Daniel Bryans US Championship Reign

[Ruthless-RKO]

What I would like to know is, what you all thought of his title run?

He won the title from Miz at last years Night of Champions ppv in September, held the title for 176 days before losing it last week to Sheamus on Raw.

Shockingly, he defending the title only twice, the first came when he retained it at Hell in a Cell ppv in what I would call a great opener and then again at Survivor Series against Ted DiBiase..
(If I am mistaken, please correct me)

He had a lot of non-title matches on Raw against superstars like Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, William Regal, Zack Ryder and John Morrison..

IMO, he had a decent run, I wouldn't call it that good, but he was werstling every week, we got to see the title, he put on some good matches even though the title wasn't being defending as much.. He also lost quite a lot of his non-title matches which I don't see a good thing.. Some matches he had that were non-title matches, I think should have been for the title, it would have amde him a stronger champion showing how much he cares that he can retain the title soo many times e.g. against DiBiase on Raw and his win against Jack Swagger at the Old School Raw..

What do you think about his first reign as US Champion? Was he a good champion? Could he have been better? Discuss!!

 

[UFOcalling]

I voted "GOOD" in your poll. To be honest, I didn't realize (until you pointed it out) that Bryan only defended the title twice! That's crazy, it almost doesn't even seem right (although I'm sure you did your research, and that must be correct).

Although Bryan didn't defend the title much, in my opinion he was booked to look strong all through his US Title reign. Bryan is my favorite wrestler currently in the WWE roster, and all of his matches as the United States Champion were phenomenal IMHO (non-title, or otherwise). Even though he lost some non-title matches, I still feel that he still looked strong even in defeat. I don't remember any of his losses being complete squashes, each loss he had felt like he only lost because of one small mistake toward the end of the match(es). Does that make sense?

I don't remember the Miz defending the title much either, before he dropped the title to Bryan. Before Sheamus beat Bryan for the belt, it seemed like there wasn't too much emphasis placed on the US Championship; it didn't seem that the belt was coveted by other Superstars. Maybe now with Sheamus' reign, the belt will garner even more prestige. I'm also looking forward to the inevitable Bryan/Sheamus rematch (for the title)...I believe that even if Bryan is unsuccessful in recapturing the title, he will still look strong (Bryan will still give Sheamus a run for his money).

I wish I could have voted "Very Good" or "Excellent" in the poll, but given the small amount of defenses that Daniel competed in - I could only vote "Good" for his reign. I hope that Bryan will turn heel soon, I think that his style of wrestling would work better for a heel character.

All in all, I believe Bryan's US Title reign did quite a bit for his character. In my opinion, the reign did more to help Bryan's character than it did to hinder it. I believe that seeing Bryan with the belt (and the way that he dropped it to Sheamus) helped elevate the US Title's importance. Hopefully we'll see it defended more in the future.

 

[Dom Nom Nom]

Bryan defended it a lot during Raw, I remember him having title matches against Regal and a few others.

My opinion of Bryan's reign would definitely be that he brought the prestige back to the title. It went from essentially being Miz's prop to a legitimate title again. Bryan was definitely a fighting champion, and I honestly do hope he gets another long reign (maybe doing the same with the IC title or getting a ME push)

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I voted very good. Anybody who said it was poor are idiots. Daniel Bryan has been defending that title in almost every PPV last year, either that, or he looked strong with it. He beat The Miz, numerous times in total, he looked strong as a champion against Dolph Ziggler, defeating him 3 times. His triple threat match in Hell in a Cell was good too, though Ted Dibiase was on a boring roll, Daniel Bryan made him watchable at least. He brought prestige back to the title, where Miz only had the title in the first place was because WWE wanted to make him look pretty. Anyways, WWE put him down the past couple of months, and I'm praying that he's added to WM 28 against Sheamus for the US title.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Daniel Bryan's US Championship reign was good.

Sure, he defended the title only twice on television, but he did defend the title against Ted DiBiase a few times on house shows (if I recall correctly). Whatever the case is, he looked good in all of his matches. I loved his three consecutive matches against Dolph Ziggler. That was competitive and made both guys stand out. It was reminiscent to the quality of Shawn Michaels' matches -- long-lasting and unpredictable.

Also, I don't know why it's neglected, but Daniel Bryan defeated the Miz THREE times, not twice. He beat the Miz prior to winning the US Championship with a reverse counter (rolling crucifix to be precise) on the RAW that was hosted by Ashton Kutcher.

It would have been better if Daniel Bryan defended his Championship more frequently against all the guys that he faced, including Jack Swagger on old school RAW. It's unfortunate that that didn't happen though. Still, the exposure of the US Championship alone made it significant one way or another and I'm glad he was able to hold it for as long as he did. I just hope Sheamus can rebound with the same kind of quality in his reign.

 

[GI Cake]

Wasn't the greatest title run but it wasn't something you would point out on his credientials for the Hall of Fame any time soon. With only two real title matches under his knot I can't really say he was a "Fighting Champion" But he did put on a ton of good matches week to week without any complaints. And after losing the belt he could start up a great feud over the belt with Sheamus which could put both stars over.

So all and all I would have to vote "GOOD" on his title reign. If anything his title reign was a lot like Mcintyires first reign with the IC belt. Long reign without any real comppettion over it until a real star came in the show and took it from him.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I voted for Good because I thought Bryan made a good United States Champion. It could have been better of course, but the fact that it wasn't was WWE Creative's fault rather than Bryan's.

Bryan was on Raw every week and wrestled almost each week. It's true that he did get bogged down in that business with the Bellas, there's no way to deny that. However, Bryan was a fighting champ and was able to use the title to keep himself over. Crowds are almost always into Bryan's matches and that speaks to the man's talent. Also, Bryan's reign dispelled a lot of fears that Bryan would be heavily misused or buried in WWE. It's hard to say the guy was misused or buried when he's on Raw each week and has been champion for 5.5 months.

 

[iwinulose]

-daniel bryons first reign as the US champ. it was good. i liked it, but i wish wwe had let him defend more often instead of all the none title matchs. daniel wasnt used to his full capacity but had some good matches.
-he was a good champion and i think we can see many more reigns of daniel being the US and IC champ (cause i dont think he is world title material, would be too unrealistic, well, even more so then usual).
-it could have been better if the wwe had put bryanson into more title match ups.

 

[mral82]

I said good cause it was his 1st ever taste of Gold in the WWE after he eliminated himself off NXT and all. And Ruthless-RKO he did defend regularly at HOUSE SHOWS so that counts as a defense even though it wasn't televised and all. House Show title defenses count towards a title being defended. I think this Sheamus feud will last til Xtreme Rulz at least with The American Dragon getting the title back.

 

[DethMetal]

I voted good. He held the title for a pretty good amount of time and was involved in some pretty good matches. I thought he would defend a little more often, but his title reign certainly wasn't poor by any means.

 

[nerd4life]

i said good.

I liked how they booked him strong.
I liked how they made the lebel lock or whatever look like a serious finisher much like the crossafce.

Didnt like the lack of title defenses and generally good feuds. Him and shamous i think could put on some wicked brutal matches i cant wait for that match at mania.

Anyways I dont know if its just lack of a good feud or opponent or just him himself but DB is just boring to me when he aint in the ring.

 

[Notorious718]

I voted good as well. There was much room for improvement. First and foremost, I would've liked to have seen Bryan defend the title somewhat more often than he did (like you said OP, he only defended it twice). However, he was showcased on RAW every week and the crowd has almost always been into his matches. I honestly thought he would get jobbed similarly to how Kaval was prior to his release but I'm pleased overall with his first title reign. Best of all, he's now on the Wrestlemania card! So I do think he's come very far in a fairly short amount of time. The man has the talent in the ring. He could use some more seasoning on the mic but that can easily be worked on. The man has a bright future in my view and can only keep getting better. I don't know if he'll have what it takes to become a main eventer in the future but he's a very strong upper midcarder and that's very good considering he hasn't been with the company for very long.

 

[CelticCorey]

I voted good.

I agree with the people who say he was a fighting champion and that he brought prestige back to the belt. Yes, he should've defended it more- it was only against Miz, Morrison (triple threat) and DiBiase; but you look at the fact that he was putting on great matches with Ziggler and he was winning almost every single match he was in. And if he wasn't winning, he still looked good in defeat mostly. THAT is what a midcard champion is supposed to be. Sheamus is my favorite wrestler (hence my screename) and I just hope he follows up with Danielson's U.S. reign.

I had to sit through a good majority of 2010 with Miz as U.S. champ and McIntyre as I.C. champ. Albeit that I love me some Miz, him with the U.S. title did nothing for me. September-December 2010 had its ups and its downs- but one of, if not my favorite thing about that time period in WWE? The midcard titles and midcard champions looked more important than they had in a long, long time. Not bad for a guy who was squash fodder on NXT.

I didn't care for the Bellas storyline or any of that other garbage; but it was still good.

And with all due respect to iwinulose, if he gets rid of the smiling geek with Flight of the Valkyries, I could see him as World Title material. Mysterio is a two time champion and I am 90% sure Sin Cara will see the strap himself. So why not Danielson? If he shows a more serious side who goes out there and all, why not?