WWE: Let’s Pump the Brakes With The Bad Feelings About Daniel Bryan

There are some in the WWE Universe who have concluded that Daniel Bryan is being buried. But there’s no reason to worry about how Bryan is being booked at present.

Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring at WrestleMania 34 was one of the big stories leading up to the event. After all, Bryan had retired from WWE a little more than two years prior, and he hadn’t had a match for roughly three years. There was uncertainty over how he would be handled — would Bryan be thrown right into the fire, or would he be eased back in?

In his match at WrestleMania, Bryan picked up the victory for Shane McMahon and himself over Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. And Bryan looked like he hadn’t missed a step during his layoff. So many fans figured it would be no time at all before Daniel Bryan would challenge for the WWE Championship.

But since that WrestleMania victory, Bryan’s biggest feud has been with the also-recently-returned Big Cass. It seems pretty far from a championship opportunity, doesn’t it? This storyline has gotten some parts of the WWE Universe all riled up over Bryan being “misused.” Because Bryan is such a big deal to them, they believe he should be the biggest star on SmackDown Live.

Is that really the case, though? Is either part of the above statement true? Should Bryan be the biggest star? Is he actually being misused? The fact is, he’s right where he should be right now. And to prove that, we’ll look back at another superstar who came back from a career-threatening injury. Someone who was one Bryan’s trainer, and is now a WWE Hall of Famer: Shawn Michaels.

The Heartbreak Kid retired in 1998 due to a severe back injury. It was four years before he would set foot in a WWE ring for an actual match. When Michaels did make his return, he didn’t get a championship match right away: he returned to fight a former friend turned heated rival in Triple H at SummerSlam 2002. And after than match, he wasn’t even booked on the following two pay per views — HBK’s next match was at Survivor Series.

Granted, at Survivor Series that year, Michaels won the first ever Elimination Chamber match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. But you also have to keep in mind two things: that reigns lasted just a month, and it was the only singles title he won after returning to WWE, despite his “second career” lasting eight years.

The remainder of HBK’s career was spent having great match after great match, and occasionally putting over other superstars. Even if Michaels won a match, he made sure his opponent looked like a million bucks. Think Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX, or Shelton Benjamin on that episode of Raw in 2005.

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So how does that compare to Daniel Bryan? Well, he’s already had the return match against former friends turned heated rivals in Zayn and Owens. And besides his encounters with Big Cass, Bryan has already tied up with the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy. Not too bad in terms of opponents for just over a month.

Additionally, would Bryan have lasted well over an hour in setting a new endurance record in the Greatest Royal Rumble if he wasn’t a major player in WWE? Just because Bryan hasn’t immediately been gifted a championship doesn’t mean he’s going nowhere. There’s still the fact that, long-term, Bryan may not be sticking around with WWE since he hasn’t signed a new contract yet.

Let’s say Daniel does re-sign in the next few weeks. My guess would be if he does, he’ll shoot up the card. But maybe right now, Bryan’s role with WWE is to elevate other superstars. If anyone on the roster can pull a decent match out of Big Cass, Bryan would be my choice.

The biggest thing to remember is that championships don’t make the man, the man makes the championship. Even though Bryan doesn’t have a shiny fashion accessory, it doesn’t devalue him as a competitor. He’ll still be around putting on great matches — and if come fall it’s for a different company outside WWE, so be it.

Next: SmackDown Power Rankings May 29, 2018

Don’t stress out over Bryan’s booking in WWE, though. It’s not worth the headache. Enjoy his performances, and cherish the fact that he’s even back in the ring at all.