Daniel Bryan Redefined the Makeup of a Top WWE Superstar

The trails Daniel Bryan blazed during his WWE career are still smoldering.

As the former world champion steps away from the ring, he leaves behind a mold-breaking legacy. WWE is filled with emerging stars who likely would be considered too small, too indy and not larger-than-life enough to make a real impact had the company not seen firsthand what Bryan accomplished.

Injuries truncated Bryan's run at the top, but the fact he made his way there changed the mat game.

After months of inactivity and medical tests, speculation and anticipation, Bryan is officially stepping away from the ring:

But Bryan's impact will continue long after he hangs up his boots. His success altered the WWE landscape.

While there are still plenty of wide-shouldered, bodybuilder-looking man beasts on the payroll, a fleet of sleeker, smaller athletes await takeoff.

Finn Balor is the NXT champion. Sami Zayn once held that title and seems poised to move to the main roster. Kalisto, barely 5'6", currently holds the United States Championship. AJ Styles recently stormed into WWE, claiming a significant spot in the spotlight right away.

Each of these men has to strain his neck to look up at 6'3", 265-pound Roman Reigns. None of them are homegrown talent like Reigns either. Still, the door is open for them to make a move to the top tier.

As Zayn pointed out on Twitter, Bryan has to get some credit for that:

Bryan thrived in spite of WWE's lack of belief in him. WWE dismissed him from the get-go. When he wrestled on the first edition of NXT, the company presented him as a joke. Announcers downplayed his success on the indy circuit.

He was booked as a nerd with an underwhelming personality, a guy out of his league.

In his autobiography, Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, Bryan recalled how the company presented him at NXT:

"

All the things I'd heard from guys like Colt Cabana about WWE's negative feelings toward independent wrestlers seemed to be confirmed. Given that I'd been the flag bearer for independent wrestling over those last few years, it all of a sudden made sense why they would mock me on the show, despite me being one of the best performers.

"

CM Punk, who had first built his name on the indy circuit as well, had his own struggles trying to convince WWE to treat him like a true star. Standing 6'2", at least Punk had some size to counteract that, though, unlike 5'10" Bryan.

Bryan was a wizard in the ring. He mastered the technical aspect of the art and electrified audiences with high-flying, too. Whether WWE paired him with Ryback or Dolph Ziggler, he crafted a memorable, emotion-rich match.

It didn't matter.

WWE simply didn't think much of him. It squandered him in a storyline with the Bellas. At WrestleMania XXVII, the company pushed his bout to the dark-match position.

Still, his popularity ballooned. The "Yes!" chants grew louder.

Vocal fans catapulted him higher and higher—to the Money in the Bank briefcase, to the world title, to the main event of WrestleMania.

WWE resisted at every stage. His onscreen battles mirrored the backstage ones. Him being too small and too boring became a vital part of the storyline.

Triple H and The Authority constantly talked about how Bryan was no better than a B-plus player.

The company told the audience that Bryan was a nobody, time and time again. It didn't listen.

At his peak, Bryan generated thunderous reactions that no one else on the roster could boast. He was beloved to the point that fans turned on Batista and Reigns in 2014 and 2015 when Bryan didn't win the Royal Rumble.

Bryan created something magical, a reason to invest wholeheartedly in the product. WWE had to see fans weren't concerned with his size as they rooted for him.

He served as an undeniable reminder that talent trumps immensity.

It's no coincidence WWE has gotten behind both Zayn and Balor, two guys with statures similar to Bryan's. It's no coincidence Styles got the call to join the company this year after he didn't get a sniff from WWE on his way out from TNA at the end of 2013.

As Sean Radican of PWTorch put it, Bryan simply broke barriers:

"

Thank you @WWEDanielBryan for helping me rekindle my love for wrestling. Thank you for all of the barriers you broke in WWE. #TheBest

— SeanRadican (@SeanRadican) February 8, 2016"

Guys like Reigns are certain to have multiple opportunities laid in front of them. But so are the perpetual underdogs, the indy stars and the guys who look more like hipsters than gladiators.

Ajay Rose was spot on when he wrote for Vice Sports, "There is an amalgamation of these aesthetic gods with smaller, less muscular and even scruffy (but nonetheless incredibly talented) pro wrestlers who have thrown two fingers up to the status quo, redefining what a WWE competitor looks like."

WWE is shifting toward diversity.

The company has reason to believe the next megastar may not look like an action figure come to life, that he may look like Bryan or Balor or Kalisto.

More and more, it's opening its circus to a new breed of performer.