7. YEStleMania, Part 2
Lets not pretend that Daniel Bryans first Intercontinental Championship victory is a victory for Bryan and his legion of fans. Its really just a consolation prize for the fans and the man they propelled to the main event of WrestleMania 30 last year. Bryan has fallen from winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship last year to curtain-jerking and winning a secondary title that was being stolen on a weekly basis. All that being said, Bryans IC title victory at WrestleMania 31 is still a nice moment for him given how far he had fallen in recent months. Plus, maybe, just maybe, this will lead to the Intercontinental Championship being elevated to its former prominence. Doing that will take time, but if Bryan is booked as a fighting champion who actually defeats all comers, then this all will have been for something. The post-match rub from WWE legends (and former IC champs) Pat Patterson, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, Ric Flair and Bret Hitman Hart was a nice tribute. Kudos to Flair for giving Steamboat a chop, calling back to their legendary NWA feud.
Scott Carlson
Contributor
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
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