WWE should hold off on Daniel Bryan versus Bray Wyatt for now

WWE planted the seeds for a Bray Wyatt versus Daniel Bryan showdown, but they should wait before cashing in on that big match.

On Friday Night SmackDown, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt attacked Daniel Bryan backstage in a segment which may have set in motion something of a dream match for WWE fans:

A face Daniel Bryan who’s revived the Yes! Movement squaring off against one of the hottest gimmicks in all of professional wrestling is certainly worthy of that dream match moniker.

If done correctly, it would give Wyatt a premier opponent with near universal fan support to build up the true twisted and destructive character of “The Fiend.” It would also give Bryan an amazing storyline that can really show off his character work, and solidify his status as one of the top faces on Friday Night SmackDown.

It’s rightfully a match that fans should be clamoring to see then, making it sound like a slam dunk decision for WWE if there ever was one.

It’s just a bit of a shame that WWE isn’t in a place to make that decision right now.

Yes, I know Daniel Bryan looks every bit like Wyatt’s next target. I also know that Bryan is seemingly on the road to a major face run as well. Heck, I even realize how hot of a character Bray Wyatt has.

None of that matters though, at least not yet.

No matter how much fans might want to see these two fight each other, right now WWE hasn’t booked either Bryan or Wyatt into a situation that would allow them to capitalize on the full potential of that dream feud.

Bryan is in the midst of a crisis of character. Sami Zayn has been hard at work trying to woo Bryan over to his seemingly growing stable of superstars, and the former WWE Champion hasn’t outright rejected his advances yet.

This isn’t a Daniel Bryan who’s revived the Yes! Movement, and is ready to reclaim a place as one of WWE’s biggest babyfaces. This is a Daniel Bryan who doesn’t know what to do next.

That conflict within Bryan is an entire storyline and a half in and of itself. You’re looking at an angle that actually acknowledges the growth of a character over years and years with WWE. There’s no room left for a rivalry with Bray Wyatt, even if that feud explored their shared past.

Wyatt doesn’t need Daniel Bryan under his control anymore. His character has evolved beyond that. Sure, he can still hold a grudge against Bryan for their past in the Wyatt Family, but suggesting any sort of renewed allegiance between the two would seem unreasonable.

That just leaves Wyatt as someone trying to pull the darkness out of Bryan, which is a role that’s already filled. Teaming with Sami Zayn would signal that Bryan is still the same heel who hates the fans that we’ve seen for the better part of the last year.

In other words, there’s only really two outcomes that seem plausible to me here. Either Wyatt ends up playing the role of a third wheel in a storyline that currently doesn’t need him, or “The Fiend” pushes Sami Zayn out of the picture and kills his and Nakamura’s push.

In the first option, I suppose Wyatt could stalk this conflicted Bryan while Zayn continues to offer his protection, despite the fact that he ran away the first time he saw “The Fiend”.

Even if you jump over some of the logical hurdles in that scenario then, it just means WWE is losing out on the opportunity to build a mega match between Bryan and Wyatt though. Everyone will know Wyatt’s going to win against the torn Bryan, as a rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinetal Championship will be sitting there in the background.

It also makes Wyatt’s first big angle as Universal Champion a bit of a dud. It would look like he was shoehorned into a storyline that he didn’t need to be in. I’ll let you imagine the backlash from there.

On the other hand, if Wyatt takes the reigns from Zayn and Nakamura immediately, it just means that those two are left looking like an afterthought. Obviously, that’s not a good outcome either.

There is, however, a middle ground here that makes sense here. WWE teased a rivalry between Wyatt and Bryan, but they don’t have to cash in just yet.

Instead, they should let this angle with Zayn play out to its logical conclusion: a match against Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship.

Given that Nakamura is already booked up for Survivor Series, let’s say that happens at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in December.

In the meantime, Bray Wyatt can have a different first challenger for his Universal Championship. A challenger who’s totally free from storylines currently, but still could elevate Wyatt as champ.

If a recent match card for a WWE Network special is any indication, WWE might have the perfect superstar already in mind for that role anyways.

The Miz is being advertised as Bray Wyatt’s opponent for Starrcade on December 1st by the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia where the show is scheduled to take place.

While an arena advertisement isn’t necessarily a confirmation that this match will happen on the WWE Network special, or even happen at all for that matter, The Miz would still be the perfect first opponent for Wyatt. He’s one of the best talkers in WWE, but doesn’t carry any baggage into the feud like Bryan would.

As those two stories branch off then, Wyatt and Bryan can cross paths again after Tables, Ladders, and Chairs.

After rejecting Sami Zayn’s advances, Bryan can lose to Nakamura at the show. This continues the slide that Bryan has seemingly been on in the ring lately.

Meanwhile, Wyatt can beat The Miz to close off their feud in some sort of grand TLC match. When you throw in Starrcade, that will have been three matches between them assuming they face each other at Survivor Series, thus making it a fairly standard WWE title feud.

After that, Wyatt can then reappear to torment Bryan by trying to pull that darkness out of him again in one of his lowest moments, even though Bryan just made the decision to reject his heelish side. The storyline can go from there as a face Bryan stands defiant against the evil of Wyatt despite his recent struggles, thus setting in motion that dream feud between the ultimate underdog and the twisted fiend.

At the risk of delving into too elaborate of a hypothetical scenario, I’ll stop there, but just think about how much better that sounds for a second.

Everyone gets their time to shine in that scenario, and no one looks like an afterthought. All that needs to happen is for WWE to go through with what may have been their original plan all along, if Wyatt’s cancelled segment on Miz TV was any indication of future plans, and hold off on this feud.

In other words, as exciting as that tease on SmackDown may have been, just give WWE a little time to work. There’s a great rivalry to be had there, as long as it doesn’t happen too soon.