Daniel Bryan has been absent from WWE television since the post- Survivor Series episode of Friday Night SmackDown , where he was attacked by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. The segment showed Wyatt tearing out chunks of Bryan’s hair, and according to a new report, the plan is for the superstar to remain off television for a while in order to build more intrigue for the storyline.
As quoted by Sportskeeda , Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio reports that Bryan was supposed to appear on this past Friday’s show, but opted not to for storyline purposes. Furthermore, the former World Champion won’t be appearing at next Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view either, which is why Wyatt and The Miz were booked in a non-title match against each other at the event.
“The opening segment was supposed to be Miz TV with Daniel Bryan but Daniel Bryan has now disappeared and you know the idea is when he got all his hair pulled off, you know, it’s supposed to be a mystery now on what happens. So he’s out of the PPV. Originally it was going to be Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan, and Daniel Bryan himself was actually pushing to delay it, you know he didn’t want to as he thought this PPV would be too soon.”
Meltzer also said that Bryan has a lot of creative input over his storylines, which explains why his current feud with Wyatt is adopting a slowburn approach. The company is often criticized for rushing the payoff to promising storylines, but this is one of the rare exceptions of a rivalry that’s received a long-term build.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, announcer Corey Graves praised the storyline due to its callbacks to Bryan and Wyatt’s previous feud. The pair had an intense rivalry back in 2013, which led to Bryan joining the Wyatt family only to betray them at an opportune moment.
Bryan is expected to return with a shaved head, similar to the hairstyle he had in 2012. It remains to be seen if the damage inflicted on him by Wyatt will affect Bryan’s recent face turn, or if it will send him back to the dark side.
Wyatt is currently on a dominant run as Universal Champion, and he’s expected to hold the title for a long time to come. However, even if Bryan doesn’t end up winning the championship during this feud, the character development he’s shown throughout the rivalry will keep him strong in the eyes of the fans.
