WWE: Can Daniel Bryan become the new Stone Cold?

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Once in a generation, there comes a superstar who turns the business on its head and revolutionizes the industry. From the days of Ric Flair to Sammartino to Hulk Hogan, these were the guys who transcended professional wrestling into something much more.

When you talk about the likes of Hulk Hogan, they took professional wrestling and molded it into “Sports entertainment”. But in 1997-98, there was one superstar who took “Sports Entertainment” and made it into something else, something similar to a cult phenomenon.

Long gone were the days of Freddie Blassie and Harley Race, as professional wrestling now became the hottest program on national TV. Catering to the teenagers and young adults, there was a certain blue collared redneck wrecking havoc in the biggest sports entertainment organization in the world.

There is a reason I’m going back in time, as this period in the WWF was arguably the greatest time in professional wrestling history. Because of one superstar, WWF became more popular than Rock n’ Roll was in the 70s and Heavy Metal in the 80s. Professional wrestling was the new “in”, and everyone knew who Stone Cold Steve Austin was.

Imagine such an era ushering once again in the WWE. Even though WWE has evolved with time, there is a certain superstar who has quickly transcended the “superstar” status, and is on his way into becoming something that Steve Austin was. Daniel Bryan, with the WWE universe and the entire wrestling fraternity behind him, looks set to repeat what Steve Austin did nearly 15 years ago.