There are two sides to this story. First of all, The Undertaker needs to return and win both the Royal Rumble and the World Heavyweight Championship before Wrestlemania. This would cause the Royal Rumble win to become null and Daniel Bryan would be able to go one on one with him for the title by cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. The second side to the story is simply making it believable. Can this vegan nerd with no TV in his house end the streak? If you'd ask anybody in their right minds today, the answer is absolutely not. That's where the creativity comes into play: we need to build a ruthless, aggressive, submission machine with what we have in Daniel Bryan. This post will be my fantasy booking that will lead to The Undertaker's last ever Wrestlemania match, and Daniel Bryan's FIRST ever World Heavyweight Championship.
Let me make this perfectly clear before I even get into this post: The Undertaker is winning the match at Wrestlemania. I would not put The Undertaker's streak in jeopardy despite the fact that a single win of that magnitude would immediately catapult Daniel Bryan into the title picture, main event, and possibly even Hall of Fame. I want to make that clear: The Streak is not actually in jeopardy. We just need to create the illusion that it is. You always have to tell some of the truth so that they'll believe all of the lie.
To get started, as I said in my first paragraph, one element to this that would take competent booking (read: never in TNA) to make it work is that, in his current state, Daniel Bryan doesn't look like a believable champion, much less the guy that might end The Streak. The one thing that I think is key here is that The Undertaker will never be a heel against anybody of Bryan's status. You can't take a young up-and-comer, put him against a legend like 'Taker, and expect him to come out of the feud as a babyface. That being said, and using that foresight to solve issues before they arise, we need to turn Bryan heel, and we need to initiate that process as soon as possible. The plan is for Daniel Bryan to ride a winning streak that started on October 28th all the way to Wrestlemania. It's going to be Streak vs Streak in the sense that Bryan will be undefeated for 5 months AND Streak vs Streak in the sense that Bryan will be cashing in MitB and nobody has ever lost a MitB cash-in before. That is the premise of this match, that is why I want to see it happen so badly, and that is a story that could potentially write itself - assuming it had proper setup. That proper setup is exactly what I'm going to attempt to create in this fantasy booking post.
Step one to this feud is building Daniel Bryan up as a legitimate threat to The Undertaker's streak at Wrestlemania. Once we accomplish that, the rest of the story essentially writes itself. Step one to building Daniel Bryan up a a legitimate threat to The Undertaker's streak at Wrestlemania is, in my opinion, turning Bryan heel. This is for multiple reasons - Bryan works better as a heel. Being a heel would allow Bryan to be more aggressive and ruthless. Being a heel would allow Bryan to invoke The Undertaker into giving him a rematch for the title at the May PPV so that Bryan could still win the title without ending the streak. Being a heel would just be best for the situation. So, how do we turn Daniel Bryan heel?
To answer that question, we need to look at and analyze why Daniel Bryan is a babyface in the first place. Is it because he's exciting? That can't be exclusively true, otherwise Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio and Tyson Kidd would all be babyfaces. Is it because he cuts babyface promos? He doesn't cut promos, so that can't be it. And even on the WWE.com interviews, his promos feel more angry and heelish than babyface, so we can't chalk it up to that. What IS IT that makes Daniel Bryan a babyface? I'll tell you exactly what it is. Commentary. More specifically, Michael Cole. Michael Cole is the true definition of heel in the WWE - he is the one man in the WWE who is not polarizing in the least bit for the simple reason that literally everybody hates him. If he endorses you, you are a heel. If he buries you or just simply talks you down, you are a babyface. Cole has never buried anybody more than Daniel Bryan. That automatically makes him an underdog babyface. How do we turn him heel? We take what makes him a babyface, and turn it on itself. That's right - we get Michael Cole to endorse Daniel Bryan.
That isn't difficult to accomplish. A single conversation with Cole at a creative meeting. Vince McMahon is in Cole's ear, he can fill him in on this plan as he goes. If Michael Cole starts acting for Daniel Bryan like he always has for The Miz, Bryan doesn't even need to change anything about his character, he's an instant heel. Michael Cole begins endorsing him, announces on commentary that he's had an epiphany (maybe a conversation backstage with Daniel himself) that has opened his eyes to Daniel Bryan's true talent. Milk it for all its worth. Even if it takes Cole standing on the announcer's table and clapping like he does for Miz, we need Daniel Bryan to enter the arena to a sea of boos. If we can get the fans to turn on him, we can allow him to cut a heel promo turning on the fans. "I've given everything to this sport, and what do I get? A bunch of sheep fans who would rather cheer for 6'5" body builders like John Cena and Randy Orton than a TRUE TALENT like me!" - not really a shoot, but not really something that you need to work too hard on, either. Bryan cuts a heel promo.
The whole time that we're going through the process up to and including the heel promo, have Bryan start acting a little more aggressive in the ring. Start having him use the ropes (and his feet) to choke his opponent a few times. Have him hold his submissions on a little bit too long after the opponent submits. Let him go back to his indy roots and use the "I HAVE UNTIL 5" line a few times. Get him angry. Get him ruthless. Get him aggressive. Get him over as a heel. He cuts a heel promo and it's just icing on the cake. Maybe Daniel Bryan could be Michael Cole's first ever client - that's right, throw Cole in there as his manager. How can you possibly garner more heat than that? It isn't necessary, but it is an idea, and you can bet your ass that it would work.
Once we establish that Daniel Bryan is a heel, he needs to continue winning - working his way up the card, but winning nonetheless. This past Friday, he defeated Tyson Kidd. This coming Friday, have him beat JTG. The week after, Heath Slater. Then, when there are no more heel jobbers left to feed to the Dragon, give him Trent Baretta and Yoshi Tatsu. Baretta first, just because he isn't as over, but then with Yoshi, get Bryan to really thump him good. People are expecting "oh good, Yoshi Tatsu is getting TV time," only to see him get COMPLETELY DESTROYED by an in-the-process-of-turning-heel Daniel Bryan. That would help get him heat - completely dominating and possibly even humiliating a reasonably well over babyface jobber like Yoshi gets you pity heat, and even that is better than no heat at all. The following week, maybe somebody like Justin Gabriel. Everybody is on this list. Royal Rumble main event...since Daniel Bryan clearly doesn't need to compete in the Royal Rumble, he will face Wade Barrett in a streak vs streak match, since Barrett's Uprising has recently begun as well. Bryan wins this match as well, but it isn't necessary for Barrett to turn babyface - just let him get out-heeled by Bryan.
Rumble is when The Undertaker makes his return, as well. He comes in at #40 and cleans house - maybe while he's making his wonderful, elaborate entrance, a few superstars get caught up in the moment and the more headstrong guys throw them over, only for Taker to come in and take care of the rest. Give Taker his moment at Rumble and set up what looks like a collision course - The Undertaker vs Mark Henry at Wrestlemania for the World Heavyweight Championship. Then, at Elimination Chamber, put Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, AND The Undertaker in as the final three. Orton, Sheamus and Christian would make great fillers for the rest of the match, and I guarantee you there would be at least some people picking any of these six guys to win the match. That is what makes a great multiple man match - nobody knows who is going to win. Have the first two guys in the match be Mark Henry and Randy Orton, and get Orton out of there as quickly as possible so that he doesn't look too weak against the other, less dominant competitors.
This is where we play the multitasking game. Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan need to be going at it, one on one, in the Elimination Chamber match, and Bryan needs to take control. He needs to kick the living shit out of Mark Henry, take him down to one knee, then two, then his back. He needs to look like he can actually compete with the likes of the truly dominant Mark Henry. Then, Undertaker (as the last entrant into the match) needs to come in and eliminate Bryan with a quick finisher, whether that be a Chokeslam, Tombstone, or even Last Ride - just not the Gogoplata. We don't need Bryan tapping out. He still needs to look legit against Mark Henry, and Taker needs to be picking at the bones - he can't eliminate a fresh Bryan. I'd say make Bryan the 4th guy into the ring. Orton and Henry start, then introduce Sheamus, then Bryan. Christian comes in 5th and can get away with lasting the shortest amount of time in the match, then Taker comes in and, like I said earlier, essentially picks the bones clean and wins the World Heavyweight Championship. This nullifies his Rumble win and allows Bryan to go one on one with him at 'Mania.
The last obstacle that we need to clear here is that Mark Henry would have a rematch clause. This is simple enough to handle: Smackdown. Raw hypes up a HUGE Smackdown Main event for the Friday after Elimination Chamber - The Undertaker is being forced to defend his freshly won World Heavyweight Title against Mark Henry, who thinks he can catch 'Taker off guard and at less than 100% from the brutal Chamber match. Of course we have a successful title defense, and that leaves only one man: Daniel Bryan.
The buildup to Wrestlemania is usually even better than the event itself. WWE still has contact with Shawn Michaels, and I think he'd be perfect for this occasion. Michaels could shoot an interview with, say, Jim Ross (or even Michael Cole himself) where he says something to the effect of "Yeah, when I was training him, he was a really nice guy...and I always kind of said to myself 'man, if he can find a mean streak in him, he could go down as the greatest ever'...and I think he might have found that mean streak". When you have a guy like Shawn FREAKING Michaels putting Bryan over as somebody who now essentially has all of the ingredients that it would take to be the greatest ever, it's hard not to believe that he could break the streak. When you have a WWE landscape that is desperate to create new stars and even more desperate to get The Undertaker out of the World Title picture, you get that little bit of disbelief. You start thinking to yourself, if you're a mark, "holy crap, Shawn Michaels just endorsed Daniel Bryan...he almost looked scared of him! He might actually be able to beat Undertaker. And 'Taker is no spring chicken, either...if they go for 20+ minutes the stamina and conditioning has got to have an effect". And if you're a smart fan, you're thinking to yourself "Holy crap, are they seriously going to give Bryan this rub? I know they've been pushing him like crazy for the last few months but this would be phenomenal". All it takes is that little bit of doubt to seep into every fan's mind in order to create enough tension to sell tickets. And that, my friends, is a Wrestlemania Main Event worth talking about.
Of course, Undertaker would win. He would retain his title, streak in tact. But who would walk away by their own power, and who would need help getting back to the locker room? If I had control (and so far, obviously, in my mind at least, I have) I would have the match end with Undertaker hitting Bryan with 2-3 Tombstones for the 3-count. Then, Taker would reach his hand out to Bryan, who would shake hands with him, turn around, and then go full 360 for the slap in the face and kick to the skull. The Undertaker gets knocked out and this creates the tension needed for 'Taker to have the motive to give Bryan a second chance. This leads us to Extreme Rules, where this entire angle comes to an end: with Daniel Bryan defeating The Undertaker in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship, thus ending The Undertaker's illustrious career and giving Bryan the rub of his life. Daniel Bryan's first challenger for the title could be anyone from Sheamus, to Randy Orton, to a newly drafted, formerly Raw Superstar (CM Punk anyone?), even to somebody who is currently a heel but has the potential to make a solid babyface champion - Wade Barrett, anyone? Either way, you've got a new star. Either way, you've given The Dead Man the run of his life, the match(es) of his career, and you've finally allowed him to pass the torch to somebody who truly deserves it.
Dude, they've gotta hire you... this would have been awesome!!! Five-stars.
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