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

2. He Was Not Your Typical Superstar

Even to lifelong fans of professional wrestling, there are certain things we expect aesthetically from our performers. The physiques tend to fall into two categories, either henched as heck or simply large. Even to fans more interested in technical ability, the size and shape of the performer is always a conversation that is had. My favourite wrestler of all-time is Dean Malenko, yet this is still point number two. One of the major story points in Daniel Bryan's rise to the top of professional wrestling was that he simply did not look like a superstar. He was, as the Authority went to great pains to point out, a 'B+ player'. Again, look at the three men he defeated at WrestleMania XXX and you will see three hunking gentlemen with muscles in places us ordinary folk don't have places. Daniel Bryan was the peak of a storm that started in the middle of the 1990s with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. They paved the way for men like Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero, but these men have generally always been in the minority. Daniel Bryan (and CM Punk) was the modern equivalent, the wrestler from the street who defied his apparent lack of size to become the most important man on the show. For the typical professional wrestling fan, having heroes with the aesthetics of someone like Daniel Bryan is vital. Daniel Bryan showed, more so than anyone, that you didn't need to have muscles on your muscles to achieve incredible success in a world dominated by bulging biceps and triceps.