Y2J gives his take.
This past Tuesday on SmackDown Live, the wrestling world was in awe as Daniel Bryan who was forced to retire just two years ago became WWE Champion in just nine months since he was cleared to return to in-ring competition. Bryan defeated AJ Styles to become the new top dog on SmackDown Live and with that win, Bryan earned a spot in a marquee Survivor Series match against the WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
There have been many positive and negative outlooks on the forthcoming Brock Lesnar versus Daniel Bryan match and on the latest edition of IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho's 'Talk Is Jericho' podcast, he reviewed the 2018 Survivor Series match card and offered his thoughts on why Vince McMahon decided to put the title on Bryan and gave his opinion on the match between Lesnar and Bryan. Jericho came to the conclusion that due to Becky Lynch's sidelining injury, it ruined the main event of Survivor Series which most believed was set to be Becky versus Ronda, so Vince McMahon needed something buzz-worthy heading into the pay-per-view. Jericho added that regardless of whether it was AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan, both men were going to be eaten alive by "The Beast Incarnate" depending on the mood that Lesnar is in that day.
“Here’s what I think, I think that Vince wanted a buzz going into Survivor Series because he lost his main event which was Ronda versus Becky, and you know, stuff happens. If you see the punch that she took - Oh my gosh, it didn’t look like a potato. It looked like… a legitimate, deliberate punch to the face but whatever, we’ll hold off for judgment for that." Jericho continued, "I think once he lost his main event, because I do think Survivor Series would’ve main evented with Rousey and Becky. He needed a buzz. I want buzz-worthy… I will change the title, because to him, AJ and Bryan are the same - they’re both great workers, they’re both the same size, they’re both going to get eaten alive by Brock depending on what mood Brock is in if he even wants to have a match or whatever because sometimes Brock will just show up and say, ‘Yeah, we’ll just talk about it in the ring’ and that’s what happened with Ambrose at WrestleMania. They didn’t even go over anything. So I think that’s why they did it." Jericho concluded.
To read more in depth about the tactics Daniel Bryan used to become WWE Champion on SmackDown Live, check out Fightful's published article on the topic.
If you are going to use the quote in this article, please credit 'Talk Is Jericho' with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
