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WWE: Daniel Bryan Or Curtis Axel Vs. Brock Lesnar Demanded For WrestleMania 31

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 15:59 PST, Jan 25, 2015

The WWE Royal Rumble 2015 results are in, and Roman Reigns managed to pull off a Dave Batista, but some fans are already demanding that either Daniel Bryan or Curtis Axel be given the WrestleMania 31 match against Brock Lesnar.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, some fans were upset with the WWE Royal Rumble 2015 results, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson snatching Roman Reigns from the jaws of defeat (also known as the duo Kane and the Big Show). The highlight of the night was Brock Lesnar’s injury during the triple threat match against John Cena and Seth Rollins, and it’s even possible the injury was real.

The WWE Facebook page ran a fan poll asking, “Did you enjoy the Royal Rumble?” As of this publishing, about 18,000 fans said that Vince McMahon committed a Royal Fumble while only 5,700 gave the Rumble a thumbs up.

Despite Daniel Bryan still being a fan favorite, the wrestler was unceremoniously dumped out of the ring by Bray Wyatt. It could be argued that having Bryan rise to the top quickly would be wrong after being absent for so long due to his injury, but this same argument could almost be applied to Reigns. But many fans felt that having Bryan removed from Royal Rumble so early was not even fair.

Curtis Axel was also a strange highlight to the night since he came in at the sixth spot and was never technically eliminated as Erick Rowan beat him down and took his spot. This had the wrestler going straight on to Twitter to complain and to claim that fans wanted Curtis Axel Vs. Brock Lesnar for WrestleMania 31.

Unfortunately for Curtis Axel, the WWE hasn’t exactly been pushing him hard at all despite taking Triple H on last year. Regardless of his credentials as a former WWE Tag Team Champion and Intercontinental Champion, Axel has been playing the role of a WWE NXT jobber in recent times in order to build up top NXT talents. He’s not been “demoted” but having Erick Rowan yank him from WWE Royal Rumble 2015 is like a smack in the face considering this recent history.

When Paul Heyman spoke about Curtis Axel recently his comments were not exactly complimentary.

“I think the bar was set so high with the chemistry that Brock and I have, and the chemistry that Punk and I had, that it would be very difficult to match that. It’s not just a situation of, ‘Stick manager A with wrestler B.’ Especially when you’re shooting for the top. I’ve never walked through the curtain with someone I wasn’t trying to audition as a WrestleMania main-eventer, and I never want to. And I’m sure the performers I’ve worked with didn’t want to have an advocate whose goal was anything less. But sometimes the chemistry just isn’t there.”

Some media reports about Curtis Axel are even less complimentary, with Cageside Seats referring to Axel as just being extra flavor for a match.

“Capitalizing on his huge Survivor Series performance, WWE finds that the next logical step in making Dolph Ziggler a top babyface is to make him as sympathetic as possible to the fans. So, they have Kane and Triple H mercilessly maul him for making him lose their jobs. Curtis Axel is just [there] for flavor, like a bouillon cube. Curtis Axel is a bouillon cube.”

Regardless, the WWE management does claim to listen to fans’ complaints. The original plan for Dave Batista last year supposedly had him returning triumphantly, but cries of “Bootista” became overwhelming, and these plans were hurriedly scuttled. The bad reaction to Roman Reigns winning may give another WWE wrestler a shot at taking out Brock Lesnar and claiming the title belt.

Would you want to see Curtis Axel Vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31? Does Daniel Bryan deserve another comeback despite being gone so long from the WWE roster?

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