10 Times WWE Actually Elevated Midcarders To Become WWE Champions

6. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan's case is a strange one.

Fans were seemingly ready to accept Bryan as a headliner from 2012 onwards (his popularity exploded as part of Team Hell No with Kane), but WWE weren't. Don't kid yourselves here; as good as the 'B+ Player' storytelling of 2013-14 was, the company definitely weren't sold on making Dan a permanent main eventer until they didn't have a choice.

The people forced WWE to elevate Bryan, and they wouldn't be denied. This small-ish worker with technical wrestling skills coming out of his ass didn't exactly scream money to Vince McMahon, and there was a visible hesitance in company booking even when Daniel was being pushed to the forefront before WrestleMania XXX.

Nonetheless, they rolled with it, Bryan had his memorable moment in New Orleans and he was set as a legend forever more. A guy who'd been portrayed as a midcard linchpin suddenly launched himself to the top by out-wrestling everyone else, and fans demanded that WWE acknowledge it.