>>12844540That promo segment between the two was shit.
Bryan had always been over with the smark audience in the 'E due to his indy cred, bu in 2013 he'd gotten over with the entire crowd organically, through his run with Hell No, his chant, and more recently at the time, his story with Kane/Taker where he was trying to prove that he wasn't the weak link in their dealings with the Shield, where they ultimately prevailed with him proving his worth, not just that he wasn't the weak link but he was the strongest of them all despite his diminutive stature. He was an underdog and a guy who was able to connect with the fans within matches, not just by doing moves, but by really understanding ring psychology and how to cater to the fanbase he was in front of.
In that promo segment, though, he was leaning hard into the CM Punk shoot-style, indy-pandering stuff, which sucked. It's not the reason he had gotten over to that point, and it exposed him badly. Plus, in kayfabe it didn't make any sense. Why would he, an underdog babyface who had spent so much time proving himself, not actually respect Cena? Why was he calling him a parody? He was lucky Cena was there willing to carry him, because it really could have killed his push right there had he been against someone more insidious.
