Daniel Bryan's IC Title Reign Will Steal the Show in 2015 After WrestleMania 31

WrestleMania 31 was filled with lots of great moments that will have a huge impact on the rest of the year going forward.

Streaks ended, new champions were crowned and the landscape of the WWE title scene morphed into a picture that looks very promising.

Outside of Seth Rollins cashing in on Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, the most crowd-pleasing reaction of the night for a new champion was undoubtedly Daniel Bryan's success in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match.

Going into WrestleMania, a good portion of the audience had hoped Bryan would leave with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but this is definitely a great consolation prize that may even pay off better in the long run.

In fact, there is a good chance that Bryan's title reign will end up being the standout when compared to all others in 2015, for a multitude of different reasons.

Sheer Popularity

One aspect that cannot be ignored is the support in general that Bryan will get from the WWE Universe while holding on to this title.

It's no surprise that when a champion typically is not getting a decent response from the crowd, he or she doesn't get to hold on to it too much longer. Why keep the focus on someone that doesn't draw?

There's no need to worry about Bryan in this regard, seeing as how he is without a doubt still one of the most beloved members of the roster.

That Yes Movement will continue to support Bryan and be invested in his feuds, cheering him on and booing his opponents. In turn, this will justify spending more time on those programs, ensuring that Bryan is never really lost in the shuffle.

Popularity breeds popularity. When something is viewed as being liked by a large number of people, more fans pop up through word of mouth being spread that they should join in with the crowd.

Instead of the Intercontinental Championship being some afterthought tacked onto a card at the last minute, with Bryan holding it, every show will put a good portion of the selling responsibility on his shoulders—and he'll succeed.

Credit: WWE.com

Quality and Quantity

Having Lesnar hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship made that title seem extremely valuable due to his status and track record.

However, the downside to Lesnar as champion meant that it was rarely seen, so while it was a big deal when he wrestled, it happened only a handful of times over the course of months.

With Bryan, WWE will have a reliable hand that can be trusted to put on great performances every night. Seeing a great championship match come from Bryan won't be a rarity, it will be a standard.

When Shawn Michaels was wrestling on a card, you could at least look forward to him having a good match even if everyone else dropped the ball.

Similarly, if every other match on the Royal Rumble has a terrible build, at least the Royal Rumble match should be awesome.

The same will go for Bryan. For the next onslaught of events where Bryan is defending the title, fans should be able to trust that in the worst-case scenario, at least his segment should be entertaining.

It's unlikely that fans will grow tired of seeing Bryan defend the title on a regular basis and yearn for WWE to go back to the style that has plagued the roster for years, where reigns are spread out with minimal matches that aren't good enough to hold fans over for a long time.

The more Bryan defends the title and has good matches in the process, the bigger the legacy of his reign will grow and overshadow other divisions.

The Comparison from the Outside

The Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship are always being compared to one another.

Most fans would probably agree that if these two titles are ever unified again, the Intercontinental should be the one that lasts, if not just for its bigger history in WWE.

Still, there have been times when the United States Championship was a better scene to pay attention to, as the Intercontinental title was around the waist of someone who just didn't cut it.

This goes back and forth frequently, and since both titles are on the same theoretical level, the two champions are always weighed in opposition.

There's no argument that John Cena is a bigger entity in WWE than Bryan due to his star power having been at that top level for far longer, but the tides have turned and the audience doesn't sway in his favor.

Bryan can seemingly do no wrong and gets praise during matches he isn't even involved in, while Cena is still booed after fans cheer for the American pride message that he stands for.

Credit: WWE.com

This will carry over into the perception of the divisions themselves. Although this past episode of Raw featured a great match between Cena and Dean Ambrose, in no time, fans will be complaining that Cena's feuds are stale.

The United States Championship will appear as though it is being held hostage just the same as it was with Rusev—by someone that the audience doesn't like, yet who never seems to lose.

While Cena holds the title, he will be accused of burying those he beats. When he drops it, it will probably be booked in a convoluted way that won't seem like it was good enough to put over the next champion.

In comparison, Bryan's matches will be perceived as hard-fought victories against worthy opponents, and people will be happy to see him retain.

Whether this treatment is fair or not will not factor into how things go down. If everyone was fair all of the time, Roman Reigns wouldn't still be getting booed by fans who didn't want him to win at WrestleMania, seeing as how WrestleMania is over and done with.

Bryan will have his circle of opponents, and Cena's world will revolve around that very closely, but still distanced and technically on the outside. This separation will slowly start to widen a gap and turn into a true divide.

When that happens, Cena stands no chance at winning the war against Bryan for the affection of the crowd.

The Competition from the Inside

While Cena will struggle to not appear as an anchor weighing down those around him, Bryan will be surrounded by hungry wrestlers who are eager to have top-notch matches with the champion.

Folks like Bad News Barrett, Dean Ambrose, Stardust, The Miz, Damien Mizdow, the new addition to the roster Neville and more will get chances to shine much brighter when working with Bryan.

Although he's far from perfect, Bryan's proven that he is one of the go-to guys to work with if you want to step up your game and have a better match than normal, so the competition within the ranks of the Intercontinental division will really heat up as people want to be in those good spots.

It has started already with the matches between Bryan and Dolph Ziggler—one of the other men capable of boosting other people to a new level—and it will also apply to the revitalization of the career of Sheamus now that he has become involved.

The Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania was one of the best matches of the night, and it involved only seven of the roster members who can feud with Bryan over the next couple of months.

It's tough to assume anything but great things will continue to come out of this pairing of the second-tier title in the company and the so-called B+ player.

Much like how NXT shines even brighter by proving that a developmental show can surpass the main roster's primary program, the slight demotion will work in Bryan's favor as he exemplifies taking something and improving it far beyond what is expected of him.

Watch out for the Intercontinental Championship scene in WWE in 2015, because it is going to be a wild ride.

What feuds are you looking forward to the most now that Bryan has the title? Who should take the belt off him down the line?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.