Daniel Bryan Is Now The Face Of The WWE Again
By John Brown
It has yet to be determined how deep WWE’s plan for Daniel Bryan goes. They need to understand, though, that the second it was announced that Bryan was cleared to return to in-ring action, he automatically became the face of the company.
I hope the WWE knows that they got themselves into when clearing Daniel Bryan for in-ring action. During the “Yes! Movement” three years ago, he was a beacon of hope for fans, not just to show that any undersized and undervalued athlete can still live out his or her dreams, but that the WWE was finally listening to the voices of the fans. In an era that has reverted back to going with long-term plans (see Roman in the Raw title match at WresteMania after the year Braun had), Bryan’s return to work makes him a brighter beacon of hope than before.
For almost three years, his return to the ring seemed about as likely as CM Punk signing a new WWE contract. That dream (with the term “dream” not being the slightest bit hyperbolic) is now a reality, and Bryan is again the face of the WWE whether the machine likes it or not.
Many of the older fans that have stayed loyal to the WWE product will recall the thunderous applause that reverberate throughout arenas for legends like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
In the years since, guys like Cena, Punk, The Undertaker, and DX have received similar responses from certain crowds, but those responses have never been permanent. Current accepted main eventers like AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are getting crowd responses that certainly surpass was constitutes polite. However, nobody receives the love from the crowd that Bryan does.
Nobody. Nobody comes close.
Many of us forget that Bryan saved the WWE during his road to the WrestleMania 30 main event. The year leading to Bryan’s defining win saw the WWE fans taking their first steps towards feeling that their voices need to be heard at the WWE creative meetings rather than just the voice of a McMahon. Fans witnessed Bryan come so close to becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion on numerous occasions, including the infamous heel swerve at Summerslam when a guest referee Triple H allowed Randy Orton to cash in Money in the Bank after Bryan beat John Cena for the belt.
Fans were beginning to grow uneasy with the WWE refusing to acknowledge the clamoring for Bryan to be WWE Champion. This uneasiness grew to a borderline frenzy when Batista’s disappointing return to the ring in 2014 climaxed with the Pittsburgh crowd booing him out of the area when he won the Royal Rumble.
Source: WWE.com
The Rumble watch stirred up the Pittsburgh crowd so much that the thirtieth entrant, Rey Mysterio, an underdog that makes Bryan look like Andre the Giant, received the level of heat Batista would feel at the end of the match. This was not because the crowd disliked Mysterio, but is because his entrance assured that Bryan was not even a part of the Royal Rumble match.
Source. WWE.com
This festering anger from the crowed would grow even more when CM Punk left the company due to creative conflicts with Vince McMahon and his team. The people had lost who may have possibly been their lone voice in the company, and the absence of Bryan in the Rumble made is clear that the WWE was going to proceed with the planned Batista vs. Randy Orton main event at WrestleMania 30.
Before his departure, Punk brought the idea that Vince McMahon refuses to listen to his fans into the forefront of a storyline. The refusal to acknowledge a white hot Bryan brought this idea into reality. Thus, the “Yes! Movement” was born. It look the fans drowning out live shows to make Vince realize that Bryan belonged in the main event of WrestleMania 30, and fans actually got to see Bryan win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The WWE has not come close to duplicating the magic created by Bryan during his push for the WrestleMania main event. We have seen guys like Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and Finn Balor rise, but neither them or anyone else were able to set fire to a WWE landscape left lukewarm since Bryan retired.
Even during his returns and later when becoming the SmackDown General Manager, the reactions to the entrance of Bryan dwarfed even those of active favorites like Styles and Nakamura. The fans didn’t have him wrestling, but they still possessed their beating heart with the fantastical image of his return leaving them clinging to the product.
Their fantasy has now become a reality.
There has not been much fantasy created in the absence of Bryan. There have been fleeting stays at the top of the card for many wrestlers, title changes, and Festivals of Friendship. What there haven’t been are moments. Professional wrestling is staged, pre-planned combat, which like film is in need of moments to sustain an audience.
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Bryan is a conductor of moments, the beacon of hope for kids that you can be a champion no matter your size, and a beacon of hope for adult wrestling fans who have faith that the product still cares about what you want. Bryan is the only one who carries with him universal hope. Knowing that he is returning to the ring has officially made him the face of the WWE, and the face of hope returning to the forgotten WWE crowd.