Daniel Bryan Has Been Portrayed Perfectly in His Feud with Randy Orton

By all rights, Daniel Bryan should be a man at the end of his rope.  His hopes and dreams of becoming WWE champion have now been destroyed on two separate occasions.  

Triple H's betrayal that cost him the belt at SummerSlam was actually topped on the Raw after Night of Champions when he was stripped of the title.  Daniel should be ready to give in and just walk away.  

But the truth is that Bryan is nowhere close to quitting.  He will not back down.  And he could not be portrayed more perfectly in this feud.

Truth be told, there is really no reason why Daniel should keep trying to best Orton.  After all, Randy has been crowned the new face of the company, a man that the entire McMahon family believes in.  Orton is the veteran, a man who has been on the mountaintop before and one whose mantra is win at any cost.

The fact is that Randy Orton's killer instinct is without equal.  Anyone who gets in his way is his prey, and he is merciless when he strikes.

And then there is the issue of Orton constantly being assisted by The Shield.  Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have been there for Randy every step of the way, backing him up and attacking whenever Triple H gives the order.

Needless to say, Daniel Bryan has had his hands full.  The only thing really left to do is just give up.

But the allure of championship gold is just too much for Daniel to ignore.  He has physically held it in his hands twice, and on both occasions, it belonged to him free and clear.  He added his name to the long list of Superstars that came before him, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret Hart and his mentor, Shawn Michaels.

He is part of that lineage, forever included in the record books.  Combined with the fact that the WWE title is the most important championship in the industry, it becomes very apparent that Bryan had a taste of greatness.  And that makes him want it even more.

There's also the point that Bryan has beaten Randy cleanly in the past.  He made Orton tap out on Raw back in June, which means he is fully capable of getting the job done.  And despite how it happened at Night of Champions, Daniel did pin the Viper in the middle of the ring.

So right now, Bryan's character must be extremely confident in his ability.  He knows that he has Randy's number, and beating him again is just a foregone conclusion.  

But is it his self-confidence that keeps Daniel going, or is it something else?

The WWE title is important to him—that much is for sure.  And he has what it takes to defeat Randy Orton on the main event stage to prove it.  These are driving motivations for him, no doubt about it.

But maybe the most important thing about Daniel Bryan, the thing that keeps fans coming back to him, is his role as the company underdog.

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and Daniel is it.  The notion of the guy who has the whole world against him and has to fight for everything he has absolutely fits him perfectly.  His stature and the fact that not many fans expected him to get this far—it all works together to get him over in a very big way.

He is a sympathetic figure because of all this, and quite simply put, he looks the part.  

It just appears as though Bryan is an easy target.  He may be very skilled in the ring and fully capable of defending himself, but one glance at him and you cannot escape the feeling that he is overwhelmed and outgunned.

He just seems to be a regular guy who is doing what he can just to keep his head above water.

But no matter what happens to him, he keeps fighting.  He has heart, desire and the will to win.  Even though his back is against the wall in a situation that he cannot possibly overcome, Daniel Bryan keeps going.  He will not stop, and honestly, if any other Superstar were in this role, I seriously doubt he could play it to perfection the way that Bryan is doing it.

He has excelled in his feud with Randy Orton, and when he finally does win in the end, fans will remember the road to his victory as being one of the most entertaining times that WWE has seen in years.