WWE: 7 Possible Upcoming Storylines for Ladder-Match Winner Daniel Bryan

So much for Daniel Bryan never reaching the main-event level in the WWE.

The world-renowned wrestler and SmackDown Superstar took one step closer to his dream of becoming a world champion when he won the blue brand’s MITB ladder match last Sunday.

Yes, believe it or not, Bryan now goes by a new name: Mr. Money in the Bank.

Bryan’s win at Money in the Bank was a pleasant surprise for wrestling fans who have followed him from the indies to ROH to the WWE.

And now, those same fans are wondering what’s on the horizon for arguably the world’s best wrestler.

Of course, we don’t know that yet. But we sure can speculate.

Here are seven possible upcoming storylines for SmackDown’s briefcase holder, Daniel Bryan (listed in order from least likely to likeliest, in my opinion).

7. The Dream Matchup: Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk

A recent popular rumor making its way around the Internet, which originated from Figure Four Weekly (h/t SE Scoops), is that ROH and the WWE have some sort of working agreement that will allow wrestlers under contract to either organization to appear for both companies.

The wrestling world might spontaneously combust if that was true, but as of right now, there’s been no confirmation one way or the other.

Still, the fact that it’s even a possibility—however slight it may be—will undoubtedly bring one potential feud up in the minds of wrestling fans across the country: Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk.

Imagine a scenario where Punk shows up in ROH with the WWE Championship, and Bryan cashes in his MITB briefcase, wrestles Punk in a 30-minute classic and then defeats him to win his first world title.

Yep, we’ve reached spontaneous combustion.

Though a lot of crazy things have to happen for Punk/Bryan to occur, the wrestling business is a crazy one. And you never really know.

6. A Gradual Gimmick Change

Whether you think he does or not, Daniel Bryan doesn’t really have a gimmick.

He was booked as a nerdy ladies’ man at one point, and since then he’s basically been booked like a common man who doesn’t care about anything but wrestling.

But that’s about it.

There’s essentially no depth behind Bryan’s character, and other than his in-ring ability, fans don’t have too many reasons to fully invest themselves in his persona.

That’s gotta change. Somehow. Some way.

If I’m on the WWE creative team, I seriously consider gradually tweaking this guy’s “gimmick” over the next several months so that he actually has one.

Maybe even unleash the “American Dragon.”

5. Daniel Bryan Gets Booked Like a Top Star

If Daniel Bryan is going to be taken seriously as a top star in the WWE, then he has to be booked like one.

Before he cashes in his MITB briefcase at WrestleMania 28 next year, it’s imperative that the creative team builds him up as a credible threat to whoever’s world heavyweight champion come March 2012.

I’m not talking Cena, Orton or Mysterio-type booking where he almost never loses—that shouldn’t happen.

I’m simply talking about putting Bryan in high-profile feuds, where he gets a ton of TV and pay-per-view matches and, perhaps most importantly, actually gets on the mic week in and week out.

Like Orton on SmackDown and Cena on Raw, Bryan should be featured at the critical hours of the show (beginning, middle or end), and his appearances should be made out to be a big deal.

That way, the fans will grow to view Bryan as one of the top stars in the WWE before he becomes world champion.

4. Daniel Bryan Loses the Money in the Bank Briefcase

The moment that Daniel Bryan won SmackDown’s Money in the Bank ladder match, I read a lot of comments like this here on Bleacher Report:

“I sure hope they don’t pull a Mr. Kennedy and have Bryan lose the briefcase.”

Me neither.

But the unfortunate thing is that I could actually see the creative team souring on the decision to give Bryan the briefcase, have him defend it and lose it.

A scenario I’ve seen several B/R writers and readers bring up is Bryan defending and losing the briefcase to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam.

Of course, that would make SmackDown’s MITB match largely pointless. But crazier things have happened in the past.

I’ll never rule out Bryan losing the briefcase as a possibility, because we all know Vince McMahon changes his mind fairly often.

3. Daniel Bryan Consistently Defends the Money in the Bank Briefcase...and Wins

On last Friday’s SmackDown, Daniel Bryan claimed that he worked, scratched and clawed his way to that Money in the Bank briefcase.

Well, if he did anything to get that briefcase, wouldn’t he do anything to hold onto it?

If Bryan’s going to be built into a beast of a MITB winner, he’ll do everything in his power to make sure he never loses that briefcase. That means even defending it.

As a way of proving that he’s worthy of being Mr. Money in the Bank, he’ll welcome any and all challengers who try to take that briefcase away from him.

Imagine what it would do for his credibility if he defeated SmackDown’s finest Superstars each and every time they challenged him for the briefcase.

Instantly, Bryan becomes the blue brand’s biggest threat to the world champion.

2. Daniel Bryan Lies and Turns Heel

On last Friday’s SmackDown, Daniel Bryan vowed that he would wait until WrestleMania 28 to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

But here’s a thought for you: What if he’s lying?

If the WWE wants to go the “Let’s turn the MITB winner heel” route—like they did with CM Punk in 2009—then this is the perfect way to do it.

Have Bryan consistently say he’s going to do the honorable thing and give his opponent a heads-up before he cashes in, then out of nowhere, have Bryan cash in on a wounded face champion.

It will garner instant heat, and of course, help start the turn of Bryan to the dark side.

1. Daniel Bryan vs Michael Cole: Part Two

When I was watching last week’s episode of SmackDown, I couldn’t help but think of NXT Season 1.

Why? Because the verbal exchange between Michael Cole and Daniel Bryan brought me back to the feud those two had when Bryan was The Miz’s rookie and Cole was Miz’s No. 1 fan.

Cole would bash anything and everything Bryan did on NXT, and that’s continued on to both Raw and SmackDown.

Now that Bryan is SmackDown’s Money in the Bank briefcase holder, however, I only expect Cole’s hatred for him to grow, grow and then grow some more.

Since Vince McMahon seems to love Cole’s heel character so much, it wouldn’t shock me to see Cole continue to ridicule Bryan, which will lead to a full-blown feud between the two—or as I like to call it, “Cole vs. Bryan: Part Two.”

Perhaps Cole can have an up-and-coming SmackDown star try to “take out” Bryan, resulting in a lengthy rivalry this fall.