A few thoughts

[Starkiller]

Thanks to the WWE Network, I've been able to catch up on what's led us up to this point here in wrestling, as I've only come back within the last couple of months, and I have a few ideas/theories.....

Spoiler:

- Almost everything, from HHH, to Punk, to what's happened with Daniel Bryan, Batista, the Wyatts, the Shield, is all part of one GIANT storyline. It's all tied together. I was watching Night of Champions and from there, it was clear that HHH was at the end of the road for Bryan, it may have never been Punk at all.

- The Wyatts answer to "the devil" or a greater power, it's the authority. It's HHH. (could that make "Sister Abigail" Steph?) Go back on the Network and watch the promo for the Punk/Bryan vs Harper/Rowen match. It makes sense. Also, when the Shield were wanting to challenge the Wyatts, it was HHH who told them to "let it go" and "don't pursue this, you won't like it.".

- It may have gone over TOO WELL (in a sense), but Batista being rejected by the fans may have been exactly what they (authority/creative) wanted. Both Punk and Bryan would have been very worth Rumble winners, however Kane (authority) screwed Kane and Bryan sent out those kayfabe/worked shoot tweets afterwards. Add in Batista's recent SD promo about taking out all your heroes, 190 nobodies, etc....

While we have all been focusing on what happened on the most recent telecasts and PPV, I feel we may have missed all the grand clues along the way, that maybe, if I'm right, and depending of if there is a return of Punk, we may be witnessing one of the best angles and most deep seeded storylines of all time.

[whysoserious]

I think you're just giving them too much credit for having a plan.

[Cammo101]

I think you're just giving them too much credit for having a plan.

This.

It is the equivalent of reading things into a book that you want to be true and then deciding that was the author's pretext. HHH has done nothing to show he is anywhere near this clever.

[NeedsMoreCheese]

All the evidence i need of them not actually having a plan like this is the whole Wyatts/Daniel Bryan thing. Look how rushed that was because the fans just wouldn't put up with it until Mania and they knew that.

If we're being honest with ourselves, they completely underestimated how much the fans would react to Daniel Bryan and they haven't truly figured out how to rectify the situation without just giving the fans what they want because it doesn't line up with what they want.

CM Punk walked out because of their crap, not as some part of a larger angle.

I understand your optimistic point of view, i really do, and i wish it was true too, but sadly it isn't.

[SDM]

I actually agree with you, OP, for the most part. I don't think it applies to every plot point you listed, but I definitely do think Bryan/HHH was the long game. I remember when dudes were freaking out in October and November, and I kept saying, "Bryan's not getting buried, he's getting the most screen time, he's getting marquee matches, he's kicking out of finishers, he's landing his... he's just not going to get the title... yet". There were many hints to this, but I think fans were, rightfully, impatient.

I also think WWE Universe COO Trips is a different guy today than he was a few years ago... he's always been smart, conniving, and able to see many steps ahead as he played office politics, but that was self-serving, about getting and maintaining his spot. One may not like how he rigged things to his favour over the years, but he's definitely capable of constructing a larger end game. Hell, his entire career was one long game of leapfrog with participants who didn't even know they were playing. But now he's at the top of the mountain and he doesn't have to protect his spot. Do I think he's smart enough to pull something like this off? Without question. They might not be committed to this, but I don't think Trips is an idiot. Far from it, in fact. An office politics/B+ player angle, this whole Authority thing, is soooooo Triple H it hurts. This leads me to believe he knows what he's doing, in theory.

I'm also not as adamant as others that Punk is gone. He can talk about the state of the company or his personal finances being in order, but that's meaningless. Everyone's a sell out and Punk likes to take a principled stand because that's what his fans want, so it works. So, I'm waiting for WrestleMania. If there's no Punk, then he's gone. If he does come back-- or if he never went away in the first place-- there's your guy to screw Bryan out of his big WM moment (to hopefully set up a Punk RR win and main event next year against Bryan).

[Dunthreevy]

I actually agree with you, OP, for the most part. I don't think it applies to every plot point you listed, but I definitely do think Bryan/HHH was the long game. I remember when dudes were freaking out in October and November, and I kept saying, "Bryan's not getting buried, he's getting the most screen time, he's getting marquee matches, he's kicking out of finishers, he's landing his... he's just not going to get the title... yet". There were many hints to this, but I think fans were, rightfully, impatient.

I also think WWE Universe COO Trips is a different guy today than he was a few years ago... he's always been smart, conniving, and able to see many steps ahead as he played office politics, but that was self-serving, about getting and maintaining his spot. One may not like how he rigged things to his favour over the years, but he's definitely capable of constructing a larger end game. Hell, his entire career was one long game of leapfrog with participants who didn't even know they were playing. But now he's at the top of the mountain and he doesn't have to protect his spot. Do I think he's smart enough to pull something like this off? Without question. They might not be committed to this, but I don't think Trips is an idiot. Far from it, in fact. An office politics/B+ player angle, this whole Authority thing, is soooooo Triple H it hurts. This leads me to believe he knows what he's doing, in theory.

I'm also not as adamant as others that Punk is gone. He can talk about the state of the company or his personal finances being in order, but that's meaningless. Everyone's a sell out and Punk likes to take a principled stand because that's what his fans want, so it works. So, I'm waiting for WrestleMania. If there's no Punk, then he's gone. If he does come back-- or if he never went away in the first place-- there's your guy to screw Bryan out of his big WM moment (to hopefully set up a Punk RR win and main event next year against Bryan).

I would love nothing more. Punk as a heel is absolutely gold, no, it's gold, platinum, diamonds and all sorts of other rare jewels, and tits too.

[skbucks1985]

I'm very dismissive of theories like this for 2 reasons. One, whether its wrestling, sports, politics, etc. I ascribe to the philosophy that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. For example with the Batista-Orton match, its as simple as they thought Batista was The Rock and he simply is not.

The second is that you see them frequently make these really easy to foresee mistakes. A few recently, Batista'a debut video packages sucked. They could've made him look like a star, show him on movie sets hanging out with Russell Crowe and Vin Diesel, show him getting his arm raised in an MMA match, show him on the set of GOTG and speaking at this huge panel at Comic-Con. I don't know if his return would be in better shape if they'd done that but it would've been a lot better than what they did. At the Rumble, they should've done some sort of injury angle with Bryan and explicitly state that he's no longer in the building and they definitely should've had Rey come out earlier and a heel come out at number 30. None of these examples would've changed on-going story lines in any real way but would've simply given the stories they're telling a better chance at success. And that relates to why I'm dismissive of this theory because when people watch a show like Breaking Bad and allow there minds to formulate these often far-fetched theories its because these are very tightly written, well structured shows and its conceivable that the show could go in that direction because they've shown that they can handle a story like that.

One other thing, the whole 'devil made me do it' thing that Bray Wyatt said in his promo. For one, he only said it once and for a guy like Bray Wyatt who speaks in riddles like that if there's no follow-up, which there wasn't, it should just be chalked up as one of those weird things Bray Wyatt says. Secondly, when Chris Jericho came back in 2011 and they started doing vignettes for it in late 2010, there was a girl is the videos. And there was plenty of speculation, including some that I did, as to the identity of said girl. Jericho's been asked about it since then and he said there was never going to be a girl including her was just done to increase the weird-factor of the videos. And I think in that vein there was never a 'devil' it was just one of those weird things Bray Wyatt said.

[Starkiller]

^ Yeah, I wasn't saying that's exactly what I think more so than just a hypothetical what if type thing. If it went that deep, it'd be amazing.