Analysis: Why Daniel Bryan will be the next big star

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

Introduction:

As you all know, Daniel Bryan has been with the WWE since 2010. His career had already been a good one for a wrestler, having won a World Championship with ROH, arguably the third biggest wrestling company behind TNA and of course, WWE. However, his career with WWE got off to a shaky start after an interesting run in WWE NXT. During the Nexus's debut, he was released for being too violent in front of a PG crowd, although WWE were apologetic. He made a surprise return later in the year to face off against the Nexus at Summerslam 2010. He then went on to quickly become the US Champion, and then won the Smackdown MITB briefcase in 2011. He cashed in the contract at TLC against an incapacitated Big Show to win the WHC. He had a decent reign, holding it until Wrestlemania 28, before he very controversially lost the title to Sheamus in one of the quickest Wrestlemania matches ever. This could have potentially destroyed all of Bryan's creditibility, but he bounced back. He then formed a tag team with Kane and after a critically acclaimed comedy segment, they became akin to the Odd Couple and won the WWE Tag Team Championships, and they held the titles for an impressive 245 days before losing them to The Shield.

But enough of the history lesson. Daniel Bryan has recently developed the new angle of being thought of as the weakest link, and has been on an absolute tear as of late. He is immensely over with both normal fans and the IWC for his charisma, in-ring skill and his connection with the fans respectively. He was recently named the Number 1 contender to John Cena's title by Cena himself and this, along with CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar is setting up to be the biggest battle this Summer.

From what I can see, I think WWE has Bryan ready to ascend to greatness. He's got lots of TV Time, Vince is very high on him and the fans adore him. So here's a look at what Daniel Bryan has to help him become a huge player in the WWE:

The Yes Chants: These play a big role on getting Bryan over. Ric Flair has "Woo", Stone Cold has "What" and Daniel Bryan has "Yes" and "No". And it's not as if it's a half-assed midcarder gimmick chant, it's a chant that has everybody in the audience chanting. I'm not saying Bryan is on the same level as Flair and Austin yet, but simple things such as sayings sell a huge deal of merchandise (Respect the Beard comes into this as well) and the audience always loves to react to things as they happen. Maybe after Bryan retires, wrestlers exchanging punches could be met with "Yes" and "No" for the Face and Heel respectively. It's by no means set in stone, but it could become a crowd gimmick, very much like "Woo" for chops and "What" for pauses in conversation and stamping. My point is, this is one of the main reasons why the common audiences love Bryan, the fact that he can rally up the crowd with one word is amazing.

He's against the most recognized face in recent years at the second biggest PPV of the year: Whether you like John Cena or not, he is the face of the PG Era, no if's or but's about it. And he's against Bryan. The thing that makes this feud so good is that both men have a huge deal of respect for each other. It's not another Ryback or Mark Henry stirring shit by attacking Cena and squashing people. It's an actual relationship where Cena actually thinks highly of Bryan and vice-versa. When John Cena, the biggest name in wrestling today thinks highly of you, that's a good sign. It's not another bad guy for Cena to crush, it's a fellow face that's just as over, if not more over than he is. This creates a big clash of the titans match that will bring in money for SummerSlam.

Both sets of fans are very high on him:
The IWC and the casual fans both love him because he is the complete package. You could argue that CM Punk has the same connection too, but I think the IWC is a little more high on him than the casual fans imo. With Bryan, you have both. The IWC love him for his amazing technical wrestling skill and good mic-skills while the casual fans love him for being an excitable star and for the chants and merchandise. It's VERY rare for a wrestler to win over both sides of wrestling, and only very few have done that.

Everybody high up is high on him:
Why would Vince be involved in the story if he wasn't high on him? Why would HHH be in his corner in kayfabe? If they weren't high on him, they wouldn't be there. Simple. Vince has been reported to be extremely high on Bryan, and I'm pretty sure he knows that coming from the chants and the merchandise sales, whereas HHH is more traditional, he probably likes him for his in-ring ability and charisma. Either way, the 2 main guys in the business love him, it's clearly visible by his recent push.

Merchandise/Money:
Look at how well the "Respect the Beard" shirt selled. Look at how many people love Bryan and want to see him vs Cena at Summerslam. He'll make the WWE a lot of money through selling PPV's and Merchandise.

His in-ring work:
His in-ring work is honestly on-par with the some of the greatest technicians, such as Malenko and Benoit. The only improvement he could do with is a pinfall finisher to hit out of nowhere (Sitout Facebuster, ala X-Pac? Could be hit out of nowhere) to get the crowd REALLY rallied up. Despite this, he still remains among one of the best in-ring performers in the business today and is capable of amazing matches, just look at his work with Antonio Cesaro 2 weeks ago.

Even if Orton walks out Champion, he'll still be immensely over:
Why? Because people will want to back him more than ever. Having Bryan win only for Orton to cash-in makes Orton look like the enormous dick for spoiling the moment, and people will want to boo Orton and cheer Bryan even more. And Bryan winning the title without Orton or even beating Orton if he cashes in would be great for obvious reasons.

He's still quite young:
He's 32. To put this into perspective, Austin 3:16 happened when Austin was 31. There's still loads of time left in his career, and he also doesn't have an injury (god forbid) that limits his time in ring unlike Austin (although this did occur after Austin 3:16 for Austin)

CONCLUSION:
Bryan is the complete package. He has all the tools to carve himself as a huge name in the WWE. I am very doubtful that Cena will be walking out as Champion and I've already explained the benefit of Orton walking out as Champion at Summerslam. With this, Bryan will become a major part of the WWE and this is, in my opinion, his rise to stardom.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

Informative analysis indeed. D Bryan is definitely a top legit main eventer in the making and everything is going his way. He has surpassed the " so called main eventers" in sheamus, del rio, miz and swagger. Besides Cm Punk, DBryan is one man who you can definitively say hes on the rise to stardom unlike any of the "midcard world champion" that has been claimed by the ppl.

My definition of a star, though, is cena, taker, hbk. The elite, the household name. You can debate if cm punk is a star and a household name atm. Dbryan is on his way becoming a legit maineventer. Will he become a star in the future is something we have to wait.

The only obstacle in the way of D bryan is vince. D bryan is roughly 5'10. Hes small. Is vince gonna allow this guy to be positioned as "The Face" of the company similar to cena?? Is vince gonna go all out with Daniel Bryan? thats what im speculating.

I dont see him to be on the level of cena or hbk. Thats a little too much imo. Even then at the end of the day, if wwe doesnt pull the plug on D bryan, hes capable to become similar to the likes of chris jericho, kurt angle or eddie guerrero.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I don't see Bryan as the complete package. He has the in-ring skills, but I don't see his charisma or mic skills as anything special, never have. He's incredibly over right now, but these things come and go in WWE. Only the truly special can maintain that momentum for prolonged periods of time. I see Daniel Bryan more like a Kane-type wrestler in terms of card placement - he's a good temporary main eventer when the company is low on star power, but he'll spend the majority of his time in the midcard and/or tag team division. I think Bryan will likely hold one, maybe two more World titles in his career, but I see him ending his career as a multiple-time WWE Tag Team Champion, with a variety of partners.

 

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

Informative analysis indeed. D Bryan is definitely a top legit main eventer in the making and everything is going his way. He has surpassed the " so called main eventers" in sheamus, del rio, miz and swagger. Besides Cm Punk, DBryan is one man who you can definitively say hes on the rise to stardom unlike any of the "midcard world champion" that has been claimed by the ppl.

My definition of a star, though, is cena, taker, hbk. The elite, the household name. You can debate if cm punk is a star and a household name atm. Dbryan is on his way becoming a legit maineventer. Will he become a star in the future is something we have to wait.

The only obstacle in the way of D bryan is vince. D bryan is roughly 5'10. Hes small. Is vince gonna allow this guy to be positioned as "The Face" of the company similar to cena?? Is vince gonna go all out with Daniel Bryan? thats what im speculating.

I dont see him to be on the level of cena or hbk. Thats a little too much imo. Even then at the end of the day, if wwe doesnt pull the plug on D bryan, hes capable to become similar to the likes of chris jericho, kurt angle or eddie guerrero.

Vince isn't an obstacle, an interview with HBK apparently reports that Vince is very high on Bryan, and this is backed up heavily by his involvement in the Bryan-Cena feud and the fact that Vince wants money, and Bryan is helping him get it. The difference between this and Punk in 2011 is that Punk was heel, Bryan is face. Faces sell more than heels for the most part.

I honestly think he'll reach the level inbetween the Cena, HBK level and the Jericho, Angle and Eddie level. Sort of the same level as Bret Hart and The Rock. On the other hand, Cena could be semi-passing the torch here. Cena could still maintain a very high profile in the WWE with various feuds, and they could even turn him heel late into his career. But I can't see Cena having a proper title run again, unless he's being used as a transitional champion to put people over.

I don't see Bryan as the complete package. He has the in-ring skills, but I don't see his charisma or mic skills as anything special, never have. He's incredibly over right now, but these things come and go in WWE. Only the truly special can maintain that momentum for prolonged periods of time. I see Daniel Bryan more like a Kane-type wrestler in terms of card placement - he's a good temporary main eventer when the company is low on star power, but he'll spend the majority of his time in the midcard and/or tag team division. I think Bryan will likely hold one, maybe two more World titles in his career, but I see him ending his career as a multiple-time WWE Tag Team Champion, with a variety of partners.

The reactions that Bryan have been getting recently are some of the best I've seen. He's over both with the IWC and the casual fans, so the response to him is completely positive. As for his charisma, just look at the "Yes" chants. Completely rallies up the fans. His mic-skills are also above average imo, room for improvement, but certainly passable. I think putting him at the levels you're suggesting is by no means horrific, but I do think it will be a missed opportunity to create a major star.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think the key take away with Punk's and Bryan's rise to super stardom and being the most over of the roster besides Cena is that learning your craft from various independent promotions or promotions outside the WWE's arm is just as important as ever. You look at what Punk and Bryan brought to the table this past few years. Besides a different in ring style is that they know how to put the crowd in the palm of their hands from Bryan's "Yes" chants, to Punk's promo going as far as his heel turn with Jeff Hardy, they do seem more like seasoned talents than the ones that have come from the WWE Developmental.

I think the reason for this is simple. WWE has trainers in these developmental territories but you can only learn so much from one "school of thought". They always say it's better to learn from various groups to expand your skills and talents, and I believe that the advantage Bryan and Punk have over guys like Ziggler, Rhodes, and Sheamus.

 

[Horatio Fellatio]

John Cena is dating the Bella with big fake tits and Daniel Bryan has the one with little natural tits. Which one is better? Who's to say?

I would think they'd compare notes since twins are the same people. I was raised to believe twins are actually demon incest abominations of God. I'm sure John and Daniel can compare notes on what makes these demon ****es get off in bed. It's only logical.

I imagine that Nikki shaves her pubic hair like an N and Brie shaves her pubic hair like a B.

Have you ever accidentally said pubic instead of public or vice versa? Geez that's embarrassing, right?

 

[GameOver]

I think the key take away with Punk's and Bryan's rise to super stardom and being the most over of the roster besides Cena is that learning your craft from various independent promotions or promotions outside the WWE's arm is just as important as ever. You look at what Punk and Bryan brought to the table this past few years. Besides a different in ring style is that they know how to put the crowd in the palm of their hands from Bryan's "Yes" chants, to Punk's promo going as far as his heel turn with Jeff Hardy, they do seem more like seasoned talents than the ones that have come from the WWE Developmental.

I think the reason for this is simple. WWE has trainers in these developmental territories but you can only learn so much from one "school of thought". They always say it's better to learn from various groups to expand your skills and talents, and I believe that the advantage Bryan and Punk have over guys like Ziggler, Rhodes, and Sheamus.

Indy circuit can be thought of as exactly the same as the terratories in the 80's, guys going from promotion to promotion battling everyone and in a wide range of circumstances which forces you to learn or fail, as opposed to being hired and immediately thrown into a WWE ring with little outside of WWE experience.

as for Vince hates Bryan, seriously if Vince hated Bryan he would not even be on TV. Get real, he obviously approves of any push for the goat boy and CM Punk, he may not personally think they should be a proven commodity just like Bret Hart or any canadian in general but he still gives the go ahead and is man enough to be proven wrong but stubborn enough to make it hard to do that..
and aslong as they are making money for him that's his main concern.