33/34 isn't old at all lol. I know it's older for a physical athlete than it is for a normal person, but barring any spontaneous event where Bryan is forced into retirement because of his already existing injuries, he could still go for another ten or fifteen years. Most wrestlers can still perform well into their forties. Age is sometimes just a number. I agree that Reigns will almost certainly get the push at next year's Wrestlemania, but in the long run, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a repeat of The New Generation Era where they intend on making the big guy the new face of the company (Diesel and now Reigns) but the smaller, more technically-gifted wrestlers end up overtaking him and outshining him in popularity anyway (Bret and Shawn back then, and Bryan now.)
And where did you read that Bryan's merchandise wasn't selling well? He's #2 behind John Cena the last I checked.
Being #2 in, and of itself, is misleading. Cena has so much stuff on the market, its unbelievable.
This isn't like being the #2 guy in past years. Savage was a #2, Rock was a #2, Punk was a #2 and Sting was a#2.
I'm not sure, but just because you have more items doesn't indicate they are all selling.
It's possible that the limited items Punk has left is still selling more than Daniel Bryan.
If you took Rey at his peak, Jeff Hardy at his peak and CM Punk at his peak they all probably beat Bryan's peak in terms of merch.
33/34 wasn't old in the previous regime, but HHH is putting his stamp on NXT. He's eager to make those guys stars.
Daniel Bryan also has 15 years under his belt working a high risk style, wrestling guys far bigger.
Guys like HHH and Flair perform far lower risks than Bryan ever has. This was why I brought up his age.
