The Evolution of Daniel Bryan (pardon the pun)

[gasM]

Daniel Bryan is the hottest act in WWE right now. Even with his personal problems requiring his feud with Kane to take a backseat to the Shield vs Evolution story, he is still the most popular guy in the company and a deserving champion. Even those who don’t like him can see the majority do and have done since before Summerslam – the YES chants and indeed the Daniel Bryan chants are unrivalled in today’s WWE.

One of the big factors in this popularity has been his ability to play the underdog. He’s got an unconventional look, he’s small, he’s an internet darling – they used it all perfectly to create an uneven but enthralling narrative of the YES Movement against the Authority, and at Wrestlemania XXX the underdog got his due.

What now?

Bryan can’t keep playing the underdog. Now that he’s achieved success, he has to prove he’s worthy of the spot that he’s in. In reality we know he is, but within the storyline he’s just a guy that stood up for himself and the WWE Universe and got his just desserts. Now the character has to adapt or the support will dwindle and the reign will falter.

Daniel Bryan needs to be booked as a badass. We saw it in flashes before Summerslam when he would destroy the Shield single-handedly, but now the explosive, stiff, unstoppable Daniel Bryan must replace the underdog who just got up every time they beat him down. For example, Steve Austin wasn’t an underdog; he was a bad dude who had the odds stacked against him. He wouldn’t hand over a title belt and he wouldn’t infiltrate a group to destroy from within; he took no shit and gave his all, even if it meant coming up short. That’s the Daniel Bryan I want to see; the Daniel Bryan that goes toe-to-toe even with a monster like Kane because nobody touches Bryan’s woman. The Daniel Bryan who takes on all comers because goddamnit, he’s the best. And ultimately the Daniel Bryan who’ll go down swinging at Summerslam because even Brock Lesnar isn’t taking his title without the fight of his life.

So from hereon out, Daniel Bryan: underdog or badass?

 

[JT Strike's Alt]

Daniel Bryan is getting the rey mysterio treatment for some reason, im thinking cause daniel bryan is small.

I agree this can't get on much longer daniel needs to start owning his opponents to build him up too, he's still not written in stone as a permanent replacement for cm punk, so he still needs alittle help to keep him hot, and daniel getting beat up night after night won't cover it, i think it will stop when the kane rivarly ends kane needs more build up than bryan so it make sense for kane to have the advantage at this point.

Besides if bryan can handle kane on his sneak attacks then we know bryan can beat kane when something is on the line, Daniel Bryan Should be like john cena meaning he should sometimes gain the upperhand and when its important bryan should get laid out, Never should a wrestler become a unstoppable beast cause when that happens it turns out like ryback, great khali, mark henry, big show, and who could forget umaga.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There's a report out from PWInsider.com right now saying that there are still some of the higher ups in WWE that feel Bryan isn't over and insist it's all the Yes chants, while other higher ups vehemently disagree. Bryan's said, however, to be very, very liked by everyone backstage whether it be with other wrestlers, officials, management and creative. The report alleges that he doesn't carry himself backstage with a huge ego and that he's viewed as a pro's pro, especially considering that he insisted on working the angle with Kane on Raw before leaving to be with his family due to his father passing.

This same sort of debate has been going on among WWE officials and even fans since the better part of last year. Personally, I think it's laughable that some still try to claim that Daniel Bryan isn't over. Some fans like the guy and some don't, par for the course with any wrestler. However, the simple truth of the matter is that when you get down to the numbers, which aren't subjective, it simply doesn't add up. Whenever the quarter hours ratings for Raw are released, usually around the middle of the week, Bryan's segments and matches have been either the most or second most watched segments of Raw. Whether Bryan's at the top of the show, the center, closing the show off, etc. where he's featured is almost always the top drawing segment of the show.

As far as it all being the Yes chants, if it's JUST the chants, then how come fans are only doing it when Daniel Bryan's out? Why is it that fans chant "Daniel Bryan" during his matches? Why did 13,000 people on the post WrestleMania Raw chant "You Deserve It" when giving his first promo as WWE World Heavyweight Champion if it's JUST a one word catchphrase that's over? Why did fans hijack TV segments, matches and even ppvs with "Daniel Bryan" chants or even "Yes" chants if it's JUST all about the catchphrase? If it's all JUST about the catchphrase, why's Bryan the 2nd top seller in merchandise after John Cena?

Again, I'm not disagreeing with anybody if they're just not fans of the guy. Hell, everybody's entitled to their opinion. But the points I've been talking about in regards to the guy's popularity are backed up by the numbers. As far as WWE or any business is concerned, numbers damn sure matter and the numbers simply don't support the position that Daniel Bryan isn't over.

 

[whoopin' ass]

wwe needs to get behind people when they make them the champ and then see if it works. This is the same thing that happened to Punk - the champ is the second or third act while someone else is the star but yet the champ can't draw. Look right now, you have Wyatt/Cena, Evolution/Shield and then Bryan and whoever(Kane right now). Your champ,the guy people have been cheering for that forced you to change your Mania plans, is the bronze on the show. Plus he has had a few legit distractions in a short period of time, of course it is going to cause problems. Get behind him a little and see what happens. As for the future, he has the pure wrestling that Mysterio never did so he is more believable than Mysterio as a champ. There is no reason he can't be another Bret,Shawn, Benoit, Jericho ... a smaller guy who just out wrestles his opponent. All those guys had the same thing said - too small to be champ - yet the people believed them when they were. No reason the same can't happen here.

 

[dhines1671]

Fans will chant yes or no for other wrestlers. Steph and HHH, Cena have all gotten the chant started.

Bryan is over at the moment. Not like he was pre-Mania, but that could be due to being away for much of the post Mania-Extreme Rules build up.

Turning DB into a badass is the quickest way to kill his character.

He might be similar in stature, but that doesn't mean many people want to tune in to RAW every week to watch DB destroying all the bad guys like Bruce Lee.

 

[chicagokmc]

Fans will chant yes or no for other wrestlers. Steph and HHH, Cena have all gotten the chant started.

Bryan is over at the moment. Not like he was pre-Mania, but that could be due to being away for much of the post Mania-Extreme Rules build up.

Turning DB into a badass is the quickest way to kill his character.

He might be similar in stature, but that doesn't mean many people want to tune in to RAW every week to watch DB destroying all the bad guys like Bruce Lee.

Agreed he doesn't have to be a badass. But he doesn't have to be a victim either. That to me is worse. I can't think of the last time a world champ high tailed it from a situation, no matter how bad the odds were. I was fine with the "overcoming all odds" journey to the title. But he's here now. They need to move past that.

 

[IT Factor]

Quite simply put, Daniel Bryan has evolved just as he should against the worst of odds and horrible booking. JBL is instructed to constantly bury Bryan on commentary whether it is calling him a "B+ player" or a "Goat-Faced Troll" or whatever insult WWE lamely decides to hurl Bryan's way. All because they cannot get past their big man complex. It isn't the 80s anymore and you don't have to be 6'5 or 300 lbs. to make it as a top star. Size doesn't hurt credibility but it isn't necessary. The Authority is always reinforcing this by always referring the Bryan as a "B+ player" and they are always taking shots at him. Doing it to get your storyline over is one thing but this seems to go much further.

Just ask Rey Mysterio or Christian. Both had similar experiences to Bryan being booked as either an underdog or a chicken shit coward all because size is perceived as an obstacle for those in power. Neither got the reigns their talent warranted yet Cena or Orton have had longer title reigns in between during transitional reigns than either Christian or Mysterio did. Wonder why? It always boils down to the size issue again. Point being is that Bryan is a casualty of this mentality that WWE seems to have when it comes to size. That and WWE's "creative" aren't so creative. They don't seem to have the first clue on how to consistently book Bryan and it shows.

 

[kadroan]

I'm hoping they book him as a bad ass like how Shane McMahon was in the Attitude Era. He didn't back down from Test, Kane and Kurt Angle. He held his own while making his matches look realistic with them.

I guess ideally Bryan shouldn't get beat clean unless it's somebody like Brock Lesnar who should legitimately be able to beat the crap out of him, that way he'll look strong but don't take away from the credibility of his competitors.

 

[dhines1671]

Shane always seemed insane. Like a guy that was willing to take huge bumps, and didn't know when to stay down. It worked well for him in his limited role. If DB's character is tweaked just a bit, and his promos start to improve the Shane-
O Mac type character could be incorporated into his current character.