Daniel Bryan truly feels like a self-made man. They tried to bury him on NXT and he came out smelling like roses. They fired him, Cena and fan outcry brought him back. He was stuck in the mid-card, he had the best matches on the card. They turned him heel, he flew away with it. He lost in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania in the first match, it benefited him more than Sheamus. He was put in a tag team with Kane, logistically a setback but in actuality it involved some of the best backstage segments in WWE history and allowed Bryan (and Kane) to further showcase his dramatic abilities which, whilst not likely to earn Bryan an Oscar any time soon, were fiercely entertaining in no small part due to Bryan himself.
After being part of one of the most original and entertaining tag teams of all time, he eventually broke out and over-faced Randy Orton in a series of matches, the response to which was so positive that he actually carved a title opportunity for himself in the form of John Cena 'selecting' him from all other superstars as the No1 contender. After beating him clean, HHH and his creative process once again tried to stub out the rise of Bryan, shifting focus from him to the creatively exhausted Big Show and making Bryan feud with the Wyatt's. No small feat, but a big step down and through no fault of his own. They tried to saddle him as a member of the Wyatt's which is a story that ought to have run for a good couple of months at least. But the reception was shit, and it was a shit idea to try it with a guy who was totally over as a face when people didn't want to see him in another light. That lead to it lasting only two weeks and Bryan getting the hottest reception (not linked to a debut or return) we've seen since..... anyone...?
And despite all of this, not ONCE does Daniel Bryan talk about his treatment, he doesn't bad mouth the company or post a series of pseudo-cryptic tweets. He doesn't call himself the show-off and claim to be the best, he doesn't come out like an equally unsafe Goldberg shadow and pretend he deserves any better. He comes out, night after night, puts everything he has in what he's supposed to do and has the best match of the night practically always. He just gets on with it. That's where the natural likeability comes from. He doesn't politic, he just does his job better than everybody else.
And as far as being the complete package, that stands for the majority of top guys in history. But if people are invested in you and you can give them what they need each week, it doesn't matter if you can wise-crack with the best of them or show people how many catchphrases you can remember, it doesn't matter how you look, nor how you try to look, the people are going to keep you where you are. Daniel Bryan may not be the biggest or strongest or loudest or funniest or smartest, but he is one of the best. The people believe in it and that's why he is where he is today. Yes, I fucking love Daniel Bryan. Splice me open and I'll bleed facial hair.
