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Daniel Bryan has been an excellent WWE Champion so far. Ever since he turned heel to take the title from AJ Styles, he has been on fire. His promos are excellent, making the fans boo him despite his natural likeability. In less than two weeks, Bryan is going inside the dreaded Elimination Chamber, putting his belt on the line. Styles, after two big rematches, will get another shot at Smackdown's top prize along with Randy Orton, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe.
This match promises to be an excellent Chamber match, much like the one two years ago for the same title, when Bray Wyatt became WWE Champion. It will also presumably be the main event of the entire pay-per-view with the same name, a first for the WWE Championship in close to a year. However, there should only be one man considered to win this 6-man title match. Daniel Bryan himself. He has to come out of the prison-like structure, still the WWE Champion.
Here are three reasons why Daniel Bryan must walk out of the Elimination Chamber with his title still intact.
#3 The new title just got introduced
Last week, on the SmackDown after Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan threw the WWE Championship in the trash because of the leather on it and how it was made by killing a cow named Daisy. He unveiled an eco-friendly version of the prestigious prize, made from sustainable hemp and wood. It looks solid and is a great temporary replacement for the original WWE title for the remainder of Bryan's reign.
It has only been in existence for about a week, so it is not out of question to think that Bryan's reign as champion has only just begun. After all, belts with custom designs tend to stay around the waist of their creators for longer times. John Cena with the spinner belt is the biggest example that comes to mind. With the introduction of the WWE Champions-hemp, Bryan's vegan tyranny might go on for a lot longer. He should at least have one successful defence of the said belt.
#2 Nobody else seems like a WrestleMania worthy champion
Over the past year, there has really been a couple of actual main event stars who were consistently at the top. Before Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles reigned as the WWE Champion for over a year.
He has been repeatedly used in similar storylines against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe, so much to the point where he needs to stay away from the title picture for a while. We have seen Styles in the WWE title scene since October 2017 and it is time for a break. A similar issue sits with Randy Orton.
The Viper is a 13-time world champion and isn't exactly a fresh face in the WWE Championship scene as well, even despite his heel turn. Jeff Hardy has just not clicked to the astronomical level he did so ten years ago when he conquered the world and won the title, with his current ceiling being just below the top contenders.
Mustafa Ali's time will come, having just arrived on SmackDown from 205 Live, but it is still too early for him. Joe is the only other superstar who could feasibly carry the WWE Championship into WrestleMania 35, but that ship has probably sailed. So by elimination, we are left with the former Yes Man.
#1 He is in the form of his life
Even after all five of his challengers do not match up to the high standards of a WrestleMania WWE Championship match just yet, Daniel Bryan is so good. All of his work ever since he turned rogue and won the title has shown just how good of a performer Bryan really is.
Nobody thought the heel turn would work, but it has. Bryan has become infinitely more interesting as a character and has been having much, much better matches in the past few months. He believes everything that he says and twists them in ways that make him seem like the villain.
That is a rare quality only found in the best of the best, and we are very lucky to have the best of the best on SmackDown every week. Just one year ago, we had no idea if Daniel Bryan would ever wrestle for WWE ever again.
But here he is, on the top of his game. If it wasn't for the unbelievable WrestleMania 30 story, this would be the best work of Bryan's decorated WWE career. He even has a heavy with him, namely Erick Rowan. Perhaps this really is the beginning of his run. Perhaps Daniel Bryan will recruit more followers and be the cult leader that Bray Wyatt never was.
This is his time. He should not drop the WWE Championship any time soon, let alone at Elimination Chamber.
