Daniel Bryan Will Become an Iconic IC Champion After WWE WrestleMania 31 Win

When Daniel Bryan defeated six other Superstars to become the brand new WWE intercontinental champion, he etched his name in the history books alongside some of the greatest in-ring workers to ever lace up a pair of boots.

Those Superstars include Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper and Pat Patterson, all of whom congratulated the new champion on his victory during a backstage segment in the middle of Sunday's WrestleMania 31 broadcast.

Throughout its rich history, especially during the 1980s and into the first half of the '90s, the intercontinental title has been been the worker's championship. It was an award Vince McMahon gave to the Superstars he considered the best in-ring performers in his company, the men he could count on to give the fans their money's worth from bell to bell.

Though rarely the faces of the company, if ever, they were the performers who were most important to the overall success of the company, those men who stood for the "sports" part of the sports-entertainment equation.

Somewhere along the way, that changed as WWE moved it from one Superstar to another, attempting to make midcarders into champions rather than letting the performers make the title more meaningful. It proved a dangerous agenda, one that nearly killed the credibility of the title. 

Bryan is just the Superstar to help restore that credibility and, in return, further establish himself as one of the most respected workers in the industry by becoming an iconic IC champion.

To this day, Hart and Steamboat, Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels are as remembered for the wars they waged over the IC championship as they are for their time as heavyweight champions. It is the respect and dignity with which they carried the title and the manner in which it was booked that allowed the title to mean as much as it did.

Credit: WWE.com

Now, in Bryan WWE Creative has found a professional wrestler who is as solid a bet to deliver a show-stealing, classic match with anyone put in front of him as anyone else on the roster. That he is the most popular babyface on the roster will only help the company in its quest to re-legitimize the title.

Prospective matches with the likes of Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler will be highlights of their respective shows and create anticipation for the title bouts that simply has not been there recently.

In the process, those contests will establish Bryan as an elite champion.

If WWE Creative can resist the urge to job him out to guys it perceives as higher on the totem pole and allow him to build some momentum for the title, there is no telling how mutually beneficial the reign can be for Bryan and the title.

Bryan addressed the booking of the title in recent years during an interview with Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. during the lead-up to WrestleMania:

"

It's kind of become - I don't want to say a joke - but when you when the Intercontinental title, then it's the end of you winning (laughs). I personally don't like it. But I just think differently with a lot of things. So, to me it's one of those things where I would like the Intercontinental Champion to be strong, I would like our U.S. Champion to be strong, I would like for our tag team champions to be really strong.

"

The champion is clearly ready to carry the burden of the IC title and professional wrestlers everywhere. He wants to see the championship booked strongly, to achieve the importance it once had. So, as its bearer, he will do everything in his power to build it up and in the process establish himself as one of the iconic champions in company history.

It will be up to WWE Creative and management to do their part not to tear down what he and his peers have come together to build.