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Recently, it was reported that WWE and Vince McMahon had suffered huge financial losses, and although more numbers are expected to be revealed next month, early estimates have shown that Vince McMahon had lost more than 840 million dollars! While most of the industries and businesses would have declared bankruptcy after suffering such huge financial setbacks, WWE has been around long enough to function normally, although there will be severe repercussions, as fear has set in backstage that Vince wants to see some heads rolling. With rumors going around that Vince McMahon was led to believe by the management that the WWE Network, and some other ideas would lead to profits, it is a given that the ruthless boss will start making some drastic changes in the WWE headquarters.
Although there are many reasons which culminated in WWE suffering those losses, if history is any indication, the consequences will spill on – camera as well. Whether you talk about buy – rates or gates or any kind of revenues for the shows, in the past, when WWE wasn’t doing so well, it was always blamed on the one person who was supposed to carry the business on his shoulders – The WWE champion. If rumors are to be believed, that was the reason why superstars such as Chris Jericho had to drop the heavyweight title to their contemporaries.
There was a time during CM Punk’s run as the WWE champion, when he too was blamed for WWE doing poor numbers in ratings, even though the numbers reflected the lack of compelling storylines. Although WWE hasn’t gone through a bad phase when it comes to the gates or the PPV buy rates, at least when it wasn’t on WWE Network, it is more than likely that the current WWE World Heavyweight champion, Daniel Bryan will come under the scanner and scrutiny of Vince McMahon and the WWE management.
Since the beginning, the management has been hesitant about pushing Daniel Bryan. In fact, what seemed to be Triple H’s and Stephanie McMahon’s opinion on – screen was just an extension of the feeling backstage, about Daniel Bryan being “too small” for being the WWE champion. WWE wasn’t going to listen to the fans, and the original plans for WrestleMania 30 included Batista facing Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight championship in a singles match.
The fact that Daniel Bryan got even more fan reaction than what was originally predicted, and CM Punk quitting the WWE forced the management to change plans, and accommodate Bryan in the main event scene, which eventually led to him becoming the WWE World Heavyweight champion.
Much like what happened with the likes of Chris Jericho and the other “second choices”, there is a possibility of the WWE management and Vince himself putting some blame on Daniel Bryan, giving them more excuse for derailing Daniel Bryan’s push. With Bryan getting sidelined due to an injury, there is a good chance that Bryan will lose some of the momentum he has been riding on since last year’s SummerSlam, and for the WWE to pull the plug on Bryan’s championship run. Although no one knows what is going on backstage except for the people in the WWE management, there is a good chance that Vince McMahon is having second thoughts about pushing Bryan into the main event scene.
In the end, we have to wait and see what changes will be made to the WWE management and the subsequent changes to their long term plans. Initially, it was reported that Bryan was set to have a successful run through the summer, and was set to face the “conqueror” of The Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak, Brock Lesnar. Although WWE can still go ahead with those plans, one needn’t be surprised if WWE goes back to someone like Randy Orton or Kane to carry the title for a while.
Also, with the recent decline in the ratings, that can act as a catalyst in the WWE management flipping the switch on Bryan. As a fan of his, I hope that won’t happen, but knowing Vince McMahon it won’t come as a shock to anyone if it does.
