Daniel Bryan is one of the most influential and inspirational people in the wrestling/sports entertainment industry today. This recognition spans from his days in the independent scene and Japan to his career with WWE. He has fought through countless head injuries over the years and is an excellent role model to us all when it comes to not giving up on your dreams and maintaining the fire within through thick and thin.
Daniel Bryan first decided he wanted to pursue wrestling when he was a sophomore in high school. He decided to train at Dean Malenko’s wrestling school in Florida, but it closed down by the time he graduated in 1999. He instead enrolled in Shawn Michaels’ wrestling school at the Texas Wrestling Academy (TWA) and subsequently debuted later in 1999.
He then toured Japan with Lance Cade as a tag team under Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Daniel Bryan (real name Bryan Danielson) was signed to his first WWF (World Wrestling Federation) contract in 2000, albeit a developmental deal, and was assigned to Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), where he worked with William Regal. He is still very close with to this day to him and credits him for being extremely influential throughout his career.
Bryan developed his moniker “American Dragon” during this short stint. After 18 months, he was released in July 2001. He revealed in his 2015 autobiography that he was close to being called up to the main roster in the 2001 Royal Rumble match and being used in the new cruiserweight division inspired by WCW. He went on to make a few non-contracted appearances for the company in 2002 and 2003, and subsequently would not make another appearance in WWE for over five years. Bryan wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling after his release from the WWF, as he worked on his American Dragon persona.
In 2002, Daniel Bryan joined Ring of Honor, which was just starting at the time. He was instrumental in helping the company get off the ground, as evidenced by the fact that he competed in the main event at ROH’s debut event on February 22, 2002 and is considered one of the company’s “Founding Fathers.”
In 2005 he became frustrated with ROH and the industry in general because, despite the fact that he was having success, he had not yet won the ROH World Championship. Bryan ended up quitting the company, although fans believe it was due to the storyline because he still had dates booked elsewhere. He ended up winning the ROH World Championship in September 2005. At the beginning of 2006 there was an inter-promotional feud between Bryan (he went by his real name with ROH) with Chris Hero (Kassius Ohno) of Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Bryan held the Championship until the end of the year in 2006 with 39 defenses.
He then stepped away for a while to heal a shoulder injury. He signed with WWE in 2009 after a successful few years post-injury, and he wrestled his final match for the company against Nigel McGuinness who at the time was also wrestling his final match with Ring of Honor. Bryan competed in many other promotions across the United States, Europe, and Japan. There are so many I won’t include them all, but I have developed a great respect for his dedication to what he does, and it truly cannot be overstated how admirable that is for any profession.
Bryan made his official televised debut for WWE on the inaugural episode of NXT with his mentor being The Miz. He was let go from WWE for being too violent during the attacks by The Nexus. WWE apologized to him for his release and incorporated it into a storyline. Fortunately, after returning to the independent scene for a couple months, he was signed again by WWE in August 2010 after being released just a couple months earlier. He already had some dates booked though, so for a short time he was wrestling for WWE and a few independent promotions. Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam and won the United States Championship from The Miz in September. The storyline he had with The Bella Twins is funny in hindsight because Brie is now his wife.
Daniel Bryan then earned a spot in Booker T’s “Fav Five” and won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match in July 2011, which led to him cashing in the contract in December at TLC to become the World Heavyweight Champion. Booker T had him match at WrestleMania XVIII against Royal Rumble winner Sheamus, which he lost in 18 seconds.
After failing to regain the title, he went on to engage in a feud with CM Punk in which they put on some fantastic wrestling performances. Bryan then went on to have issues with Kane which ultimately led to them attending anger management therapy with Dr. Shelby, forming “Team Hell No,” and winning the Tag Team Championships, subsequently holding them until after WrestleMania and losing them to The Shield.
Bryan also developed a great friendship with Kane during this time. The Yes! Movement then begin, with Bryan receiving overwhelming support despite Vince McMahon not seeing him as a top superstar and deciding to push Randy Orton as the face of the company. The WWE universe also completely rejected the returning Batista. Daniel Bryan was originally scheduled to face Sheamus at WrestleMania XXX in about a 10-minute match, and he ended up having two matches against Triple H and then against Randy Orton and Batista, ultimately winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
After holding the title for a little over a month, Bryan had to undergo a cervical foraminotomy procedure to decompress a nerve in his neck. He returned to WWE for the Royal Rumble in 2015 but unfortunately left again in May because doctors were not sure about the health of his head. He officially had to retire in February 2016, and he became the general manager of SmackDown Live in July, doing that for a couple of years.
Bryan finally made his return to the ring at WrestleMania 34 in a tag match with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. He stayed in the same character for several months to get the WWE universe re-acclimated to him before turning heel right before Survivor Series 2018 and winning the WWE Championship, ending AJ Styles’ year-long reign.
He then began introducing himself as “The New Daniel Bryan” and recruiting Rowan, an old Wyatt Family acquaintance, to be his protector. This leads us to where we are today, with Kofi Kingston about to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.