By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

The Case of Daniel Bryan. It was inevitable Bryan would be blamed for poor summer-time PPV buys for Summerslam and Night of Champions. After all, WWE set up Bryan to fail. Plus, there's the over-arching issue of it taking time for the general audience to accept newer stars - especially undersized wrestlers - as worthy of $55 plus tax.

It started with Bryan being granted a WWE Title shot at Summerslam against top star John Cena, not by the merits of winning streaks or recent victories over Randy Orton. But, by emerging through a crowd of taller, bigger wrestlers assembled on-stage after being presented as if he won a fan sweepstakes to get a title shot.

Then, WWE presented PPV build-up that diminished, knocked, ridiculed, and stressed perceived weaknesses of Daniel Bryan. But, not in a way that set up Bryan to "prove those comments wrong." More, it was Vince McMahon reminding the audience over and over and over that "this guy" is who you want to cheer for? Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

Then, Bryan beat Cena clean for the WWE Title and the narrative quickly shifted to new heel Triple H's "The Authority" faction ruling WWE. Bryan's great accomplishment was quickly erased and WWE went even heavier on knocking Bryan leading into Night of Champions. But, again, not in a way that set up Bryan to "prove those comments wrong." More, it was Vince McMahon reminding the audience over and over and over that "this guy" is REALLY who you want to cheer for? Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

John Cena giving way to Bryan was proven to be a temporary move while Cena recovered from his triceps procedure. But, WWE had a chance to make a new PPV-money-spending star - a process that could have been accelerated.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks and I discussed the other side of this story concerning Bryan and C.M. Punk a few weeks ago on the Livecast. How long does it take for the general audience to accept undersized, non-John Cena/Hulk Hogan-like stars as worthy of their PPV dollars and general disposable income?

Punk's spotlight was in 2011 when the pipebomb begat MITB 2011, which begat Summerslam 2011. Neither produced the type of significant bump in business that many people expected coming out of Punk's promo. Why? The general audience is used to a certain type of top-level, #1, ace, Face of WWE star. For eight years, it's been John Cena. Trying to break the mold with someone else takes time.

Fast-forward to 2013 and WWE had their shot with Bryan while Cena was on the sidelines. Instead, the hype for Summerslam, Night of Champions, and the October PPVs was all about why Bryan should NOT be The Guy. Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

So, WWE remains in the John Cena Business. Which is fine. He's the proven #1, opening-day star who connects with the broadest audience. But, look at the list of injuries on Cena's resume. It reads like an injury report for a retired NFL Quarterback. At some point, WWE is going to need that back-up QB again.

People say the back-up QB is the most-popular player on a struggling team. That was Punk in 2011. And Bryan in 2013. But, most recently, WWE set up Bryan for failure and decelerated the process of finding the next starting QB for the fanbase to rally around.

There were surely other factors affecting summer-time PPV buys - diminished value of Brock Lesnar as a draw, three-hour Raws reducing value of three-hour PPVs, etc. But, Cena vs. Bryan for the WWE Title was supposed to draw people in. I just can't put my finger on why Cena vs. Some Guy Who Seemingly Lucked Into A Title Shot And We Don't Know Why Everyone Shouts "Yes!" All The Time didn't draw.

Join Caldwell and Parks on today's PWTorch Livecast to discuss this topic and other topics at 5:30 EST at PWTorchLivecast.com.

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