25 biggest pro wrestling ‘what ifs’ of the past 25 years

25. What if Daniel Bryan stays healthy?

It’s interesting to think about what WWE would like today had Daniel Bryan not gotten hurt. After becoming arguably the most popular wrestler in the company (yes, even more so than John Cena), Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX and the future couldn’t have been any brighter for the former independent star.

However, not even two months later, Bryan had to relinquish his title due to a neck injury and would be out of action for more than seven months, finally returning at the 2015 Royal Rumble, a match in which he only lasted a few minutes, which infuriated a hostile Philadelphia crowd. Creative used his popularity to try and bring back some prestige to the Intercontinental Championship, a title which he won in a Ladder Match at WrestleMania 31. Again, however, he would have to give up the belt a short time later due to another neck injury and he hasn’t seen action since, finally retiring in February 2016 after WWE wouldn’t clear him. So what would have happened if Daniel Bryan had never gotten hurt?

Following the win at WrestleMania XXX, he got into a program with Kane that wasn’t very good and I think we may have seen another rematch with Triple H down the line, possibly at SummerSlam. With his popularity, Bryan could have had a very long title reign and the possibility of some of the matches he could have right now are incredible. Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens. Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn. Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles (I’m drooling over that one). There’s no doubt that WWE would look very different at the top of the card right now if Daniel Bryan were still wrestling. Cena was always going to be the standard-bearer of the company but DB was hotter than anyone for a short while there and could have held that top spot if not for some bad luck. That spot now belongs to someone else but that all could have been different as well.