The Commentary: YES! The Story of the Big WrestleMania XXX Payoff

They finally did it.  It took whining. It took complaining. It took erroneous typing on a keyboard from 35 year olds with a cardboard cutout of The Rock sitting behind their computer who claimed they would “hijack” WrestleMania XXX.

Well jack away, my friends. Because WrestleMania XXX is about to deliver.

Seven months ago, the wheel was put in motion. Triple H pulled the proverbial “screwjob” finish on Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam after he had cleanly defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship. Randy Orton turned heel, cashed-in Money in the Bank, and became the “face” of the WWE at the approval of the now-evil COO.

The rest of the story should have written itself from there. Daniel Bryan gets screwed over time and time again throughout the fall schedule, setting up a triumphant return to the main event scene at the Royal Rumble where he would get himself into the WrestleMania XXX title match and conquer the powers that be.

We all know how it actually went down, though.

It’s funny to me. Wrestling is built off an ancient art you may have heard of called “storytelling.” In this strange,  foreign concept (which derives from an old, old wooden ship used during the Civil War-era), there is a protagonist and an antagonist. Sometimes, there may be several of each, helping put the story in a larger spectrum. Some stories are put out in book form, with hundreds to even thousands of pages separating the beginning from the end.

The point of this ridiculous babbling: It may take a while to get to the end, or to even get to the climax for that matter, but you will get there eventually.

This is the sentiment that myself along with other members of the Wrestling Rumors crew has been advocating for since September of 2013. It is easy in today’s wrestling scene to get hung up on a crappy episode of “Monday Night Raw,” which there have been a fair share of since SummerSlam. It’s easy to feel let down by a pay-per-view that has no concrete ending whatsoever (see Battleground). But at the same time, there is often not nearly enough credit given to WWE’s creative staff.

Are they totally free of blame? Hardly. But let’s take a look back into the Wrestling Rumors time machine, starting with September.

People must be patient with this Corporation angle. It’s easy to want a payoff now, but the imminent climax to this will be enormous. #RAW

— WrestlingRumors.net (@WrestleRumors) September 17, 2013

In response to this, we heard:

@WrestleRumors if this mythical payoff doesn’t involve closing the show at Wrestlemania in a title match, they can shove it.

— #WeWantBryan (@ObnoxiousCJWebb) September 17, 2013

In relation to Daniel Bryan not being seen as a “major player” in WWE, this was sent our way:

@WrestleRumors Can’t say I’m surprised at it. Vince McMahon somehow doesn’t see the “bigger picture” about the whole Daniel Bryan situation.

— Acer (@Acer1337) December 11, 2013

And after Batista won the Royal Rumble match:

@WrestleRumors terrible decision on their part. He doesn’t resonate with the young generation. It made very little sense, and NO DB!? Awful.

— Yung Effleurage (@METTAWORLDBASS) January 28, 2014

People want immediate answers, and that is understandable. But that’s just not how wrestling works. Longterm storytelling is coming to a culmination, and Daniel Bryan will finally face Triple H in a big payoff match at WrestleMania XXX. And furthermore, if he wins, he will pull double-duty (as he has for months on “Raw”) and fight for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event.

Now of course, it’s not an entirely fair statement to say this has all been “planned” from the start. Chances are, if CM Punk doesn’t walk out, it’s entirely possible Bryan is facing a heel Sheamus in an undercard match in New Orleans. But ultimately, that isn’t what happened.

Monday’s “Occupy Raw” segment was genius. It was WWE’s way of ribbing the fans while simultaneously working towards the payoff that has been put into motion by various factors. The fans played a huge part in shaping the direction of the company’s booking, no doubt about it, but there is still bigger picture crafting put into it. Bryan soaked up the segment like any babyface should, and the fans were completely behind him. It was a memorable moment that served as near culmination of Stage 1 of a battle that started last August.

Daniel Bryan will face Triple H at WrestleMania XXX, and will defeat him to move right into the main event match. If WWE books smartly, that should be immediately after the Triple H match. And moreover, Daniel Bryan will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship away from Randy Orton.

Bryan will get his WrestleMania moment. The story will have come full circle. And fans will go home happy.

It’s funny how this stuff happens. We, as paying customers, get incredibly invested into the product. We pour money into merchandise, we pay absurd amounts to travel to other states (or even countries) for three to four hours of fake wrestling. This is where it’s different from any other drama; and because of that, we demand happiness now.

But sometimes, we just have to wait. And waiting has paid off. WrestleMania XXX will see the greatest performance by one man in sports-entertainment history. And it will also open up a plethora of opportunities going forward with booking Bryan.

No longer will he be the guy who is trying to be held back. Wrestling purists often argue that there is more money in someone chasing than there is in holding the title, but there are ways to spin it as well. After Bryan wins at WrestleMania, he will go from the hunted to the survivor. The Authority will be after him, and will send anyone they can to take the title off of him. There’s money in that chase as well, which will in turn create an interesting angle into the summer.

Now of course, there’s a chance things don’t play out this way. Something less popular could pave out, leaving fans wanting more. But regardless of what happens, I know I won’t be freaking out.

Because there will be a bigger payoff ahead.

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