What will it take to keep Daniel Bryan over?

[Everlong]

Right now Daniel Bryan is immensely over, probably the most over babyface they've had since The Rock in his prime and Austin right before him. The question is, what will it take to keep him over?

We saw Cena get a ton of support leading up to his title win, but once he'd reached the top of the mountain that support dissipated pretty quickly. Granted, Bryan is better than Cena in basically every category, but you get the idea -- there's no guarantee that fans will continue to support a guy forever, and it's much easier to cheer a face who's on the hunt than it is a face who's got the belt. People love the underdog.

What can WWE do to ensure that Daniel Bryan stays over as the company's biggest face for multiple years to come?

[Hanley!]

They need to be willing to allow his character to change and grow. The Yes Movement thing is carrying him far at the moment, but it will get old before too long. But he has more than enough skills to keep him over in spite of that.

A variety of different feuds and opponents will help to keep him over. He should finish up with the Authority soon enough, and be introduced to a range of different types of feuds in quick succession, each showcasing different aspects of his character and his abilities in the ring. Keep it fresh, keep people wanting to see more.

And they should plan a really big and interesting grudge feud for when he loses the title. You want him to leave that story with lots of audience sympathy and new places to go as a character. His title reign can't last forever, but handled with a little tact, it can just make the fans like him more in the long run.

[jfolgerz]

Just keep the title scene fresh. Multiple competitors and amazing matches. Let Daniel lose the title then have him win it back. Between 2000 and 2001 the rock was champ, Austin was champ, Kurt was champ, triple h was champ. It kept things interesting and the superstars over.

[The Legend]

Truth be told, from what I've seen of him and his character in WWE I think there's basically no chance of it happening.Basically, I see him becoming all of the worst parts of a combination of John Cena and Rey Mysterio.

The one thing he has going for him is the fact that they won't have him go over the entire roster and burn fans completely out of him in a year-long title reign to start things off.

I think to keep him over he's going to ultimately be someone who has to fairly drastically change his gimmick every couple of years.

[ShaneOfan]

Fresh title scene and have him get involved with make a wish

[Ace]

GOOD OPPONENTS

I can't stress enough the terrible booking the WWE had these passed couple of years. Now they're giving the fans what we want & in order to keep Daniel Bryan at the top they have to make sure that his upcoming opponents are an actual threat to his title or his career. They need legit characters that can get into a ring with D Bryan and make him look really weak in order to build up for Daniel Bryan overcoming his opponent or make him look like a wrestling god.

They have more than enough of talent on the roster to do so such as Cesaro, finish with the Authority & Orton, Bray Wyatt, the members of the Sheild, Sami Zayn & heel Cena. He has plenty of time left with WWE so they need to make sure not to shit on Daniel Bryan like they did with Dolph Ziggler.

[Viazon]

Just don't make him into a Superman. They need to make it look like sometimes that he can lose and can be broken. That way people can get behind him more when he comes back and wins. Faces need obstacles to over come to get the crowd behind them. People just got tired of Cena because he would never lose.

[Hanley!]

Truth be told, from what I've seen of him and his character in WWE I think there's basically no chance of it happening.Basically, I see him becoming all of the worst parts of a combination of John Cena and Rey Mysterio.

The one thing he has going for him is the fact that they won't have him go over the entire roster and burn fans completely out of him in a year-long title reign to start things off.

I think to keep him over he's going to ultimately be someone who has to fairly drastically change his gimmick every couple of years.

As someone who seems prone to defending the much maligned Cena, you're surprisingly harsh on Bryan.

I don't think his gimmick needs to be changed drasticallyat any point. He's playing a likable underdog who nobody thought would make it, he looks funny and the crowd relates to him. He's basically the Mick Foley of the modern era. He's someone that is very easy to root for, because we understand what makes him tick. As often as WWE occasionally liked to pretend Cena was an underdog, he was always an absurdly proportioned superman look-alike who beat everybody and who had success thrown at him at an early age. He was very, very difficult to relate to. Which is the main difference between the two characters.

The only real concern I have for Bryan is that his shtick will get old. Namely the "Yes" chants and all of that. They just have to gradually have him move away from that in promos and do enough to keep his momentum going. The fans will take care of the rest.

[Daz]

Treating him seriously. That's all they need to do.

[SortaCreative]

A legit heel. Hunter has done wonders for him but solo against Batista would hurt.

Bryan needs to move on after Hunter to Lesnar. That'll maintain his momentum.

[Hanley!]

I think the Authority angle in general has reached its climax and there's no reason to continue it much longer.

Plus, while the underdog aspect is a big part of Bryan's appeal, after a while watching him get pounded on by large groups of people will start to diminish his star power. They can keep him as an underdog without constantly putting him in 3 on 1 situations.

A couple of matches against monsters could really help him over the next few months, provided he can get good matches out of his opponents. Batista and Lesnar could both conceivably be the perfect opponents for him.

[Chewy]

I think the Authority angle in general has reached its climax and there's no reason to continue it much longer.

Plus, while the underdog aspect is a big part of Bryan's appeal, after a while watching him get pounded on by large groups of people will start to diminish his star power. They can keep him as an underdog without constantly putting him in 3 on 1 situations.

A couple of matches against monsters could really help him over the next few months, provided he can get good matches out of his opponents. Batista and Lesnar could both conceivably be the perfect opponents for him.

Yea this.

Having him beat Batista and the finally HHH in a HIAC will hold him nicely until Lesnar comes and takes the title form him. Havimg Bryan develop a bit before having him head back to take the strap again later on.

[Everlong]

^Yeah, I think Lesnar would actually be the perfect person to take the title from Bryan. Do it at Summerslam, and have Bryan get it back at Survivor Series or something like that after a nice little feud.

Give Bryan a chance to tidy everything up with Hunter/Batista before a new antagonist comes in and makes his life hell

[SKS]

I just hope he doesn't turn into a Super Man. Someone that beats everyone all the time is bound to get booed eventually. If they keep him as a realistic underdog and treat his 'Mania performance as a miracle then all should be fine. I thought they booked Benoit pretty well after he won at his 'Mania. Feuded with Triple H for a while longer, a monster in Kane, then lost to someone who was ready for the belt (at least IMO). Let him fight HHH one more time, Batista, Bray Wyatt one more time, then drop the belt to Lesnar at SummerSlam, perhaps winning it back at Royal Rumble. Or even drop the belt to Bray. I don't think that'd happen though.

[Chewy]

I just hope he doesn't turn into a Super Man. Someone that beats everyone all the time is bound to get booed eventually. If they keep him as a realistic underdog and treat his 'Mania performance as a miracle then all should be fine. I thought they booked Benoit pretty well after he won at his 'Mania. Feuded with Triple H for a while longer, a monster in Kane, then lost to someone who was ready for the belt (at least IMO). Let him fight HHH one more time, Batista, Bray Wyatt one more time, then drop the belt to Lesnar at SummerSlam, perhaps winning it back at Royal Rumble. Or even drop the belt to Bray. I don't think that'd happen though.

I don't see them booking Bryan as a superman, my fear is they go the Mysterio route and have him look weak and lucky to keep the title.

[Locke]

I just hope he doesn't turn into a Super Man. Someone that beats everyone all the time is bound to get booed eventually. If they keep him as a realistic underdog and treat his 'Mania performance as a miracle then all should be fine. I thought they booked Benoit pretty well after he won at his 'Mania. Feuded with Triple H for a while longer, a monster in Kane, then lost to someone who was ready for the belt (at least IMO). Let him fight HHH one more time, Batista, Bray Wyatt one more time, then drop the belt to Lesnar at SummerSlam, perhaps winning it back at Royal Rumble. Or even drop the belt to Bray. I don't think that'd happen though.

I don't see them booking Bryan as a superman, my fear is they go the Mysterio route and have him look weak and lucky to keep the title.

There's no way he has a title run like that. That was his World Championship run. He beat the fuck out of EVERYONE clean basically. There's no way they make him look weak.

[xgamr]

oh there are ways to make him look weak.

[Chewy]

oh there are ways to make him look weak.

W3rd.

[axis]

My plan would be:
- War games at Extreme Rules
- Orton or Batista at then next 2 or 3 PPVs
- Loss to Lesnar at Summerslam
- Loss again to Lesnar in the PPV after Summerslam
- Lesnar drops the title to 'whoever' (Maybe a returning Punk)
- Lesnar v Bryan at Wrestlemania without the title.

[The Legend]

Truth be told, from what I've seen of him and his character in WWE I think there's basically no chance of it happening.Basically, I see him becoming all of the worst parts of a combination of John Cena and Rey Mysterio.

The one thing he has going for him is the fact that they won't have him go over the entire roster and burn fans completely out of him in a year-long title reign to start things off.

I think to keep him over he's going to ultimately be someone who has to fairly drastically change his gimmick every couple of years.

As someone who seems prone to defending the much maligned Cena, you're surprisingly harsh on Bryan.

I don't think his gimmick needs to be changed drasticallyat any point. He's playing a likable underdog who nobody thought would make it, he looks funny and the crowd relates to him. He's basically the Mick Foley of the modern era. He's someone that is very easy to root for, because we understand what makes him tick. As often as WWE occasionally liked to pretend Cena was an underdog, he was always an absurdly proportioned superman look-alike who beat everybody and who had success thrown at him at an early age. He was very, very difficult to relate to. Which is the main difference between the two characters.

The only real concern I have for Bryan is that his shtick will get old. Namely the "Yes" chants and all of that. They just have to gradually have him move away from that in promos and do enough to keep his momentum going. The fans will take care of the rest.

Bryan doesn't have Cena's raw standout, charisma and magnetism. Did they over use Cena, sure, but for the vast majority of his run he was still the most talented and most logical guy to be in that spot. Also, the underdog Bryan is playing is far closer to Rey/Cena than they are Mick Foley. And yes Bryan's schtick is incredibly shallow.