There is a lot of talk about what to do with Daniel Bryan right now. After he finally got his Wrestlemania main event, the WWE had Sheamus squash him in just over ten seconds to win the World Championship. Now, the WWE is at a crossroads of what to do with Bryan.
Daniel Bryan
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Before he came to the WWE, Bryan wrestled in Ring of Honor as Bryan Danielson. He started out as a bland baby face that the fans soon rallied behind because he was tough as nails. Then, he became a bad guy, mainly because he knew how good he was and started wrestling with an arrogance.
When he came to the WWE, he started out on NXT and came out with a small feud with The Miz. Then Bryan was a part of Nexus until the WWE fired him for stupid reasons, based on one specific Nexus attack. Then, fans began to chant his name and the WWE brought him back. He was the little good guy, received a forgettable U.S. title reign and was booked horribly outside of that.
Then, something happened when he moved to Smackdown and began to pick up some wins. He was booked strong, albeit sneaky, and soon made a slow burn heal turn. He beat some guys cleanly, like Cody Rhodes, and fought many men, such as Big Show and Mark Henry, without fear. They also made him a solid heal but had him take the easy way out when it looked like he couldn't win the match cleanly. Yes, he took too many DQ and count out shortcuts, but before he did, he was willing to put on a strong offense against men 200 pounds heavier than him.
That meant that, while the fans loved to boo him, they started to respect him as well.
This explains why, on the WWE Monday Night Raw following Wrestlemania, fans booed Sheamus and chanted for Daniel Bryan the entire night. They even did Bryan's chant during John Cena's promo, causing Cena to give Bryan a shout out. Sheamus is looking at a feud with Alberto Del Rio while Bryan got a backstage segment where he fumed, angrily, about his title loss. There are now ideas that, once the Sheamus and Del Rio feud ends, Bryan will turn face and Sheamus will turn heal.
After Smackdown, I don't see that happening. The fans were chanting "Yes Yes Yes…" for Bryan and then chanted "Daniel Bryan," but in response, he called the fans sheep and broke up with A.J. in the middle of the ring. Bryan makes too good of a bad guy to turn good.
I'd hate to see him get buried now that he lost the belt, but believe if they keep him bad, he could reach Bret Hart levels of success in the WWE. Bryan is still one of the best villains in the WWE today and I can't wait to see what is next.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a professional wrestling fan since the rock and roll days of the 80s. Shawn watched all the promotions, but held an affinity for the more rugged ones in the Mid South and Dallas focused World Class regions. He still watches wrestling today, enjoying the WWE, TNA and ROH, watching all three on television weekly.
Source: WWE.COM
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