One does not need the WWE to become the greatest pro wrestler of all time. That being said, having an extended run in the most culturally ubiquitous promotion in the history of the sport presents fascinating insights into the work of any pro wrestler. Certainly with a wrestler like Bryan Danielson, who saw great commercial and critical success within the WWE, it’s important to analyze how his work within the company’s machinery speaks to his abilities as a pro wrestler.

When it comes to the Daniel Bryan run, 2012 may just be one of the keystone years to understanding the overwhelming acclaim that Bryan’s received in the last decade or so. While it is unquestionable that a pro wrestler does not need the WWE to become the greatest to ever do it, a large bulk of the case for Bryan ties specifically into how he navigates both the opportunities and restraints afforded him by the WWE. 2012 is rife with both.

Looking at Bryan’s year, one can see the very clear real-life tension between Bryan’s ability and his utility within the WWE landscape. Those that had already followed his career up to this point had ample evidence as to what he could offer as a main event worker. The only real question at this point is how willing is the WWE to give him the space to display those abilities, and how well suited would the skillset developed on the 2000s indies translate to mainstream WWE television in the 2010s. Luckily at this point, an analogous success story had already taken over the company: CM Punk.

Punk’s combination of a finely tuned and his acerbic personality on the microphone made him an undeniable star in 2011. Even with the occasional stumble in booking, Punk very clearly rose to the top of the pecking order within the promotion, spending the entirety of the 2012 calendar year with the WWE Championship, after winning it at the previous year’s Survivor Series. It should be no great surprise then that the massive success of one 2000s indie legend coincided with greater opportunities for another, with Daniel Bryan winning the World Heavyweight Championship to close out 2011.

Bryan winning the World Title can’t help but represent an acknowledgement from the company. While there’s some nuance to it that I’ll soon be going into, there’s something to be said for the fact that the WWE saw enough value in Bryan’s talent to make him a key part of the programming. Yes, it’s the nebulous World Heavyweight Championship—a little more upper midcard than Punk’s counterpart title at the time—but it’s not nothing. It’s already more than what many other pessimistic projections of his career in the fed foresaw.

Even here with this World Title run that plays out in the first quarter of the year, that strange push and pull between what Daniel Bryan could be and what the WWE want him to be feels clear.

The real problem is that Bryan has made a grave mistake when being around WWE creative: being funny.

There’s a thin line here though of where that comedy comes from. No doubt a good part of it just comes from Bryan being a naturally charismatic presence. There are enough examples at this point of his career already to show that Bryan always had a funny bone in him. Whether that be some of his goofier moments and promos on the indies or the riotous partnership with Derrick Bateman in NXT, it’s clear that Bryan has more than shown off his comedic chops at this point. There is the other side of this coin here that WWE creative, and specifically Vince McMahon himself, might just find Daniel Bryan’s entire being funny on its own.

That comes through in how Bryan’s presented in his World Title reign. Title holder, but a sneaky unexpected one. His first feud of the year is meant to emphasize the absurdity of Daniel Bryan as World Champion. At least, that’s the messaging I get when he’s put in a steel cage against both Mark Henry and The Big Show. The narrative tension stems from the incredibly size discrepancy, and while Bryan does come out on top, it’s not through some great feat but through slipperiness instead.

Just to be clear too, about where the WWE pictured Bryan in relation to the rest of their roster, Santino Marrella played an outmatched yet sentimental threat to Bryan’s championship in the early year.

If there’s an element of humor to Bryan’s run as a World Champion, the punchline, of course comes at WrestleMania XXVIII. Here he famously loses his title to Sheamus in only 18 seconds, completing the implied narrative arc of the reign. This outsized little twerp who’s been getting by with equal parts luck and cunning, finally gets his just desserts by being destroyed by a big musclebound hero.

Later in the year, there’s a different attempt to capitalize on the more humorous aspects of Bryan by putting him in a tag team with Kane. While this does involve another championship win, the WWE’s famous disdain for the tag team division shows their intentions with Bryan here. Again, it’s that push and pull between needing to keep him on TV for his innate talent and growing popularity, but capped off with the glass ceiling of a championship and division that mean close to nothing within the promotion.

All these things demonstrate how the WWE sought to temper the rising star of Daniel Bryan. Give him just enough leeway on TV to match his overness, but not so much that he might end up outshining all the people they really wanted to matter instead.

What makes Bryan stand out is how much he’s able to do even with those restraints on.

In the early half of the year, playing the undersized heel to Smackdown’s big men, Bryan’s a brilliant stooge heel. He commits himself fully to the bit: selling and bumping for all the larger men, while still using a strong grasp of structure and transitions to believably survive the onslaughts as well. Even the infamous 18 second bout at WrestleMania at least sees Bryan devote himself to the performance: the smugness of the kick and then straight into his karma.

As part of Team Hell No, what really should have been a death sentence of an pairing, Bryan transforms into perhaps the last great Kane act. The team’s segments are silly but memorable, Bryan slots himself into the goofball dynamic with relative ease somehow without losing any of his in-ring credibility. Oddball couple they might be, but in the ring, they’re a textbook big man/little man tag team and there’s some good wrestling there if not always great.

Bryan’s efforts as part of Team Hell No are strong enough to not only even further strengthen his connection to the WWE audience, but also make the team themselves believable and credible enough foes for an incoming threat in The Shield at the tail end of the year. It’s primarily Bryan’s work in the babyface team in The Shield’s debut match that so wonderfully set up The Shield for success down the line, something that only really hints at the magic that Bryan would accomplish against The Shield through all of 2013 and then further on in singles action against all three members of the team.

Outside of making the best of what WWE gave him, Bryan also fully maximizes the truly valuable opportunities he is given. While the WWE does want to dim the man’s star just enough to keep him in line, they also do recognize that Bryan’s one of their best workers on TV and he’s given more than enough chances to highlight that in legitimately major settings. The year is rife with truly great in-ring work, especially given the dancing partners he’s trusted to work with for a large majority of it.

The 18 second match at Mania is infamous, sure, but Bryan and Sheamus are genuinely great dance partners together. The 2/3 Falls match at Extreme Rules is known as their famous “serious” match, and it earns that acclaim for being a well-structured and closely contested championship match. But even later in the year, Bryan gets to close things out with Sheamus in a TV street fight on Raw, once again highlighting Bryan’s proclivity for gimmick matches elevated by Bryan’s willingness to absorb punishment.

There’s also the CM Punk feud that takes up a large chunk of Bryan’s year. The Over the Limit title bout stands tall above the rest as this almost NWA World Title-esque bout of progressing strategies and careful ring work. But all their other TV bouts are well worth the watch, especially the early year champion vs. champion matches where with a beloved contemporary, Bryan gets to forego being a joke just long enough to flex his capacity as a truly great championship-style pro wrestler.

It’s a big year for Bryan no matter how one looks at it.

It’s one where he’s basically put through the ringer in the upper reaches of the WWE main event scene. Clearly too valuable to discard but not taken seriously enough to be entirely free of the fed’s regular shenanigans. It’s in that crucible that Bryan proves his mettle though. Whether he’s the butt of the joke or not, he commits fully to the comedy and endears the crowd in the process. When he’s asked to deliver on the serious in-ring level we’ve always known him capable of, he turns in some of the year’s best work (and matches that might hold on a decade-level scale too).

He could shout at Dr. Shelby, bump for the Big Show, or wrestle CM Punk to a classic. And he did it all without ego and delivered at every single turn. Daniel Bryan in 2012 was proving that he could weather the storm in the WWE and come through on the other side ready to go on the run that would cement him as the greatest to ever do it.