WWE News: Daniel Bryan Picks Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Steve Austin And John Cena As Hypothetical Wrestling ‘March Madness’ Number 1 Seeds

World Wrestling Entertainment former world heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan recently sat down with USA Today’s For The Win to dish on various topics such the upcoming Wrestlemania 31, the unexpected fan reaction during Royal Rumble 2015 and his choice of all-time best wrestlers if there was a bracket similar to this month’s March Madness.

The participant to the Intercontinental Ladder Championship match this Mar. 29 at Levi’s Stadium in California picked all-time greats Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena as his choice for the four number 1 seeds if wrestling adopted a round of 64 type of tournament. While he admitted the snub for transcendent star Dwayne ”The Rock” Johnson, he added that Cena’s longevity with the WWE is the main edge on the pick.

“The four No. 1 seeds of all time? You’d have to go with the guys who are the biggest stars of all time. You’re looking at Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin and probably… you know The Rock is a bigger star as far as mainstream, but as far as in the context of WWE [John] Cena has been a bigger star for longer. So maybe John Cena as the fourth No. 1 seed, but that’s going to be heavily debated,” Bryan recently told Nick Schwartz of USA Today on his picks for the best wrestlers of all time.

The 33-year-old winner of last year’s edition of “Wrestlemania” also admitted that he was not surprised by the fan backlash over him not winning this year’s Royal Rumble or the reaction to the exclude him in the main event of the pay-per-view extravaganza. Bryan and Roman reigns contested the right to face current champion Brock “The Beast Incarnate” Lesnar during February’s “WWE Fastlane” but the former member of Shield triumphed to assure his shot at the biggest belt in the WWE universe.

Bryan explained that it dawned upon him that fans are really behind the underdog story of him winning the improbable title only to lose it to a neck injury and then come back next year to slay a Lesnar with heavy undertones of a “David vs. Goliath” story. Nevertheless, he added that despite losing out on the top match, he is excited about adding the Intercontinental championship belt, the only prestigious distinction that he has not annexed to his colourful resume.

Bryan has been the United States champion, WWE world heavyweight champion and if he prevails in a week’s time, the newest Intercontinental champion. The inclusion of Bryan into the line-up as well as the addition of Dean Ambrose has added prestige to the usually lacklustre field of hopefuls for the said title match. .

Watch Bryan talk about how much he wants to annex the Intercontinental title this Wrestlemania 31 in a short clip below: