8 WWE Superstars Who Could Have Surpassed John Cena As “The Guy”
4. Daniel Bryan
WWE may never have a superstar on the same level as Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock ever again, but Daniel Bryan was surely the closest thing we'll get to either one of them in the modern era of WWE. He was fresh off his Team Hell No run with Kane in mid-2013 when the reactions he was receiving were too loud to ignore, forcing WWE to place him in the WWE Championship picture in time for SummerSlam.
It was unknown whether WWE would do the right thing by putting the title on him, but they did, albeit for a few minutes. He was technically "the guy" on WWE TV for a handful of months, but only because John Cena was out injured. Once Cena resurfaced, Bryan was back to being a midcard competitor.
His next opportunity to replace Cena as the face of the franchise came at WrestleMania XXX. Much to the chagrin of management, Bryan had to be placed in the main event that night and capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in order for that show to be a success.
Bryan wasn't exactly larger-than-life, but he made up for that with his immense popularity. Sadly, a series of serious injuries cut his career short before he could become a perennial main event player.