#9 – Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan has to be on this list, because he was hands-down the most popular WWE Superstar of 2013. And to his credit, when CM Punk was the #1 guy on Monday Night Raw in 2012, Bryan was doing a pretty good job building himself as a heel on Smackdown. But before I get a bunch of hate mail and ignorant comments bashing me for not putting Bryan higher on the list, I need to make one thing very clear – Bryan really wasn’t a major player in the PG Era.
In ten years when we make a list of the greatest WWE Superstars (we’ll probably call them Network Knights or App All-Stars by then…), I hope Bryan will be on that list, and not at home with a permanently screwed up neck. 2013 was the year of Daniel Bryan, but we’re not factoring 2014 into this Top Ten. I believe we’re already in a new generation, and because I had to lay some boundaries for what I consider to be the “PG Era”, Bryan winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXX isn’t a factor.
If it really bothers you THAT much, we all know how good he is, and nobody is trying to take anything away from him. But when I think “PG Era”, you get to count Bryan’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion, United States Champion, relationship with AJ Lee, and his debut on the original NXT reality series. That’s it. He was good – but until 2013 he wasn’t GREAT. Just be grateful he’s on the list…
