What WWE Should Do with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
By Mike Smith
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan is currently unable to compete in the ring. He suffered a neck injury, presumably, at Extreme Rules, one that has come about from years of wrestling a dangerous style. Now, WWE must decide what to do with their most prestigious title, the one that Bryan currently holds.
As we have noted, WWE will be making their on-screen decision on tonight’s Raw, and they can do one of two things, keep the title on Bryan through the duration of his injury, or strip him of it. Let’s start simple and take a look at some pros and cons of both potential decisions.
Keeping the title on Bryan
Pros:
- Bryan has worked hard to earn the title
- Bryan is the people’s champion (sorry, Rock)
Cons:
- He can’t travel all around the country to appear on Raw with his injury, he’s better suited resting and rehabbing at home, and that would mean the belts not appearing on WWE TV
- It would devalue the titles to have them not be defended
Stripping Bryan of the title
Pros:
- It would give WWE two easy, automatic storylines
- A tournament, or series of matches setting up a Money in the Bank match that would determine a new champion, and give a boost to a heel
- Bryan’s return and a match with the new champion to determine the official champion
- It would put Bryan back in the “underdog” role, helping him regain momentum lost while he was off TV for his honeymoon and the unexpected death of his father
Cons:
- It would be a lackluster way to end Bryan’s reign, which started with two emotional wins at WrestleMania XXX
- It would be a very unpopular decision
Best Possible Scenarios
Now that we have analyzed a few of the pros and cons, it’s time to look at the best scenario for each.
Keeping the title on Bryan
If WWE chooses to keep the title on Bryan, that would mean that the original estimate of time Bryan would miss was accurate at 6-8 weeks. That would make him available to return to in-ring action just before, or just after Money in the Bank.
If Bryan can wrestle at Money in the Bank, that would be great for WWE, as he wouldn’t even have to be the main event, with the Money in the Bank match holding that spot. If not, Bryan could be held off until Battleground on July 20th. Bryan would just be looking for a transitional opponent here, an easy win over Kane or Randy Orton.
After that, Bryan could be headed for a big clash at SummerSlam, potentially against Brock Lesnar.
Stripping Bryan of the title
There is every chance that Stephanie McMahon walks to the middle of the ring tonight and strips Bryan of the title. This would indicate that Bryan might not be ready to compete until the build to SummerSlam.
If that is the case, the best thing for Stephanie to say tonight is that they have decided to strip Bryan of the title, and they are going to spend the rest of the week finalizing their plan for the title, with an announcement to be made at Payback.
At Payback, Stephanie announces that there will be a series of matches held on the four episodes of Raw leading up to Money in the Bank, and those matches will decide who qualifies for the two Money in the Bank matches at the Special Event. The first match would feature young stars gunning for the customary briefcase, while the second match would feature prominent stars going after the vacated title.
In the build-up to SummerSlam, Bryan would return to TV and demand a shot at winning his title back. This would put Bryan back in the underdog role, and it would see him regain all his momentum very quickly.
If there was a time for Kane to win a world title at the end of his career, this would be it. He could lose it a month later at SummerSlam in Bryan’s return, and it would be a nice farewell to one of the best Superstars of all-time.
What WWE should do
It’s tough to decide what WWE should do in this situation without knowing how much time Bryan’s going to miss. However, when The Rock was WWE Champion last year after defeating CM Punk, it was impossible to miss the fact that the title wasn’t there. After Punk was on TV every week as champion, and Rock wasn’t, it made Punk seem less important.
An injury is a nice way to write Bryan off without hurting the title, but that only works for so long. Unless they know Bryan can be back for Money in the Bank, WWE needs to strip him of the title.
It pains me to say it as one of Bryan’s biggest supporters, but that would be best for business.
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