Daniel Bryan: The most gifted underdog in WWE

Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton

Bryan Danielson, aka Daniel Bryan . He is not a famous person, he does not have a more-than-life character in WWE, but he is a talented and a gifted wrestler. The way he works, puts over opponents if needed, does the signature move safely, among other things makes him clearly the top performer in the company right now (Reminiscing the days when this title was held by CM Punk).

Going back to his earlier days in wrestling, he has worked for many companies before making an impact in the WWE. One such notable mention is Ring Of Honor. Yep, the same company that Phil Brooks a.k.a CM Punk used to work once upon a time. Right from then, he was a great performer and a treat to watch, because, in wrestling, seldom do you find a 5’10″ guy outclassing every others. He had won the Ring Of Honor World Champion with his hard-work and the enigma that he brings into the sport.

Things changed, however, when he made his debut in the WWE. He was “buried” with lame and weird storylines, and was being over-shadowed by big names like John Cena, CM Punk, etc. The WWE creative was not at it’s best those days and Bryan was booked in the lower mid card, or mid card matches. This had gone to such an extent that, in WrestleMania XXVIII, he was made to lose the WWE World Heavyweight title in 18 seconds against Sheamus. Later, he was a part of the tag team “Hell No” with Kane, was involved in various love-triangle angles, and to top it off, was even involved in an anger management angle with Dr.Shellby. All these days, he was being overseen due to his physique. However, he worked hard and proved his worth at the right time, the time when the “YES! MOVEMENT” began. The fans got behind him, and just wouldn’t leave the arena without seeing him perform. Eventually, he became a potent and a rightful main eventer, with major fueds with John Cena and CM Punk.

And why is he the underdog? It all started way back in SummerSlam last year, when The Game, Triple H screwed him from his shot at the WWE title. Ever since then, the bookings have been brilliant, and Bryan was made to go through series of screw-jobs, faced humiliation in front of his home crowd, was insulted by Stephanie McMahon, and what not!

It was the night of Royal Rumble, the night when WWE really learned from it’s mistakes. He was not in the 30-man royal rumble match, which pissed off the fans. “boring” chants were blowing the roof of the arena out during the matches. And finally he was pulled into the Championship scene given the unforeseen exit by CM Punk. He got his shot at redemption and a shot at the WWE title when he challenged the game for a match. He won it clean and square, and went on to participate in the triple threat match for the world title with a bad shoulder (or atleast it seemed so). He outperformed every other wrestler that night (except the Phenom and the Beast, of course). Both the matches that he worked were brilliant, well-paced. And the outcome: he emerged victorious and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship title. That moment actually over-shadowed the horrendous ending of “the Streak” that night.

What’s more ? After a busy WrestleMania week and an exhaustive Sunday night, which was followed by the marriage and honeymoon week when he even purchased a house for his new family, his dad expired in an unexpected turn of events on Monday (21st April) evening. Even though he was informed about the former’s sad demise, he insisted on performing in the ring for the fans, and was booked in a brilliant segment by the WWE creative, where the big red monster Kane gave a series of tombstone piledrivers and bryan had the night off to go and mourn with his family. What’s to be taken from this is his commitment to the business and the loyalty towards the fans.

Let the soul of the man who gave us Daniel Bryan rest in peace.