, I'd draw it out as long as possible and play it out for what its worth. He is popular but he won't sell tix, I agree and its a business first and foremost. If he did, size or not, he'd be champ.