Daniel Bryan Wins WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31

Daniel Bryan won the chase for the WWE Intercontinental championship after besting six other superstars and climbing a ladder to claim the belt at WrestleMania 31.

 In fact, WrestleMania 31 began the way WrestleMania 30 ended—with Bryan standing triumphant, championship in hand.

WWE captured the moment:

Photo: WWE.com

It wasn't just WWE celebrating Bryan's win, though, as his status as one of the most recognizable faces in the company had folks such as NFL.com's  Michael Fabiano cheering:

It was a guess as to where this match would pop up on Sunday's card. The propensity for high-risk maneuvers and crowd derailment if Levi's Stadium' favorite contestant didn't win made it quite the riddle.

As it turns out, the match opened the card with the legend Pat Patterson hanging the belt above the squared circle:

Of course, high-flying antics were the name of the game from the jump. Luke Harper splashed every contestant sitting on the outside. Later, Bad News Barrett suplexed Stardust off the top of a ladder. 

Harper proved to be the monster of the match, powerbombing Dean Ambrose off a ladder to the outside of the ring. 

Not done, he then dragged Dolph Ziggler on his back up the ladder to the title. Defending champion Bad News Barrett had his moment, too, as WWE captures:

WrestlingINC.com offered thoughts on the spot:

The buildup to Sunday's title match had a Stone Cold-esque feel to it, with several superstars stealing the belt from former champion Bad News Barrett.

For Bad News Barrett, it's back to the drawing board on how to get back in the running for the belt—even more so now that it's not actually his title anymore. 

Other Sunday losers such as Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper figure to continue to pursue the strap, although recent stable ties may come back into play.

As for Ziggler, his options seem endless as a fan favorite who will continue to rebel against The Authority and pursue individual titles. He pinned Bryan a few times in the buildup to Sunday's ladder match, so the writing of a potential feud there is already on the walls.

Daniel Bryan joins the greats such as Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in Intercontinental championship ladder-match history with his triumph at WrestleMania 31.