Daniel Bryan opened up a particularly strong RAW last week and told the crowd that he categorically answered the “question on everyone’s lips”, which was “Is Daniel Bryan the weakest link?” Not to appear to smart or “markish” but he is so not the weak link, he can’t even see a weak link. I will openly admit I was not aware of Daniel Bryan until I was given a dvd of his work by a good friend of mine while studying in Wales. Wow, I mean this has been said before but wow, my mind was blown and I was a Bryan fan.

When he came to WWE I was excited but was terrified he would not be utilized properly with coming from an indy background up to “the big leagues.” I mean, he goes against every aspect of what Vince McMahon hates. A small guy, clean living, can actually wrestle and does so to a five star standard time every time he steps into the ring. And he has a ton of natural charisma, showmanship and ability, kind of like CM Punk but without the smug, smark character angle.

But he flourished. I still smile thinking about his partnership with Kane, which not only provided much needed relief on somewhat tedious RAW programmes. It also made Kane relevant in the current market. He turned a simple expletive into a worldwide trending catchphrase, which got him over! And his program with CM Punk was I mean, Jesus it was ten star!! That Over The Limit match? I mean what other match can you remember from that PPV? Take as long as you need. Then a ginger bully entered the fray and looked set to derail Bryan.

When Sheamus (now on Sheamus, I am Irish and saw him wrestle as SOS, Sheamus O Shaugnessy in a small hall in a county called Waterford over eight years ago. He sucked then and he sucks now…… Fella!!!), defeated Bryan at Wrestlemania 28, I could not believe it. For two reasons one of which was I despise Sheamus and his bully character and two, what in the hell did Bryan do to deserve this?

He gives stellar matches and could talk most of the roster into the ground. Despite my hatred of Sheamus, he has the ability to have good matches. Check out his program with Big Show from this year gone. They had four to five star matches and WWE wasted an opportunity here. These two guys could have had a great title match. Most of which would have been carried by Bryan as we are all aware!

Money In The Bank is two weeks away and I enjoyed the build-up on RAW. The stand out for me was Bryan who taunted Orton and Punk deliciously. The “wild card” that was announced recently is the return of Rob Van Dam. I fear a MITB win for Van Dam which could lead to Bryan continuing his feud with Orton (the greased up human autamoton). But if Bryan wins, we could see him back on top, back with gold around his vegan tinged waist!! And so in answer to your question, Is Bryan the weak link? No, no, no!!!! Do I believe he could be champion before next year’s Mania? Yes, yes, yes!!!

N.B. My favourite segment from last week’s RAW was not actually a segment it was a sign in the audience, the sign which read RKO. Randy Keith Orton, well done sir! Yes, yes, yes!!!!

-Jamie T. Murphy