FAMILY FEUD
Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
Some backwoods mysticism wasn't enough to get Daniel Bryan to turn his back on his fans or his goal of becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Bray Wyatt has been attacked by the monster he sought to unleash, and this Sunday at Royal Rumble, he'll get one more chance to stare down the Goat-faced Killah.
The road to Royal Rumble
It started in the fall. Just after The Authority and his mentor Shawn Michaels had unceremoniously pushed Daniel Bryan out of the championship picture, Bray Wyatt was told by the devil to get The Beard to follow the buzzards. And this being pro wrestling, you do that by beating him up.
For a time, Bryan will have allies in his fight against Bray and his followers.
But CM Punk began to be targeted by another trio of young Superstars, and by the time TLC rolled around, he would have to stand alone against Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and their leader. After fighting off the foot soldiers, Daniel didn't have much left to defeat their general. When Bray worked his way out a Yes Lock, Sister Abigail quickly followed, and Bryan had lost.
That would be the first of several finishers that DB would take from Wyatt. And finally, on the last Raw of 2013, it seemed that The Beard had given in, despite the urging of the WWE Universe.
The former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion would explain that he had thrown his lot in with The Family because he had learned that he could not defeat "the machine" on his own. In exchange for unleashing his inner monster, Bryan would teach The Wyatts how to capture the tag team gold he held for so long as one half of Team Hell No.
In just one week's time, that offer put Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt inside a steel cage with one another. And that proved to be too good an opportunity for Bryan to pass up.
He would go on to explain that he determined it wasn't enough to take Bray down physically, he had to do it mentally as well. Wyatt would respond that since he was unable to save Daniel, as his sister Abigail had saved him, he would have to destroy him, the way Bray's father had tried to destroy his son.
Sunday night in Pittsburgh, both men will try to finish the job.
What's at stake?
Both men are in WWE management's good graces, and should have big things on the horizon regardless of how things play out in this match at Royal Rumble. But neither man is in a place where you would expect them to lose right now, either.
Riding the kind of crowd reactions seen in the January 13th Raw footage above (and perhaps more importantly, in East Lansing, Michigan and on ESPN Sportscenter), Bryan is sure to remain at his current position on the card at worst. He's been talking to the media about management's doubts in him, which is either a work to put him back into The Authority story or a move that will ensure that hardcore fans continue to have his back - either way, it would be weird to see him eat a pin right now.
Likewise, Bray has been turning heads with his electrifying promos and rumors are out there placing him in a WrestleMania program with none other than John Cena. Conventional wisdom would have him booked as strongly as possible headed into a feud with The Champ.
And then there's the matter of Bryan's mysterious "serious" concussion that kept him off television for a week and then out of his normal in-ring work for the week building up to the January 26th event.
So, while there are obviously big things in the works for both men, there's lots of intrigue concerning how they get there.
How will the events at Royal Rumble position Bryan and Wyatt for WrestleMania?
Stay with Cageside Seats to find out.
Remember to follow along with the Royal Rumble live blog for full results and match-by-match coverage by clicking here.