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I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news is that Daniel Bryan is in a WWE title match at WrestleMania 31. The bad news is that it’s an intercontinental championship match, a match he would be far better off losing than winning.

A year ago wrestling fans all united around Daniel Bryan, emotionally investing in his quest for WWE gold at WrestleMania. We need to unite around Daniel Bryan once again this year in hopes that Bryan does not win his title match this year. The I-C title has become a career killer and a reign as champion would mean the end of the Yes Movement as we know it.

15 years ago we would be excited to see Bryan in the I-C title hunt. I grew up at a time when the I-C title was the “workers” title. It all started with Magnificent Muraco for me and evolved to Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Curt Hennig, and so on. That lineage took a dark turn about six years and has been on the road to ruin ever since.

I was inspired to write this blog by a blog I read elsewhere which demanded Bryan win the intercontinental title at Mania. I read the headline and thought to myself, “My gosh, this guy is officially toast if he wins the I-C title”. Any objective look back at the last few years of intercontinental champions will conclude that the title that was once used to elevate rising stars has been nothing more than an anchor and albatross to those that appeared to be on the ascension.

You need not look further back than at your current I-C champion Wade “Bad News” Barrett. Barrett returned a couple of months back with a ton of momentum. Barrett reclaimed the title he vacated due to his injury back in January. Just in the last four weeks alone, Barrett has gone 0-4 on RAW. The pattern is predictable as every champion before him becomes an immediate loser the second they get the title. Dolph Ziggler before Barrett came out of the Survivor Series with a ton of steam only to be jobbed out constantly after he won the I-C title. It’s an epidemic and Daniel Bryan needs to stay as far away from this title as possible.

I can understand the initial reaction from fans who want to see Bryan win. Heck at this point you just want something to cheer about. But your wishes are selfish. Sure it would be fun to get up on your feet and chant “Yes, Yes, Yes” during Bryan’s match at WrestleMania. However, a true Bryan supporter would be standing on his or her feet yelling, “No, No, No” any time he climbs the ladder to retrieve the intercontinental belt.

I’d love to know how this happened. How such a prestigious championship has turned into a legitimate curse. What is the logic in taking someone with a little momentum, giving him the title, and then jobbing him out? What is that really accomplishing. Sure, you can argue that Bryan is too talented to be jobbed out by the belt. Unfortunately the dark power this belt has over creative is greater than even the force known as Daniel Bryan.

So whatever you do when you are watching WrestleMania, chant for Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, R-Truth, Michael Cole, or anyone but Daniel Bryan to win the intercontinental title. A win at WrestleMania for Daniel Bryan is a curse that even the Yes Movement can’t survive.

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