WWE Money in the Bank 2012 Results: What Loss Means for Daniel Bryan's Future

Even though Daniel Bryan has clearly won over the WWE Universe, the same can't be said for the people making the backstage decisions. Money in the Bank marked his fifth consecutive pay-per-view loss, which is never a good sign.

The last three of those defeats have come at the hands of longtime buddy and current WWE champion CM Punk.

If there were ever an opportunity for Bryan to become the new title holder, it seemed that Money in the Bank was the perfect time.

After all the creative team had injected AJ into the mix to create some uncertainty and could have used the diminutive diva to make Bryan win without making CM Punk look weak. Instead, she played a minor role and the belt was retained.

So it's clear the company doesn't view Bryan as a true top guy right now, or they would have given him at least a one-month trial run as champion heading into SummerSlam.

The bad news for Bryan doesn't end there, however.

After he lost in his last title shot, John Cena won the Raw Money in the Bank match to take control of a WWE Championship contract and a future title shot whenever he wants it. He said he'll cash it in on the 1,000th episode of Raw.

That means Bryan will likely get squeezed out of the WWE title picture sooner rather than later.

It's been nearly 10 months since Cena last held the top belt, meaning it's only a matter of time before he gets it back. It would be his 11th reign.

Bryan can't shift back over to SmackDown, either. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio are currently locked in a storyline, and Dolph Ziggler, one of the WWE's most promising young stars, won the world-heavyweight-championship briefcase.

When you also consider Chris Jericho, a returning Brock Lesnar and The Rock, who continues to vow that he'll make another run at the WWE title, the amount of space available in the main title pictures is extremely limited.

That isn't good news for Bryan. He has come a long way since being an afterthought as recently as last year, but it seems as though he might have peaked, at least for his current run.

It's similar to the arc of Christian last year. Although the veteran superstar did end up with a couple world-heavyweight title reigns, they didn't last long, and now he finds himself back at the mid-card level as the intercontinental champion.

Otherwise, Bryan will find himself as a main-event jobber. It's a role Jericho has been forced to play since he returned—and quite well at that—but it doesn't lend itself to a guy like Bryan, who's still waiting for his big break.

He has done a lot to boost his stock in recent months, developing into a fan favorite in the process, but the outlook is murky right now.