WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan definitely has unquestioned popularity. However, when he underwent surgery for a simple neck procedure last year, no one imagined how many problems would come from it. Not only did he have issues with his arm afterward, but he ended up needing rehab for several months. On top of this, there were rumors of another surgery. Thankfully, Bryan was cleared in late December and returned to WWE officially in January of this year.
The issue in many eyes was if Daniel Bryan could stay clear. Could he avoid getting hurt again? Would his past injuries show up more? This led to random rumors for WrestleMania . While fans wanted Bryan to main event WrestleMania 31 , WWE didn’t feel there was a need to. We heard all summer and all fall that WWE pegged Roman Reigns for this position. So when Reigns won the Royal Rumble , it didn’t shock anyone. However, the treatment of Bryan was seen as terrible.
According to PWInsider , it wasn’t that WWE didn’t want to give Bryan a big role. They didn’t due to his health. WWE was not sure if Bryan can stay healthy. The feeling among many in WWE is that while Bryan can stay healthy for the short-term, he’ll have bigger problems down the line. WWE didn’t want to run into a similar issue that they did last year with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion being crowned at WrestleMania , only to be unable to use him very much.
The original plan was for Bryan to hold the WWE World Title until SummerSlam , which would give him a long reign where he’d end up losing to Brock Lesnar. That match went to John Cena instead, so the injury to Bryan set a lot of plans off. It was said that WWE didn’t even think Bryan would be back this early, so when he did come back, there was an issue of where to put him on the WrestleMania card.
Luckily for WWE, they found a way this year to add a lot of people to the Mania card with various multi-man matches.
It is said that Dean Ambrose is still favored to win the IC Title at WrestleMania this Sunday. However, WWE does want to give Bryan an opportunity once again. It is thought that giving him the IC Title would work out regardless of an injury. If he can manage to stay healthy, he’d bring a lot of credibility to the title. WWE wants to bring the IC Title back to prominence, and the same is said for the U.S. Title. That means we can expect the mid-card titles to be used a lot more this year.
Daniel Bryan still has a big role at WrestleMania this year, even if it’s not in a World Title match or the main event. So regardless of what happens, Bryan was given a good role this year and at least had a title match of some kind.
[IMG Credit: Fansided]