HBK got to the top because of the politicking - the shady shyt, burying people he didn't like.
Bryan got to the top in spite of that very type of politicking. If you can do that, it means your talent is undeniable - because even when the company is actively shytting on your publicly, people refuse to listen because they're riding for you.
That's something that can be said about very, very few people in the wrestling industry.
For all this talk about HBK being ranked to a certain level... dude did that with a bunch of help, up to and including Vince throwing other people into the bushes and screwing them over to protect his boy. There's an easy analogue to Seth Rollins there, in that, if they treat you as a top guy for long enough, you become one. Bryan got treated like trash, including a loss at WM in sub-10 seconds, and it was never, ever enough to bury him. He got fired by the very company that hired him for trying to make their angle work out, and he mired around in deadend gimmicks with Gail Kim and the Bellas. Refused to stay buried. Ended up in the best odd couple tag team in recent WWE history, managed to get that shyt over, too.
Think about this: Daniel Bryan managed to get Kane over, through sheer force of will. He had arenas pleading for hugs. And throughout all of this, he has never shied away from giving to his opponents. He didn't run in the back and try and pull creative control to get that Miz promo on Talking Smack buried. He didn't throw a fit when Miz was - and still is - out there doing his spots. Dude's popularity forced booking changes after that Rumble and left them with no choice but to end that WM with him winning, because people weren't going to abide by him losing.
I get it. We all want to love the old school for pioneering some shyt and inspiring the next generation. But Shawn Michaels as a wrestler wasn't better than Daniel Bryan in any facet of professional wrestling outside of his politicking (playing the game, if you will) and his flamboyance. Braggadocio and self-aggrandizement can get you far in wrestling. It's the Lil Wayne effect - say you're the best until people start parroting it back. Doesn't make it any more objectively true.
That Daniel Bryan will be looked at as a great of wrestling without leaving behind a trail of people who could write multiple books about how much of an a$$hole he was is pretty fukking impressive.
was. 
