Daniel Bryan has endured roller coaster ride as WWE Champion

Sunday, April 6, 2014 was night when Daniel Bryan's career changed forever.

It was the night christened as a main event level star in WWE after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.

It was the night he was officially given the ball by the powers at be and allowed to run with it — not off tackle for a couple of yards, but all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.

It was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Bryan's career. It was possibly one the biggest moment in wrestling in the last couple of years.

Much like the rest of his professional wrestling career, however, Bryan's title reign has had its share of peaks and valleys, and it's barely more than a month old. Obstacle after obstacle has gotten in this man's way and it has made what was supposed to be a magic-carpet ride with the championship a bumpy and rocky road.

The first obstacle was Bryan missing a show due to his honeymoon. Bryan's magical night at WrestleMania 30 was only part of his magical week, as he married fellow WWE star Brie Bella. His ensuing honeymoon forced him to miss an episode of Raw.

Granted, WWE knew about this wedding for quite some time. Bryan even talked about the date publicly in interviews going back to the fall, so it's not like WWE didn't have time to prepare for it. What it did do, however, was sort of slow the momentum of Bryan, although it wasn't by much.

Regardless of the scheduling conflict, Bryan was happy as could be. That was until he got back from his honeymoon and received the news of the sudden and unfortunate death of his father.

Understandably, this forced him to essentially miss yet another episode of Raw. No one was really complaining about him missing an episode due to his honeymoon and no one was going to say a peep about him missing an episode due to the passing of his father. Nonetheless, it is another obstacle.

The next obstacle is minor compared to real-life issues, but poor creative decisions haven't helped his title rein either. The whole cheesy horror movie thing is a chore to watch and the sight of him running away from Kane was simply ridiculous.

None of those obstacles have the potential of costing him his career, but this latest one does.

By the time you're reading this, Bryan either is receiving or have received surgery to repair his neck, which apparently has taken enough damage that it would require him to go under the knife.

While the severity of the surgery is not officially known, any time the neck and spine is involved, it should be taken pretty serious. This wasn't a sudden development. This is more than likely due to wear and tear after years of wrestling a style of reckless abandoned. I for one cringe every time Bryan does those missile drop kicks from the top rope where he lands flat on his back. There was even a time last year where he did one of those and his arms immediately went limp in the ring and the match had to be stopped. Bryan walked away from that with only a stinger.

Thursday, May 15, 2014, like April 6, is a day that could alter Bryan's career. Having surgery on his neck leaves an uncertain future not only over his title rein, but his career in general.

Hopefully, the ride gets a little smoother for Bryan from here on out.