WWE: Is Daniel Bryan's World Title Loss Now Being Turned into a Positive?

So.  Daniel Bryan.  Sheamus.  WrestleMania 28.  Eighteen seconds.  Might as well tackle it.

I have given it a few days now, for it all to sink in, to get over the initial buzz of the pay-per-view, of all the excitement, hype, and everything in between.  I waited.  I contemplated.  I agonized.  In fact, I still am.

Why?  Simple.  Because everyone has an opinion on this one.  Everyone has something to say.

Daniel Bryan, arguably one of the best technical wrestlers this country has seen in the past 15 years, doing the job to Sheamus, dropping the World Heavyweight Championship on the biggest stage that the business has ever known, in 18 seconds.

If you’re a fan, then you have a view on this.  No doubt about it.

So far, the response has been overwhelmingly negative.  I’m sure most of us knew it would be.

After all, a good number of fans paid to see WrestleMania for the wrestling, not just the pomp and circumstance.

Yes, there are still some of us out here.

For those of us wrestling fans who are still are out there, fighting the good fight, we really wanted to see Daniel Bryan ply his craft at the granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania.

Mania is meant to be the showcase of the immortals, a time when the best and brightest of WWE each have their opportunity to stand before a record crowd, and millions watching around the world, and do what they do best.

Entertain.

For Vince McMahon and WWE, pro wrestlers are entertainers.  For many WWE fans, pro wrestlers are entertaining, and there is a big difference.

For most of his career, Bryan has been a professional wrestler first, and an entertainer second.  His real talent lies in the skill he has in the ring, and that talent puts him head and shoulders above so many others who have attempted to make it in the business.

No matter what has ever been said of his character—that he has been flat, or perhaps even dull—no one, on any level, can argue his ability in the ring.  There is no debate, or criticism there.  Not at all.

As we all know, WWE is not your traditional pro wrestling promotion. 

Vince is all about the Hollywood aspect of the business, the showmanship of the workers he employs and the entertainment value of his company.

Daniel Bryan losing the World Championship at WrestleMania to Sheamus in 18 seconds does nothing to help his standing in the company.  He likely will not gain any new fans, or be considered anymore important that he was before April 1st.  

He did not have a lights-out hard-nosed pro wrestling match with the smash-mouth Sheamus, and we did not get to see how each man would have stepped up his game for WrestleMania.

Daniel Bryan, the heel character, losing the World Title to Sheamus in 18 seconds at WrestleMania, has a new a new outlook on life, a perspective that he did not have before.  He also has a new reason for fans to hate him.

AJ.  Think about it.  Just moments before Sheamus delivered the Brogue Kick, Bryan received a good-luck kiss from his “girlfriend” AJ.

So, you’re Daniel Bryan, an irrational, overconfident, heel with a Napoleon complex.  What do you do?

Blame the girl, of course.

Daniel now has another heel element to his personality, a new storyline to perhaps get involved with, and at the end of the day, all of that was more important than just letting the guy go in there and put on a great match.

Then there’s also the fact that Vince supposedly wanted to create the shortest match in WrestleMania history.

Unbelievable.  Really, what else can you say?

While the majority of fans seem to be beside themselves about what happened, and have likely not slept since Sunday night, I for one see that perhaps this whole thing has had a very unexpected twist.

Daniel Bryan is over.  Like crazy.  Like Stone Cold crazy.

Don’t get me wrong on that last line, I am not saying that Bryan and Steve Austin are on the same level with fans.  I am saying that, just like Austin, Bryan now his very own catchphrase.

What?  

Yes!  He does.

Fans are suddenly losing their minds for him, screaming "Yes!" during other guy’s promos, chanting it like it’s the greatest thing that has ever been said by a WWE Superstar.

I have said it before, and it more than applies here.  Once the fans latch onto something, they will not let it go.  That is now the case with Daniel Bryan.

To be fair, none of us have any way of knowing what Vince really thinks about Daniel Bryan.  To assume that the 18-second match was done because of some ill will toward Bryan, or because Vince personally does not like the man, seems like a silly notion.  After all, the guy was the World Champion, why, if the company had some sort of issue with him, was he put in that spot to begin with?

No matter what reason Daniel was singled out, the fact is, it no longer matters.  He is officially on the fans’ radar now.  

Oh, he might have been on the WWE payroll, on TV, cutting promos, wrestling matches, still being respected by the wrestling fans for his work in the ring.  

Now, though, the WWE audience as a whole have embraced him.  They have decided that they like what they see.

He belongs to them now.  They will make him must-see TV, and put him right back in the prime position he needs to be in order to become champion once again.

Like Stone Cold.  Hopefully not like Zack Ryder.  Much respect, Zack, but WWE has really dropped the ball with you, man.

For all those who have hated WWE in regards to Daniel Bryan’s title loss, have no fear.  His time is not yet up, he still has more ahead of him in the company than he does behind him.

Plus, he now has a hook, and isn’t that all he’s ever really needed?

Yes!

Sorry, just couldn’t resist.