Projecting Daniel Bryan's New Role in WWE Universe After In-Ring Return

A transformation is underway for Daniel Bryan.

We saw that as Bryan charged across the ring in a sports coat and sneakers on Tuesday's WWE SmackDown, dropkicking Sami Zayn out onto the floor. He turned around, fuming, fists tight as he laid into Kevin Owens' chest with his trademark kicks. 

Bryan was no longer a non-active Superstar. He was now more than SmackDown's general manager. The former WWE champion was back, the everyman warrior with his sword in hand again.

Earlier that day, WWE announced it had medically cleared Bryan to compete again. The news came after three years of Bryan on the bench, with the Aberdeen, Washington, native forced into a speaking role thanks to a history of concussions and seizures he had suffered. 

Now that the company's doctors have given him the green light to compete again, Bryan's career path is set to veer off far from where we thought it was heading.

Possibilities abound. Questions swirl. A fanbase buzzes as an underdog's story continues.

First Things First

It doesn't take a psychic to predict Bryan's immediate next steps.

He and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon have been dealing with Owens and Zayn for months. The blue brand's resident irritants have pushed back against authority in often violent fashion.

After they thrashed McMahon last week, Bryan had to respond on Tuesday night.

The GM had long sided with KO and Zayn as he often empathized with them, but he fired them for their actions nonetheless. The heels didn't take the news well, assaulting Bryan to end the show.

It looks then that Bryan's first match back will be at WrestleMania 34.

He will fight alongside McMahon in an effort to stop the men who have disrupted the show. The villains deserve their comeuppance, and they'll soon get it in the form of Bryan's dropkicks and whatever wild stunt McMahon has at the ready.

That's the easy part. Where Bryan goes from there is more open-ended.

Gatekeeper and Launchpad 

Perhaps only AJ Styles brings out an opponent's best the way Bryan does.

Sheamus' best match came against the leader of the Yes! Movement, and Ryback can make the same claim. And when Roman Reigns was still charging up the ranks and needed a great bout to garner momentum going into WrestleMania 31, WWE turned to Bryan.

WWE will look for Bryan to elevate others in a similar way.

When the next crop of NXT stars arrives, a go-round with Bryan will be a huge boost for someone such as Johnny Gargano. To further Shinsuke Nakamura's rise, he's sure to get a crack at The Beard at some point. 

James McKenna of Pro Wrestling Sheet rattled off a list of excellent matches WWE can deliver now that Bryan is back:

WWE suddenly has a robust supply of options. The booking process is tons easier when one can plug in a generational talent.

Bryan's return will make pay-per-views bigger, deepen SmackDown's roster in a major way and give a number of WWE stars the opportunity of a lifetime.

Back to the Top 

Bryan WWE won't immediately leap into a workhorse role.

As cautious as the company was about clearing him, one can bet WWE will ease him back into things. It's going to want to see how he holds up after taking a few big bumps, whether his seizures reemerge. 

And WWE can't afford to commit to him if he's headed for another trip to the disabled list.

Shortly after Bryan won the WWE title in 2014, he had to relinquish the gold due to injury. When he captured the Intercontinental Championship a year later, he again gave up the belt due to medical reasons.

WWE will likely place Bryan in an upper-midcard role for the moment after replacing him as GM post-WrestleMania.

When the concerns about his health dissipate and the clamor from the audience for him to reign as champion boils over, it will be time to position him as a top star again. It will be the obvious choice given his popularity.

Few wrestlers have created the kind of emotional connection Bryan has.

The reaction of PWInsider's Mike Johnson to Bryan's first in-ring physicality in years is indicative of that:

"When Bryan fought back, my heart, as a viewer soared, just as the hopes and excitement of the fans live in Dallas brought them out of their seat, chanting 'Yes!' With each running dropkick in the corner, I felt, not saw, but felt visions of Bryan's past amazing moments."

More moments are on their way, first against Owens and Zayn at WrestleMania and then eventually in the main event with a roaring crowd eating every second of it up.