If Bryan is winning the Rumble, should we then assume that Bryan/HHH WON'T be happening at Wrestlemania but rather before? Unless they factor it somehow so that HHH ends up with the WWE Title but I'm highly skeptical of that happening. (Would be epic, though.)
If the plan is to have Bryan get his big Wrestlemania moment where he wins the WWE Championship and gets to have an actual lengthy reign without having to feud against some kind of corporate regime, then him winning the Rumble makes sense. It's not about who "needs" it. It's about using the Rumble to build towards a (title) match at WM. That's what the Rumble has been about since the #1 contender stipulation was added in 1993 and having the Rumble winner get the headlining title match (as opposed to an under card world title match, like 2006/2007/2008/2010/2011/2012) makes the Rumble victory more prestigious.
I just wonder what the WWE Title match would be. Bryan/Punk? Bryan/Cena? Bryan/Cena/Punk? Bryan/HHH? I can't see Bryan NOT facing HHH after how recent events are being built up to lead to that match, and HHH obviously isn't skipping out on Mania, so maybe the belt somehow ends up around HHH's waist and they go at it with the title on the line in a "If you really want this title, you'll have to go through ME" way.
