WWE's 15 Hottest Stars Of The Summer Since 2001

3. Daniel Bryan - 2013

daniel bryan
WWE.com

WWE can't keep an ultra fan favorite down for long, and they learned that fairly quickly with Daniel Bryan in 2013. He did some awesome work alongside Kane as part of Team Hell No that spring, but it was obvious that he belonged among the elite in the main event scene.

When the summer season got underway, WWE was just starting to test the waters with Bryan on his own again, having him beat Randy Orton in a strong series of matches in June. Following a phenomenal performance in the Money in the Bank Ladder match, Bryan was then handpicked by then-WWE champion John Cena to go for the gold at SummerSlam. At long last, the fans had the dream match they had been highly anticipating for ages.

Luckily for Bryan, he was made to look like an equal to Cena throughout the build to the bout, and every week that passed, the reactions he was receiving grew louder and harder to ignore. At SummerSlam, WWE went full throttle with his push by having him unseat Cena as champion, and although his title reign abruptly ended at the hands of Randy Orton, nothing could take that moment (and that entire summer on the whole) away from WWE's resident "Yes!" man.

Contributor
Contributor

Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.