Side Effect: Why Daniel Bryan will remain a shining star

WWE's ultimate underdog Daniel Bryan has announced his retirement from in-ring competition after being plagued with injuries over the past two years....
Daniel Bryan observes the crowd appreciatively one last time. / photo: wwe.com
Daniel Bryan observes the crowd appreciatively one last time. / photo: wwe.com

Daniel Bryan observes the crowd appreciatively one last time. / photo: wwe.com

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s never easy to read the news of a revered talent leaving the company. Even less so when said talent has been plagued with issues for the past two years. But such is the case with the perpetual underdog of WWE, Daniel Bryan.

We don’t need to dull this down with an extensive backstory. If you’re a fan of WWE or even a wrestling fan in general, you already know how tumultuous the quintessential indy darlings’ career has been since his Cinderella story ending at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.

Somehow, through all the mess, it has given way to an interesting, if not unexpected, outcome; almost like a fringe benefit.

Now, bear in mind, we’re talking about the more devout fans here, not necessarily the casual ones. But typically, there’s a vicious cycle that enacts for any wrestler that starts to get hot.

  • Fans get behind talent and demand a push
  • WWE pushes talent
  • Fans immediately get bored with talent and turn
  • Talent gets pushed aside

This usually culminates with a title win and within days, sometimes not even 24 hours, you’ll see fans start to complain about the star being forced down our throats or that they’re overrated or they’re not worthy. We are extremely capricious, with low attention spans to boot. We want what we think is best and we want it post haste. We got our way, we’re done with him, we want this guy now!

But we didn’t get to do that with Daniel Bryan. Not really. Not to the extent that it usually goes.

Sure, right after he beat Triple H and Randy Orton to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and go from a B+ player to an A+ player, some people started to jump off the bandwagon. There were some comments. But then, he took time off to get married, then a bereavement leave, and then came the injuries that lead to him being stripped of the belt, after having only one defense.

Fast forward to the Royal Rumble and Road to WrestleMania 31. Bryan came back from injury, was thrust into the Rumble and then inserted into the Intercontinental Championship picture, culminating in a win. Once again, he got to defend the title once, was pulled off the active roster because of injuries and stripped of the belt.

When a talent has a belt, especially the World Heavyweight Championship, all eyes are on them. They are going to be at the forefront. They will be on every Raw, they will defend at most of the Network events. They will take up a considerable amount of the viewers’ time. This, more often than not, is what leads to the fans quickly turning like I outlined.

Now, given how organically popular he was, one could make the argument that Daniel Bryan would have never suffered that fate. But the chances of a fanbase turn were high. However, these extended amount of times out of action and lack of chances to reign came with an upside: we never got the chance to get burned out on him.

The IWC literally never got a chance to turn. He got to stay over.

Obviously being a gifted wrestler and a good Everyman representation of the fans are the largest contributions to his popularity. But it is interesting to note how people never had a shot at jumping off the bandwagon. He never suffered any losses with the belts. He didn’t risk a burial. He kind of got to go out on top, at the peak of his career.

His star got to shine the brightest and will never stop shining.

Perhaps that’s just a consolation prize to some. But I find a certain comfort that he got to escape that vicious cycle and will stay a fan favorite and a darling for the rest of his life; that he’s practically a legend at this point and will remain untouchable.

He got his WrestleMania moment. He got his time in the sun, even if it was brief. He really did get it all.

Now, how about we get in yet one more Yes chant.

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Just another WWE smark in a IWC world gone mad. Find me poppin' off on Twitter some Mondays, most Tuesdays, for Smackdown PPV's (Let's not forget the Big 4!), and a whole hell of a lot of wrestling RT's. You've been warned. Got something to say to me? lauren.rae.83@gmail.com
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