What if Daniel Bryan remained a member of The Nexus?

A question that I have never seen discussed before. Judging on Daniel Bryan's current status as the World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown, what if Daniel Bryan was never released in the first place for the choking incident, and he remained as a member in The Nexus? Here are a two scenarios that most likely would have been used.

Scenario 1: Fade Away

One member of the original Nexus has become a star since the disbanding of the large stable last year. Coincidentally, that member was the leader of Nexus, Wade Barrett. He was the only member to find good success after the storyline ended. Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield and David Otunga all have faded away into nothing due to injury or their inability to gain momentum.

Let's say Daniel Bryan was still around, would he have experienced the same fate as fellow stable-mates? Or would he have found some form of success? Judging on where all the other members have ended up, it's hard to say. Even with all of Bryan's talent and skills, it would have been incredibly hard for him to try and dig himself out of the mud whilst in the same position as his fellow stable-mates (excluding Barrett). Another factor to be added into the mix is that the WWE most likely would have booked Daniel Bryan the same way they booked everyone else in the stable excluding the leader. He would have been booked weak. He would been booked to be dominated each week by Orton or Cena.

So if we use this highly possible scenario, Daniel Bryan would have been in a lot of trouble. There would have been a high chance that even with all of his skills, he still would have suffered the same fate as his fellow members, Otunga, Slater, Gabriel, Tarver, Young and Sheffield.

Scenario 2: Takeover

This scenario is a more interesting one. Daniel Bryan clearly displayed more skills in the first season of NXT than any other participant. So the WWE could have done a storyline involving Daniel Bryan trying to takeover the leadership of Nexus. There's two ways the WWE could have gone with this particular scenario. They could have had Daniel Bryan try to take over the stable to make it good, to stop it from attacking random superstars each week. Or he could have just over taken it for his own enjoyment and because he thought he was a better leader.

This takeover scenario no matter how it would be done, would make Daniel Bryan into a bigger star much quicker. His push would have been completely different and it would have changed the aspect of The Nexus storyline. If you eventually had CM Punk come in to lead the New Nexus, a feud between Daniel Bryan and CM Punk could have been outstanding. Imagine the duo feuding up until WrestleMania last year, and you would have the both of them facing off for the leadership of Nexus. Would have been highly entertaining.

Closing Thoughts

So as we can see, one scenario displays a whole lot of negatives if Daniel Bryan remained a member in The Nexus. The second scenario displays a good list of positives.

Judging on both of these scenarios, it would have depended on how the WWE wanted to book Bryan. It's easy to say that the second scenario should have been done because of how good Daniel Bryan's character is at the moment, but we have to consider that the position he is in now is a whole lot different to his position back then.

In my honest opinion, I look at Bryan's skills, and see how talented he is, and I believe the WWE could have booked the second scenario due to Bryan's capability.

Feel free to leave your thoughts.

I disagree. Bryan's mic skills are average at best. Wade would have talked circles around him and that would translate into the ring.

Are you kidding? Have you been watching SmackDown? The way Daniel Bryan has developed his mic skills is incredible. Not only has it helped his momentum as World Heavyweight Champion, but it has helped elevate his character to an incredible extent.

Good idea for an article Pricey. The problem with D-Bry's mic skills are that he's only decent when a heel and if they did what you suggested then it would be heel vs heel and Barrett would still own him on the mic. I like your ideas though

Barrett is much better on the mic. Especially thoughout that time, but back then, Bryan's main gimmick was that he is a submission specialist. That's what would have backed him up back then. His mic skills could have developed throughout time.

You're opinion. Obviously everyone has their own opinion. I think Bryan's character is great at the moment.

Good topic for an article, Price.
Another scenario I could have seen happening - Bryan eventually turns face against the Nexus (a la Randy Orton and Batista with Evolution). I could see him either joining Cena and Orton (not like they really needed it, though), or talking some members of Nexus to join him. Instead of the stupid split we had with Nexus and Corre where nothing came of it, have a face Nexus and a heel Nexus feuding.