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Daniel Bryan's Road To WrestleMania 30 was the Best RTWM Ever?

7K views 94 replies 78 participants last post by  Vic Capri 
#1 · (Edited)
Knowing that that Cinderella story of Bryan during his RTWM in 2014 against the Authority was already his last hurrah, do you consider that as the Best Road to Wrestlemania ever by a single superstar?

For me, I'll have it as a YES. That underdog storyline overcoming the odds with the fans on his back was one helluva epic ride!
Your thoughts?

PS: This thread is my 2000th post :D
 
#10 ·
Disagree, mainly because of how many times the ball was dropped. I can't call something that botched the best ever. Yes, it ended with a feel good moment, but:

-Bryan got fucked over to the point it ruined about 3 straight PPVs, and others later on
-WWE never had any intention of following up his redemption, it was supposed to be handed to Batista
-the 2014 Rumble was a disaster
-Bryan was kicked out of his own storyline for Big Show, who also was given his chant
-Bryan was put in a feud lower on the card, out of the main event, where they turned him heel
-It was only due to fan backlash that the WWE was pretty much strong armed into giving in when they never planned on it, which makes the whole WM30 ending kind of a fluke


I'll give them credit for ultimately making the right decision in the end. However, this whole story highlights the WWE's incompetence, more than anything.

WM17 Austin vs Rock is still their #1 . The 2 biggest stars of that era going head to head in the main event of their biggest show, built up as 2 guys wanting to be the best. Combine that with the fact that back then, they had a clue, and the fact that that match was their goal all along, and that solidifies it.

Not taking anything away from Bryan, of course. Everything that got fucked up was out of his control.
 
#53 ·
actually due to these reason's I think it was the best.

It was real. It wasn't the typical WWE storyline that the creative came up with, pretty much like Reigns' current run to WM. This was a real storyline.

The power's above really didn't want Bryan, the fans really wanted Bryan. It was real, all of it. And for the fans to cheer for a wrestler so much that they eventually win the war against the powers above and get Bryan his moment, we'll never see anything like it again.

And yeah Austin vs Rock was incredible, the best feud of all time with Austin vs The Corporation, BUT they had a creative team that created this story, this era.

Bryan's story needed no creative, the story had already written itself. It was so organic to the point where Bryan actually became part of pop culture. And in a time where wrestling is no where near as popular as what it used to be, he brought that sparkle back.

And honestly after The streak ended and the crowd were sat in silence, there was only gonna be one man that would bring them back to life and that was Daniel Bryan.

He changed the landscape of WWE, and I can't see anyone doing that again.
 
#86 · (Edited)
It definitely did have its negative moments but the thing that makes it so great because we all got the payoff we wanted so it instantly redeemed everything that happened prior to that. Well maybe I am exaggerating when I say 'everything' (i.e. Big Show main eventing Survivor Series could/should have been avoided) but point is, at least when you look back at it, it didn't lead to failure at the end. Instead, it told a story of how Bryan kept getting screwed by the Authority and he finally had his moments at the biggest event of the year. intentional or not, they finally got it right.
 
#11 ·
I feel like considering how much the man wanted it, and having watched the legend of the American Dragon develop from the early 2000's until now, in a business that doesn't often give the deserving the spotlight they should have, Daniel Bryan's Wrestlemania 30 build/win is one of the rare moments where he deserved it and got it.
 
#23 ·
Unintentional or not, the Daniel Bryan story from the summer of 2013 all the way through to Wrestlemania 30 was an incredible ride and I don't think it will ever be topped, especially in terms of the emotional investment from the fans during that period.

From his break-away from Kane and Team Hell No, his mini-feud with Orton, his WWE Championship feud with Cena, the beginning of the Bryan vs Authority angle, his matches with The Shield, The Beard & The Best tag team with Punk, the feud with the Wyatts and his main event push that lead him to the main event of Wrestlemania 30 where he defeated HHH, Orton and Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

You can't ask for a better road to the championship.
 
#16 ·
I would rather go with WM28 build up honestly because it had The Rock vs. John Cena. I know a plethora of people who had no interest in wrestling, all of a sudden just come back to watching the product because of these two gladiators going at it. Not to mention we are talking a year long of build up. Plus it was UNPREDICTABLE. You're gonna tell me before WM30 started you didn't think Bryan was going to win both matches?
 
#21 ·
Since when does being able to tell how something will end suddenly make it not as good?

Predictability is completely fine. If anything, if we can use logic to predict how something will play out, and it does, that means it makes total sense. Since when is that a bad thing? I'd INFINITELY prefer this to something like a Russo swerve where it happens out of nowhere, it makes no sense and ends up doing more harm.

To quote Bryan Alvarez: "I can just picture the WCW match with the 4 boxes hanging up in the corners, and the guys open 3 boxes with nothing, and so the 4th has to have the title, and one guy opens it up and instead of the title, there's like...a giant dildo inside. And the writers go "Hah! We fooled you!" Like...this is a win, somehow?"

This kind of shit sucks. But knowing where something is going, and being entertained all the way there anyway...what's wrong with that?
 
#31 ·
Damn, I forgot about those lol.

Hogan/Savage might be the GOAT. Hogan/Warrior seemed like it was thrown together, but I was spoiled. I saw Hogan and Warrior on the news in Toronto at a press conference announcing they were the main event of WM 6 title for title.

THEN I saw the storyline play out on television with the SNME tag match with Perfect and Genius. Horrible management, but I guess the rest of the world didn't know.

Bret/Owen was GOAT. Owen's hilarity and Bret's serious played off each other great. You couldn't tell either if there was a storyline or not too much as it made sense why Owen was pissed being the shadow Owen Hart lol.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Not even close. You have to be smoking some shit to think that considering it was a complete shitshow until 1 week after the February PPV. It was pretty good for 3 weeks, but that's about it. There have been plenty of pretty good storylines going into WM. Hogan/Savage, Hogan/Andre, Austin/HBK, Austin/Rock, Rock/Hogan, Benoit/HHH/HBK, and Batista/HHH were all better stories on the Road to Wrestlemania on a main event level. If we include undercard stories, that list becomes even greater.
 
#33 ·
People can forget now with all that Kane has endured storyline wise, but Kane/Taker from all the build to HIAC 97 with Kane ripping off the door with boulder shoulders towering over Undertaker and Taker with that great acting of not necessarily a look of fear but the first look of humanity from the Taker character we saw with a look like "I dont necessarily fear you but yeah Im fucked" was tremendous down to the fake reuniting only for the burning casket and tremendous work from Paul Bearer and the whole "Ill never fight my brother but I will now at WM 14 you SOB". To me, that is quality wise the greatest story WWE has ever told.

In terms of a title run-up to Mania: Eddie Guerrero's triumph of a Josh Hamilton esque nearly dying from drugs and making mistakes but having this all time talent and manifesting it despite a lack of size to WWE title status and that great Lesnar/Eddie build particularly that "this is my high" emotional Eddie promo and classic NWO title match and the emotion there and then Eddie defending successfully at 20 and his pseudo-brother he wrestled around the globe for years putting others over making them look good finally getting the WHC nod and the two standing in that ring in the historically size/physique driven New York territory as company champions: two all time ring greats with all the emotions. Doesn't get much better.

Hell, title RTWM runs are stacked: Austin/Tyson/DX for 14, EG/Benoit, the dissention of Evolution leading to Batista at 21, Andre's famous turn on Hogan at 3 setting up viewing/attendance records, Savage-Hogan etc.
 
#12 ·
Oh I'd also like to point out that Bryan's rise to the title was loved by the majority in July/August of 2013. And people loved or at least liked it in September and October. But from November to early February, people were constantly bitching and hating it because of all the fuckery. Then once Bryan hijacked Raw himself and was given the match with Hunter, they liked it once more. So again, can't call it the best when over 3 months right in the middle were fucking terrible.
 
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#27 ·
It wasn't the greatest because unofficially the purpose of Road To WrestleMania is intended for the story of the Royal Rumble winner's journey to WrestleMania, even though his win at WrestleMania is one of the best, or the best win ever at WrestleMania. It was the Road Less Travelled. The paved road was clearly for someone else, but Daniel Bryan made sure the gravel road he was on was going to have the better outcome.
 
#29 ·
The thing about this entire Bryan RTWM was that despite everything happening at the time when Bryan was at his peak, this storyline alone had me invested in watching every week. I got so caught up in all of the Daniel Bryan hype and just took a ride that train with everybody else, not just because of how good a wrestler Bryan was, but because of how god damn likable Bryan is.

His RTWM got me angry when I realized that he might not be in the main event where he belonged, in awe when he stripped off his Wyatt gear and gave us one of the best Raw moments in the slow build Yes chant, actually hating HHH and Stephanie when he was getting beat down by them, and just in general enjoying all of the different twists and turns the storyline took.

In the end, it wasn't perfect, but it all ended up in a crowning moment for Bryan that will always remain as one of the greatest moments in WWE history. Sure, there may be others better, but I don't think any wrestling fan can deny that Bryan's was awesome.
 
#34 ·
I'd probably have to agree with this. Everything played out so perfectly in the end. Just imagine if they really went with Batista and Orton like Vince planned originally. Thank God for the fan backlash. The fans played a huge part in the making of this mania and the road to it.
 
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