Few people predicted great things for Bryan Danielson when he signed with WWE in 2009, he was a 190 pound normal looking dude whose main quality was his technical wrestling ability, the complete opposite of the cosmetic-driven thinking that leads WWE to their next big stars. Despite that since debuting as Daniel Bryan on the first ever episode of NXT the man has had an incredibly eventful career in WWE. The promotion might not have ever envisioned him as the guy but the times that Daniel Bryan wasn't a significant feature on WWE television between 2010-2014 are few and far apart.
So with the sad news of his retirement due to medical reasons it's a good time to celebrate some of his best moments. So here's are 10 great Daniel Bryan matches I can remember without having to think about it for more than 5 minutes, so I'm probably forgetting every match he ever had on Smackdown, and I'm sure most of them are on the WWE Network too.
1) Daniel Bryan Vs Chris Jericho - NXT Episode 1, February 2010
To this day I suspect the "Daniel Bryan" ring name was a deliberate troll on the internet fanbase. Michael Cole was getting his claws into his heel gimmick around this time and his first major target was Daniel Bryan for being a nerd. I figured after months of abuse and Daniel Bryan failing at the horrible "reality TV" version of NXT eventually he would break out and announce himself as Bryan Danielson shedding his WWE given name. I don't know if that ever was intended and it just got screwed up by Daniel Bryan being fired for the tie-choking incident or if they were serious about "Daniel Bryan" as a ring name. Well he did main event Wrestlemania under that name so what do I know.
Regardless, there was some trolling going on of some kind. Despite being buried by Michael Cole and The Miz constantly he wrestled the then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho in a very competitive match as part of his first appearance. Someone somewhere in WWE saw something in him. Worth watching for historical purposes and for the horrific bump he took on the announce table.
2) Daniel Bryan Vs Dolph Ziggler - Bragging Rights 2010
(I love the title match with Miz from a month earlier too but that moment was completely eclipsed by Wrestlemania 30, plus this match is better)
Always good to remind people of this match because I doubt many people even remember the death squeal of the brand split that was the Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View event. In a champion vs champion match (Bryan was the US Champion on Raw, Ziggler the Intercontinental Champion on Smackdown) these guys had a fantastic 20 minute opener which was so good I forgot this show also had an Undertaker Vs Kane casket match on it. Wait...OH GOD...
Would still be my favourite Ziggler match to this day if it wasn't for Del Rio Vs Ziggler at Payback 2013.
3) Royal Rumble Match 2011
Okay a slight cheat but the first half of this match really is great and CM Punk and Daniel Bryan being the first two entrants is a huge part of the reason why. Best part is when Punk, Bryan and Regal get into an exchange together trading off stiff shots. The only other Regal Vs Bryan match I can recall from WWE television was a five minute match on Raw which I think may have also involved Divas so I'll take this thanks.
4) Daniel Bryan Vs Sheamus - Extreme Rules 2012
The "Yes!" thing started with a heel turn when Daniel Bryan cashed in Money in the Bank on Big Show seconds after he finally won the World title from Mark Henry, but it would go to serve as the one thing Bryan needed in WWE for the fans to really latch onto him properly. Sheamus was getting a big push in 2012, there were genuine plans at one point to make him the number one babyface to replace John Cena (lol), and they hilariously backfired when some clown thought it would be a good idea to have him beat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania 28. The following matches on that show were plagued with "Daniel Bryan" chants that completely exploded the next night on Raw.
This leads us to a fantastic 2 out of 3 falls rematch a month later at Extreme Rules, and this is definitely my favourite Sheamus match. A red hot Chicago crowd absolutely adored Bryan, but he did such a great job as the heel in this match working down Sheamus' shoulder and completely incapacitating him after the second fall that the crowd exploded into duelling "Yes!" and "No!" chants while Bryan taunted and doctors tended to Sheamus. This is arguably the performance that cemented Bryan as an upper tier guy for the rest of his WWE career.
Also Extreme Rules 2012 in its entirety is a great show so this one gets a massive recommendation for Network subscribers.
5) Daniel Bryan Vs CM Punk - Over The Limit 2012
The Money in the Bank match two months after this is great too but this one might hold up better because it doesn't have all the gimmicky stuff that comes with having AJ Lee as the special guest referee. A simply great wrestling match with a lot of holds and an old school pro-wrestling finish. Words cannot describe how surreal it was in 2012 that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were wrestling for the WWE Championship on Pay-Per-View, even if the match didn't main event the show due to John Cena Vs John Laurinatis. Says a lot about WWE that they favoured the match that was basically an elaborate backstage rib over this.
6) Team Hell No and Ryback Vs The Shield TLC Match - Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2012
The best part about this match is how it took everyone by surprise at the time. The Shield had only recently debuted and this was their first Pay-Per-View so people weren't familiar with them yet, Team Hell No were a comedy act and the internet hates Ryback because he is a muscle guy and therefore GARBAGE. Also the match was an initially unplanned replacement match for Ryback Vs CM Punk for the WWE Championship since Punk needed time off for a surgery. As you can imagine, the fact this match turned out to be a ton of fun blew everyone's minds. This match and the job Team Hell No did of making the new guys look unstoppable did a heck of a lot for The Shield in their early days.
Also see: Team Hell No and Undertaker Vs The Shield on Raw
7) Daniel Bryan Vs Jack Swagger, Cesaro and Ryback Gauntlet Match - Raw, July 2013
Another match that felt completely surreal when it happened. After years of people predicting doom for Daniel Bryan in WWE, he's revealed as the No 1 Contender for the WWE Championship match at Summerslam, and then here he is in the main event of Raw putting on a wrestling clinic for approximately 35 minutes. The segment with Cesaro is by far the highlight, but watching him tap out Swagger in mere minutes and still managing a comeback on Ryback despite all this abuse at the end is infectious too. If you haven't seen this it might sound like the kind of gimmicked angle-based match that wouldn't hold up when seen out of context, but you're wrong and its not.
8) Daniel Bryan Vs John Cena - Summerslam 2013
I ADORE this match, and it's weirdly underrated too. I don't know if this is because people refuse to give Cena credit when he has good matches, or if people just remember the Punk/Brock match better, or whether people only remember the angle that followed this match with Triple H screwing Bryan out of the title. It's a fantastic match, one of Cena's best who does a great job of breaking out of his usual shtick and making Bryan come off as a serious threat. The match has a intense atmosphere and different psychology to it as Cena shows rare frustration when he has to face someone who might have even more heart than he does. Crowd reaction or no crowd reaction, this match cemented Bryan's legitimacy inside the ring and now there was no question of whether he should be hanging with the main eventers or not.
9) Daniel Bryan Vs Randy Orton - Raw, December 2013
These guys wrestled each other throughout 2013 and it was great every time but I think this one is my favourite. Randy Orton is a good wrestler who becomes great when he's given something he can sink his teeth into, that's why his matches with Bryan were always spectacular and his matches with Sheamus are...what they are.
Rewatching this match makes me appreciate how great a worker Daniel Bryan was, consciously I know this is just a television non-title match with a non-finish but I still get into it every single time. Bryan's not the only good wrestler who's come through the WWE locker room but his ability to connect with the crowd through his in-ring performance is unmatched by the current roster.
10) The Usos Vs Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt Steel Cage Match - Raw, January 2014
Okay if you've forgotten what the storyline was here...good, it sucked and it's better off watching this without thinking about it. All you need to know is Daniel Bryan joined the Wyatt Family and people didn't want to see him in the Wyatt Family.
The match is nothing special but there's no way to not mention this segment when reflecting on the career of Daniel Bryan. After the Usos escape the cage leaving Bryan and an angry Bray Wyatt in the ring together, Bryan breaks away from his "leader" and proceeds to beat the crap out of him inside the crap while the other family members are stuck outside. The pop for this moment and this 100% controlled by Bryan "Yes!" chants following it is without question the best wrestling moment of this generation. There's been a lot of good stuff over the past 15 years, but this is the only moment that can be seriously compared to the mega pops of Steve Austin and The Rock.
And if you think this is a cheat then...whatever, the Bray Vs Bryan match at the Royal Rumble following this is great (and again...Bray's best match) so just pretend it's that.
BONUS) Both Wrestlemania 30 matches, because how can you not mention them
The main thing that's worth pointing out about Daniel Bryan's big title win at Wrestlemania was that was the same show the WWE broke the Undertaker's streak. They knew the fans would hate it and it would be a sour moment on the show that would turn the crowd. They followed it with Bryan Vs Orton Vs Batista, and Bryan's win was such a big deal that a crowd that had been stunned into silence erupted into a joyous Yes! chant less than an hour later.
I can't think of a better way than that to contextualise how popular Daniel Bryan is, and when you look back at his body of work over the past 16 years its more than deserved.
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