5 Indie darlings who changed WWE for the better

#2. Daniel Bryan

Bryan as WWE Champion

One of the most beloved Superstars of all time, Daniel Bryan has been a central figure on WWE programming throughout the decade. One of the founding fathers of Ring of Honor, Bryan was one of the key figures in ROH'S rise to prominence in the wrestling world. His matches against the likes of Nigel McGuiness, KENTA, Homicide, Austin Aries and Takeshi Morishima helped usher in a new era of wrestling.

Being a top guy in WWE was a distant dream when he first arrived in 2009. Bryan didn't have the physique of a prototypical WWE Superstar, nor did he had the ability to enchant the crowd with his promos. What Bryan possessed in abundance was his ability to put on great matches against every opponent that was thrown at him.

His feud against CM Punk for the WWE Championship during the summer of 2012 was one of the most important WWE feuds in the last decade. The magic that Bryan and Punk created together helped paved the way for wrestlers with similar career trajectories to become major players in WWE.

Bryan's road to glory in the main event of WrestleMania is one of the best stories the company has ever told. Bryan was forced to retire from in-ring action in 2016 due to a series of concussions. The Washington-native would make it his life mission to get back inside the squared circle by visiting some of the world's best neurologists and undergoing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treatment (HBOT). Bryan was finally cleared by WWE's medical team in March 2019.

The former WWE Champion's passion for the business is infectious. Bryan continues to be a major player in WWE and is currently embroiled in a feud against 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt with the two set to face off against one another for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.