WWE: Can Daniel Bryan become the new Stone Cold?

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Once in a generation, there comes a superstar who turns the business on its head and revolutionizes the industry. From the days of Ric Flair to Sammartino to Hulk Hogan, these were the guys who transcended professional wrestling into something much more.

When you talk about the likes of Hulk Hogan, they took professional wrestling and molded it into “Sports entertainment”. But in 1997-98, there was one superstar who took “Sports Entertainment” and made it into something else, something similar to a cult phenomenon.

Long gone were the days of Freddie Blassie and Harley Race, as professional wrestling now became the hottest program on national TV. Catering to the teenagers and young adults, there was a certain blue collared redneck wrecking havoc in the biggest sports entertainment organization in the world.

There is a reason I’m going back in time, as this period in the WWF was arguably the greatest time in professional wrestling history. Because of one superstar, WWF became more popular than Rock n’ Roll was in the 70s and Heavy Metal in the 80s. Professional wrestling was the new “in”, and everyone knew who Stone Cold Steve Austin was.

Imagine such an era ushering once again in the WWE. Even though WWE has evolved with time, there is a certain superstar who has quickly transcended the “superstar” status, and is on his way into becoming something that Steve Austin was. Daniel Bryan, with the WWE universe and the entire wrestling fraternity behind him, looks set to repeat what Steve Austin did nearly 15 years ago.

The way WWE played the whole thing out was ingenious. When they first realized that the WWE fans were getting behind Bryan, they made him lose, and developed him into a sympathetic character from a comedy act. Turning him into this fiery underdog babyface was the next logical step, similar to Steve Austin after his WrestleMania match with Bret Hart in ’97.

Daniel Bryan

Looking back at how Bryan has since been booked, it makes a lot of sense. WWE did not hurry in developing Bryan’s character; it was as structured and methodical as carefully and artistically drawing a painting. Bryan’s underdog character needed a challenge, and that was when The Shield and Randy Orton stepped in. All this while, Daniel Bryan was being molded into a firm crowd favourite, while WWE was waiting on the sidelines to pull the trigger. Then, it happened.

On the RAW after the Money in the Bank PPV, the WWE universe was irate about Bryan not winning the Money in the Bank briefcase like everyone hoped and expected. Instead, Randy Orton won the briefcase, which looking back now was an ingenious move. As the WWE Universe started chanting “Yes” from the very beginning of the episode, WWE gave them the opportunity to make their voices heard and count.

As they almost demanded to see Daniel Bryan face John Cena for the WWE title, all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. With John Cena accepting the crowd’s demands, everyone thought this would be the time of Daniel Bryan. Did Daniel Bryan deserve the championship? Yes. But can he push the proverbial ceiling and break the shackles, becoming something much bigger than what he is now? That’s where the WWE realized his true potential, and teased the WWE Universe.

At SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan put on an amazing match against Cena and finally pinned the WWE champion to hold the richest prize in the industry. They say you need to hold something back for people to want it more, and WWE did just that. With Triple H turning on Daniel Bryan and Orton cashing – in his briefcase, Daniel Bryan’s dreams were shattered.

But in reality, this was the beginning of Daniel Bryan’s real journey, something no one else has been able to successfully do in the past decade. Daniel Bryan now has the chance to become something more than a WWE champion. He can now become the ultimate face of the WWE, a superstar who can outshine the WWE championship. There has been only one superstar who was bigger than the strap, and that was Steve Austin.

With WWE taking almost the same route as they did with Austin during his rise to fame, there is little doubt in my mind that if the cards are played right, and Bryan is built similar to Austin was, he can become much bigger than the Cenas and Punks. Daniel Bryan now has the opportunity to become the first Daniel Bryan, and not the next Steve Austin.

Punk had the same opportunity two years ago, but WWE destroyed his momentum. With Daniel Bryan now facing an uphill task against the corporation, one can only expect his stake to sky rocket in the company, as he is well set on his way to become a megastar, and follow the same route as Steve Austin. Can Daniel Bryan do the unthinkable and cement himself as one of the greatest superstars of this generation? Yes! Can he become the face of the company? If everything goes according to the plan, that will happen very soon.