Daniel Bryan's Presence Elevates Credibility of WrestleMania Ladder Match

A year ago, Daniel Bryan was on his way to WrestleMania 30, where he would ultimately defeat Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton to leave New Orleans with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

It was the culmination of a months-long story that saw Bryan finally overcome his doubters and critics to attain the highest achievement in the industry.

For the most popular star in the industry, it was one of the greatest happy endings ever to a WrestleMania and the genesis for what many believed would be a long run at the top of WWE for the business' best worker.

Fast-forward nearly a year, and Bryan is in an interesting place. No longer heavyweight champion with his title reign cut short by a career-threatening neck injury, the Aberdeen, Washington native is on the outside looking in at the main event scene.

Instead of competing at the top of the card, he finds himself as one of seven Superstars involved in a Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

And contrary to what some may believe, that is not a bad thing.

Bryan has a star power about him that many of WWE's immensely talented performers can only wish to achieve. He has a connection with audiences that is even stronger.

That star power and connection with the WWE Universe will only help to inject the Ladder match with a credibility that none of the other competitors can approach.

Sure, Dolph Ziggler is a former heavyweight champion and Dean Ambrose has competed in numerous pay-per-view main events, but none have lived through a crowning achievement the likes of which Bryan did, nor have they achieved that level of notoriety or popularity.

Without Bryan, the match would look very much like one that would serve as a jaw-dropping display of grit, determination, spectacle and daring feats of athleticism.

But it would still be a match intended as nothing more than a solid addition to the midcard.

With him, it is a much higher-profile bout than it otherwise would have been. In fact, the feud over the title has taken precedence on the SmackDown brand, carrying that show in the weeks leading into the Showcase of the Immortals.

Why?

Because WWE Creative and management trust the bearded star to generate interest and bring a sense of legitimacy to the match, and he has done just that.

One of the marquee matches on the show, the Ladder match has every opportunity to steal the show thanks to the quality of the talent involved, which was enhanced exponentially with the inclusion of the former world champion.

There are many who will continue to complain about Bryan's placement on the card. There are certainly valid points to be made in arguing for Bryan's inclusion in something more historically significant.

But the star who rose to fame as one of the best wrestlers on the planet will have the opportunity to do what he does better than anyone else, and that is make those in power regret their decisions by stealing the show out from underneath the night's main events.

In the process, he will do more to elevate the status of the WWE Intercontinental Championship—and his opponents—than anything else WWE Creative could have produced in some office in the back of an arena somewhere.