Even Shawn Michaels Turns On Daniel Bryan?

Vince McMahon was against Daniel Bryan. Triple H turned on Daniel Bryan. Stephanie McMahon turned on Daniel Bryan. And now, Shawn Michaels, a man that helped train Daniel Bryan, has turned on him. Who's next? Brie Bella? His dog? Does he even have a dog? Jinder Mahal? That would be the ultimate betrayal.

There was no need to get fancy with Shawn Michaels being referee at Hell in a Cell. I could understand wanting a shady finish so Daniel Bryan did not lose cleanly to Randy Orton. But having Triple H cause a distraction or a mistake from Shawn Michaels could have been enough. Costing Daniel Bryan the match was not a mistake from Shawn Michaels. His promo on Raw solidified that idea.

Regardless of whether or not it was necessary, the WWE has gone in this direction. Now what? Two things to look at. First, what does this mean for Daniel Bryan? He was involved in more than just a segment with HBK. He was attacked by The Wyatts. CM Punk was also attacked by them. Whether or not his segment with Shawn Michaels leads to a long-term angle, the fact that The Wyatts attacked him would seemingly make them his short-term focus, along with CM Punk. Does that mean he is out of the title picture? Possibly. I just have a tough time picturing The Wyatts teaming with Randy Orton to face CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and whomever they get to team with them, possibly Miz. The Shield just seems like a better fit. Problem is, they weren't the ones that attacked Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

Second thing to look at, what does this heel turn from Shawn Michaels mean for the larger corporate angle? Not only that, he was there to help Triple H, but Triple H did not come out to help him against Daniel Bryan. That is an idea they might toy with more. I don't know if they should go that route. You turn Shawn Michaels heel and have him side with Triple H just to start friction right away? One of the problems with this corporate angle is that it almost always seemed to be on shaky ground from the start as far as the heels go. The Authority put The Shield in tough positions at times, and now it looks like The Shield is breaking up. They did not hand Orton back the title a few weeks ago, saying that he needed to show that old aggression. Orton still needed help from the heels to help him get back the title. The Big Show angle speaks for itself. HBK now sides with Triple H just for Triple H to leave him to get attacked by Daniel Bryan. You would think they would do more to solidify allies for The Authority. How much longer can this "stable" actually last? They need to develop it better. If they keep selling this idea that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon even mistreat their own allies at times, how long until everyone turns on them?

Does The WWE Title Find A Home At Hell In A Cell?

The feud between CM Punk and Paul Heyman isn't the only major storyline that might or might not find some closure at Hell in a Cell. Will the WWE Championship finally go to either Daniel Bryan or Randy Orton? This will be a Hell in a Cell match, which I mentioned before usually have that idea of closure. If that wasn't enough, Shawn Michaels, the special guest ref, has promised a Champion.

Just because the conditions are right for one of these two guys to finally get back the title, that doesn't mean it has to happen. They can still come up with some crazy way to have this match end without a clear winner. They could prolong this until Survivor Series. Some fans are talking about doing a tournament to crown a new WWE Champion. It has been done before. I don't think they need to repeat that story here, even if they felt they had the depth to run with that properly.

Do I think a new Champion will be crowned at this PPV? Yes. I am not one of those people that think that having no WWE Champion is leading to bad ratings. However, I don't think that running this storyline is actually drawing interest. It isn't hurting things, but it isn't helping. I don't think the storyline here has been developed as best as it could. The title has been vacated. You would expect a certain vibe of uncertainty over what is going to happen. I just feel like it is being overshadowed by other things. The Rhodes angle and Big Show drama have been getting better focus recently. They might as well put the title on someone and carry things to another direction in the feud at Survivor Series. Have the person that wins the title have a final rematch against the loser, make them captains of teams for a big tag match, or whatever.

Shawn Michaels will be a wildcard. Will he call it down the middle? Or will he turn heel and side with his buddy, Triple H? I think you would have a better chance of Shawn Michaels going heel than John Cena. Of course, this match doesn't need any big swerve. As I mentioned before, the WWE is treating other angles well that can draw interest for them. In addition, you have Cena being hyped to return. There is no need to get too tricky with Shawn Michaels.

Brock Vs. Triple H: True Summerslam Main Event?

It was obvious for a while that the match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar at Summerslam had the potential to be the true main event of the PPV. Both of these guys were top guys of their respective brands at one time. Brock then left the company. Triple H continued to be pushed as face of the company, until the rise of Cena. Brock went on to eventually find success in UFC. That has brought "legitimacy" to his return hype. He has hurt a lot of top guys in kayfabe since his return. Shawn Michaels was recently added to that list.

This was the first week where Raw really ended with the issues between Triple H and Brock Lesnar. And this is the week leading into Summerslam. Another clear sign that this may be the real main event? This will be the final match on the card? Does it deserve to be? What are the other options? Ignore Smackdown's World title match. A Smackdown World title match has not been the final match on a PPV card in a while. Instead, you have recently seen a string of Cena matches be the final match, even above WWE Championship matches. This time around, Cena happens to actually be in the WWE Championship match at Summerslam. Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Big Show. A while ago, Cena vs. Big Show was big enough to headline a PPV. Granted, John Laurinaitis had his job on the line there, making the match worth more. Toss in CM Punk and the WWE title into things. This is the feud that has been getting the major attention on Raw for weeks now, with the exception of this week. It should deserve to be the main event at Summerslam.

It comes down to hype. Looking around, I see no big summer angle. Was Triple H/Lesnar really supposed to be it? It is a big angle, but I don't feel they have done enough to develop it properly. They spent a long time teasing whether it would happen. They brought in Stephanie McMahon. Paul Heyman returned after years. Shawn Michaels was inserted into the story. If you think about it, that really was not necessary. It was an attempt to heighten the feud. It really wasn't too necessary for the actual storyline. Triple H would already want Lesnar for injuring him, throwing his weight around, and the lawsuits. And now, Triple H wants revenge for his best friend too? It may lead to an eventual storyline involving HBK down the road. If it does not, it would have been an attempt to hype this feud up further that didn't really work. The final 30 minutes or so of Raw seemed so awkward. Just analyzing things outside of kayfabe, the contract signing ended with still some time left to Raw. What would have happened if Lesnar did not attack Shawn Michaels? What else would they have done? And everyone expected the attack, anyway. It just didn't seem to be as fluid as it could have been planned to be. Too much wasted time and attempts to bring in more hype that were not really shocking or fresh. This feud has not been developed well.

Who wins? Can Lesnar finally win a match? Triple H does not need this win. Nothing is even really on the line in this match. Just let Lensar have it to keep some momentum going. This match can go down just like Triple H's loss to Sheamus a few weeks ago. Sheamus attacked Triple H early on before a match they had on PPV. When the match did occur, Triple H was not 100%, still tried to beat Sheamus, gave a great fight, and still lost in the end. Sheamus looked good for winning, but Triple H looked good for not going down easily. The story to this current feud was kind of going in that similar direction. A lot of people were saying Shawn Michaels would throw in the towel for Triple H at Summerslam, after seeing Triple H get destroyed and refuse to quit. Would have been good. Of course, Shawn's injured now, in kayfabe. What will they do now? I'm still thinking Lesnar will win somehow.

Three Legends, One Cell, One Streak

For the third time, Triple H will face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, attempting to end "The Streak". The fact that they made this a Hell in a Cell match was enough to raise the bar from the previous two matches these two had at the big PPV. Many people view Taker as the master of this kind of match. Triple H was undefeated in this kind of match for a while. Who is really king of the Cell? And with Undertaker's win streak on the line? Awesome match right there. On this week's Raw, however, they added even more. And it was not overkill. Shawn Michaels is the ref. Given that he was slightly involved in the build last year, and he has history with both men, adding him is perfect. It makes the storyline more interesting too.

Besides giving WWE credit for building this match well, I want to talk about it because I frequently don't get to talk about a feud like this. I'm usually talking about the WWE using one person to put over another, then demoting somebody back down. Sometimes, I may talk about feuds like the one Jinder Mahal and Ted DiBiase kind of had a few months ago, where neither man really benefited well. Taker/HHH is not that. Both of these guys can be considered WWE royalty. Both are legendary over, treated with about the same amount of legendary respect by the company, and I don't feel one is simply being used for the benefit of the other. No matter how the match is booked to go down at Wrestlemania, both will continue to be treated well by the company. Both will be in the Hall of Fame one day, and most likely at the top of the list of inductees. This is how the WWE is able to create an epic feud that will benefit everyone involved, including, hopefully, the fans. Even if you throw Shawn Michaels into the discussion, he is at the same level as these guys. All are legends the WWE has been very supportive of. Again, no matter the outcome, no one will really get hurt. The WWE is not going to want to screw any of these guys' legacies.

Just for the sake of mentioning it, Raw this week, which featured both Shawn Michaels and The Rock, got a 3.2 rating. I'll say no more on that.

Taker, HHH, HBK In One Ring

The segment to hype Taker/HHH this week on Raw was a lot better than the one last week. The obvious reason for that was it wasn't just Triple H talking to himself and squashing some random afterthought. This promo tonight had emotion. It had respect that didn't sink to sappy levels. It then tossed that out and had some actual bite to it too. Shawn Michaels also made a return. Shawn had harsh words for Triple H. Triple H thinks he can do what Shawn couldn't does he? Triple H did not dance around that he was out there to win, not steal the show. Taker brought up how he pretty much ended Shawn's career. HBK ended up walking out in the end, having once again lost his smile. This promo really took the hype for this match to that other level for me. Something finally did. Before this promo, it seemed like The Undertaker would be the obvious choice for me to choose as who wins. Now the emotion seems different. Will Shawn really get involved to prove some kind of point? I am finally starting to buy Triple H in this whole feud now. It definitely is a contender to close the show in my eyes now. Better than four women catfighting in some bar.