Is Daniel Bryan Now a Bona Fide Main Event Wrestler in the WWE?

Daniel Bryan's introduction to WWE fans started as a contestant on NXT, and he didn't even win the competition.

Now he is a Money in the Bank winner who wins fatal four ways and has matches with Mark Henry for the title.  Somehow, it seems like his place in the company changed.

This is a man who went from being fired for choking Justin Roberts with his own tie to being someone in multiple main events on SmackDown and pretty much guaranteed one title run.

He has definitely risen from the bottom rung of the company and being viewed as an indy wrestler to one of the more important stars in the WWE.  Does that mean that he is now a main event wrestler, though?

Sure, he has been in main events recently, but that won't last.  Plenty of other wrestlers have been given main event runs and not seen it turn into anything substantial.  It could end up the same for the very talented Bryan.

It would be a shame, as Bryan has earned his keep in the WWE, but it comes down to two things in the end.

First, how long the feud with the Big Show and Mark Henry goes on.

And how Daniel Bryan wins his belt.

Bryan went from proclaiming that he would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania to trying to cash it in when Mark Henry was at his weakest.

The idea of cashing it in at WrestleMania was perfect for the Daniel Bryan character, as he is portrayed as a by-the-book wrestler who doesn't bend the rules. Cashing his briefcase on the biggest stage of them all—even if he lost—would have helped his character and solidified his structure in the WWE.

If he cashes his suitcase in like every other winner has done before him, then he won't get that chance.  He will not only have to win but he will have to defend it and do it well.  He'll have to look strong, and that isn't something the WWE has shown in the past.

They have made him look more like a wrestler who can capitalize on mistakes and trick his opponents into taking him lightly.  When he has the belt that will disappear.  He will need to be able to take on monster heels and find ways to beat them.

He will need to find ways to submit his opponents when they try to attack him from behind.

He will need to be the intelligent grappler that the WWE has started portraying him to be.

So it really depends on what happens after he wins the belt and who he feuds with right after his reign begins.

Because for now Bryan is in main events.  He is fighting longer matches and for belts instead of chances to get higher on the card.  It doesn't make him a main event star, though.

It's him getting to that point and staying there, finding a way to continue to evolve his character and not losing his spot that will get him the rest of the way.

And fans will have to wait several months from now to find out.

Just like a patient wrestler waiting for his opponent to give him an opening, we'll have to wait.