7 Reasons Daniel Bryan Is The Most Important Wrestler Of This Generation

7. He Was The True People's Champion

Many people in many walks have often been referred to (either critically or by themselves) as the 'People's Champion'. It is a list of larger than large names, starting with Muhammad Ali and going all the way through the current US Presidential candidate, Hilary Clinton. The idea is that the individual in question is the true standard bearer in the eyes of the audience. The phrase is most closely associated with one man in professional wrestling, and that man is of course none other than The Rock. He started referring himself as it towards the end of the 1990s, and crowds chanting his name agreed. He was the most charismatic man of his time, if not of all time, and the audience was enthralled by all that he did. He was the People's Champion in a purely entertainment sense. On the opposite side of this we find the true People's Champion. Daniel Bryan was the definition of the phrase. He was the man that the people wanted, craved to be champion. He was beloved for a number of reasons, one of which being that he was so refreshingly normal. He didn't have movie star looks or the ability to make an eyebrow raise an actual cultural phenomenon. He didn't have 24-inch pythons and he didn't pour beer over himself in an exaggerated tone. Daniel Bryan was the people. Despite being one of the best professional wrestlers in history, there was something so down to earth and normal about him that it was easily conceivable that if he wasn't in the ring, he would be in the audience. He gave the audience a hero to live vicariously through. As viewers, we can't close our eyes and truly imagine being The Rock, no matter how hard we pout into the mirror. We could imagine being Daniel Bryan.