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Daniel Bryan shocked the world when he turned heel on AJ Styles before Survivor Series. Not only did he turn heel, but he also won the WWE championship by beating Styles. Bryan then went on to face Brock Lesnar in a Champion vs Champion match at Survivor Series, which although he lost, was an epic contest in which Bryan troubled the beast and almost had the victory in his hands.
However, it was after Survivor Series when we got to see the beginning of the era of heel Daniel Bryan. Not only did Bryan claim that the Yes movement was dead, but also he announced himself as the 'New' Daniel Bryan. Since then, Bryan has been one of the most interesting stars of SD Live. He has now held the WWE title for more than 50 days and has successfully defended his title against AJ at TLC.
At the upcoming PPV i.e. Royal Rumble, AJ Styles will get one more opportunity for the WWE title against Daniel Bryan. However, Bryan should again retain at rumble as WWE should try to move AJ away from the title for the time being. With that said, AJ vs Randy Orton would be a great non-title feud for WrestleMania. However, coming back to Bryan, he needs to have a different and a new opponent for WrestleMania.
WWE should have let Bryan face Mustafa Ali at Rumble instead and should have done Bryan vs AJ feud for WrestleMania. But since AJ should not be Bryan's WrestleMania opponent, there are not enough popular faces on SD Live to challenge Bryan. The Miz is busy in a storyline with Shane McMahon that may culminate at WrestleMania. Mustafa Ali needs to prove himself on the blue brand before getting such a big match on the grandest stage of them all. Jeff Hardy has cooled off a bit and although Hardy vs Bryan would be a great match, it does not hold the same attraction point it would have five years ago.
Similarly, for Rusev, he is stuck in mid-card at the moment and him beating Bryan would not be believable at WrestleMania. Other than these three & Styles, SD does not have any legitimate face. Tye Dillinger, R-Truth & Sin Cara are not more than enhancement talent. Another option for WWE would be to let a talent from NXT face Bryan. But there are already six stars on their way up to WWE main roster and bringing any more talent from NXT would hurt the brand at the moment.
So there is only one option. Bring a star from Raw. Enter Finn Balor.
Finn Balor has been underutilized on Raw. He has not been involved in any title feud after last year's WrestleMania feud against Rollins and The Miz. At times, it has seemed like WWE seriously wanted to push Balor but then his again he was treated like a mid-card talent. However, Balor has picked some steam in the past few weeks, defeating Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre while also getting some spotlight in the six-man tag match last week on Raw.
Balor would be a perfect opponent for Bryan at Mania. There could be many ways in which WWE could make this happen. Balor could win Royal Rumble match and go on to challenge Daniel Bryan, but that is unlikely to happen as Seth Rollins is rumoured to win the match. Seth could go on to challenge Brock Lesnar and therefore, WWE could announce that Bryan's challenger would be decided by the elimination chamber match. Participants from both the brands should be allowed to enter the elimination chamber match. Balor could earn his opportunity by defeating John Cena to enter the elimination chamber. He could then go on to win the match and earn his right to face Daniel Bryan at Mania.
Bryan vs Balor would not be hard to write for the creative team. The 'New' Daniel Bryan could sneak into Raw and attack Balor and could cut promos on him on SD Live. He can then beat up guys like Rey Mysterio and Mustafa Ali to show how dangerous he is. Balor, meanwhile, can hype up the match by using his Twitter account and calling Daniel Bryan a coward for attacking him from behind. Balor can maintain his momentum on Raw by winning matches on a regular basis.
Balor vs Bryan must happen at WrestleMania. Not only could this be a fun match, but also can steal the show at the grandest stage of them all.
