We are all now used to so-called "indie guys" making it in WWE. It is easy to forget that the environment Daniel Bryan entered was not quite the same. When he joined the company being an "indie guy" was a black mark against you. The only person to have got past that was a certain CM Punk, and even he had not yet exploded in the way that he would. Bryan was also held back by the way he looks and the way he wrestles. He is not seven foot tall and capable of chucking jobbers around the ring. He is instead billed at five foot eight and 190 pounds. His wrestling style involves complex holds and bursts of explosive energy. In Vince McMahon's land of the giants he did not fit in. Which brings us nicely to the real reason this was a shock, Vince McMahon has never understood his appeal. Daniel Bryan got signed to WWE despite being everything Vince McMahon and the guys he loves aren't. He was a vegan who prized conditioning over lifting weights. Yet somehow, he got the call. Just how good do you have to be to pull that off? Daniel Bryan good apparently.
