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Whenever a wrestler steps foot into the WWE, everyone from the Internet fans to the people in the backstage keeps some level of expectations on the new guys shoulder.While many crumble down due to being labeled as the next big thing certain others reach somewhere near their destinations. And then there is some special breed of wrestlers who no one gives any chance but comes out as one of the biggest stars from the company.One of the names that will come running into our minds hearing that category is Daniel Bryan.The flying goat has been a prime example of wrestlers exceeding expectations as he has risen as a top star despite being booked like a jobber for most of the times.He wasnt one of those guys who were tall, well built or had a million dollar face, he was just a regular guy with a long beard and shabby look. And thats may be why the company never took him seriously until all of a sudden he burst out as the fans own baby face.Its one of the most spectacular underdog stories in the Wrestling business, so here is a rundown on how Bryan exceeded the expectations and established himself as one of the top stars of the PG Era.
#5 The Wrestlers around him
There is John Cena who is stuck with being face and is starting to get hated by everyone that used to love him one day. Then there is Randy Orton who can’t evoke much of an emotion in the fans no matter what he does. And Alberto Del Rio was tagged boring after some months of his debut.
This was the situation of the main event scene when Daniel Bryan began his rise to the top.
It just felt like everything was falling in place for him as the fans were clearly looking for something refreshing and new.
And there they saw Bryan, a bearded short guy who didn’t care much about his looks but had the skills to compensate.
Thus the staleness of the wrestlers around him soon came to his aid and Bryan seemed an alternative to all the boring gimmicks and smash mouth wrestling.
#4 Yes! Yes! Yes!
Having a great catchphrase was clearly one of the biggest catalysts in the rise of Daniel Bryan beyond the expectations.
His Yes chants have been filling in arena of promotions like TNA and beyond that even in commercials and other sports. The way he pulls it off and make the fans go wild has turned out to be a regular scene where ever he pokes out and the fans have embraced the chant as their anthem.
Every time they use his catchphrase, it further increases his value since even big stars like Rock or Steve Austin didn’t have such a thing which was this successful. Though they’re catchphrases were yelled at once along as some kind of voice over, there weren’t millions of fans who chanted repeatedly on a single tone.
No matter whose idea it was to give Bryan this chant, but he deserves credit for delivering it with the heart which makes the fans love it.
#3 The Way he was booked
No one would’ve forgotten how horribly Bryan was booked at his WrestleMania match against Sheamus and it was just one of those instances of how the WWE treated him throughout his career.
The writers did everything in their power to keep Bryan as another Santino Marella in the cards and they were only trying to add the comedy nature to his character rather than giving him a push for his skills.
Constant falls and bad booking however, didn’t drag down Bryan as the company’s strategy back fired when the fans started to get sympathetic towards Bryan. The modern era fans that were well aware of what he did in the Indy circuit through internet easily realized that the company is holding him back.
On the start, the emotion towards Bryan was simply sympathy but later it caught fire and turned out into some kind of freedom struggle to get what they wanted from Bryan.
And it’s this real storyline that will head line WrestleMania this year which proves that Bryan’s real life has its fair share of entertainment quotient like this wrestling career.
#2 Daniel Bryan is the fan
He is not from a wrestling family, he is not a big giant, he is not well groomed, and he is just everything that a WWE superstar is not or simply saying he is just an ordinary next door guy.
Bryan was living the ultimate American Dream since he was a no one who wanted to be a wrestler from his childhood itself. And this made it easy for the fans to connect with Bryan as they saw their on reflection whenever Bryan stepped into the ring.
He turned out to be an inspiration for each and every boy out there and was more effective than Cena who had similar back grounds. That’s because Cena had the looks to aid his rise which Bryan didn’t and this makes him the superstar to look up to for everyone who dreams of getting into WWE one day.
The WWE Universe felt like that one of them is wrestling in the ring when they saw Bryan and that just propelled him into the stars.
#1 He gave the fans the intensity and Wrestling
The basic reason why independent promotions like Ring Of Honor and Dragon Gate have a cult following is because they show case pure wrestling rather than a family friendly safe product.
These promotions never take off due to the lack of a bigger stage and Bryan is someone who bought that essence of pure wrestling into WWE after long time.
Back in the days, we had Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and some more who would give more than 100 percent in their matches and showcase some text book stuff which kept the fans on their feet.
After a dry spell, Bryan bough that intensity back into WWE, with which the fans instantly fell in love.
The dedication he had even in the mid card matches also pushed the envelope high for big stars like John Cena and Randy Orton as they had to pull out their best performance to cope with this guy’s skills.
He just redefined all the laws that WWE put through the PG era and paved the wave for fans who rated wrestlers more on performance rather than popularity. This helped performers like Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and many more to have fans behind them solely on the basis of their skills rather than popularity.
It’s the best thing that Bryan did for the company and for himself as it was what the fans wanted: some real wrestling.
