World Wrestling Entertainment – Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes!
Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan is one of my favourite performers of all time. Long-time followers of my ROH review series will know that, to me, he is the measuring stick against all Ring Of Honor champions are assessed. He may not be the most IMPORTANT ROH Champion ever (that would be Samoa Joe), but he is the best. ‘The best’ would be a fitting critique of his entire ROH career in fact. A main event level player from the first show until his exit at Glory By Honor 8, he produced some of the most astonishingly fantastic professional wrestling matches I’ve ever seen…and also proved he is one of the toughest workers in the business two with some insanely courageous performances in the face of severe injury against the likes of KENTA, Colt Cabana and Takeshi Morishima.
As enjoyable as it will be to be reviewing something ‘relevant’ for once, the truth is I wish this Blu-Ray was still sat on my shelf in the shrink-wrap…as it has been since it was released. Being honest, since he made it to the WWE, although I’ve seen a few of his bigger matches, I’ve not followed his career all that closely. But it was always reassuring to know that, whenever I needed to, I could put on a WWE show and see Bryan f’n Danielson – the little, pale, technical wrestler with ‘no charisma’ that I’d known was utterly superb since the first time I’d seen him wrestle in 2002 – be a WWE superstar against all the odds. The guy I’d pester my friends to watch back when he was World Champion. The guy I literally sat them down in front of and MADE them watch as he and KENTA produced one of the best wrestling matches of all time. He might wrestle on Raw now, I might not want to tolerate watching 3 hours of dross just to see him – but him being there was enough. And now, sadly, he isn’t. He has called time on his legendary career…and sad as that makes me, rather than dwell on it I’m going to celebrate his excellence by finally sitting down and watching some of his greatest feats in the WWE. To put it simply – Bryan Danielson (and he’ll always be Bryan Danielson to me, I’m going to struggle calling him ‘Daniel Bryan’ through this) – thank you.
SIDENOTE – I’m not going to review the ‘documentary’ portion of the DVD, except to say that it’s an enjoyable hour, but feels very much like a WWE Network feature (which I think it was) rather than the full-scale, in-depth career biopic that the likes of CM Punk and Paul Heyman got which is something of a shame.
American Dragon/Shooter Schultz vs Lance Cade/Brian Kendrick
8th February 2000 – Thankfully there is a brief interview segment with Bryan to explain the significance of this one. This was his first WWE try-out match, and took place before a Smackdown taping, after he’d been wrestling for only a few months. All four of these guys were training at Shawn Michaels’ wrestling school, and he’d seen enough in them that he pushed for WWE to sign them right away (and apparently was even planning on getting them into WCW if this didn’t work out). Bryan was still competing as ‘American Dragon’ at this point. Obviously Cade and Kendrick (Spanky) I’m familiar with too. This is, however, the first time I’ve actually seen Schultz compete. His name is dropped a lot whenever you see the likes of Danielson, Kendrick or London interviewed though…
Danielson’s mask is straight-up awful. Spanky looks about six years old with short hair and massive baggy pants on too. He starts in the ring with Dragon to the expected heckles from a disinterested crowd. That is until Bryan SLAPS HIM IN THE FACE! Schultz tags in and drops him on his neck with a lariat as this continues to be surprisingly violent. Kevin Kelly (who isn’t commentating thankfully) is at ringside with his head in his hands! HUGE tope suicida by Kendrick! Cade is the bruiser of the four, but even he isn’t holding back as he plants Shooter with a crisp brainbuster for 2. There is no way Lance didn’t get b*tch slapped by Bradshaw after this match, as he splatters into Danielson with a lariat a’la the Clothesline From Hell then gives him the fallaway slam for good measure. Bryan puts Kendrick in the Mexican surfboard stretch that would remain a staple of his arsenal through most of his career. BURNING HAMMER from Schultz to Kendrick! That’s barely even a nearfall and soon Spanky is back DROPPING BRYAN ON HIS HEAD with a brainbuster! Cade clears the ring for him…SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA UP THE AISLE BY KENDRICK! SUICIDE DIVE BY CADE! SPRINGBOARD TOPE ATOMICO ONTO THE RAMP BY BRYAN! GUTWRENCH BUCKLE BOMB from Schultz to Kendrick! This is nuts! And the crowd just don’t give a sh*t! Danielson hits a dragon suplex on Spanky…only for the fall to be broken up with a chokeslam from Lance. TOP ROPE FLYING DDT from Spanky to Shooter! He and Cade get the win with a running pumphandle slam/frog splash combo on Dragon at 11:17
Rating - *** - How they didn’t get their asses kicked for this I really don’t know. Between the four of them they ripped off high profile moves from basically the entire WWE roster, all whilst throwing around more stiffness, neck bumps and insane dives than the rest of the Smackdown taping had in its entirety. Apparently officials only gave them six minutes (including entrances) but Shawn Michaels told them to go out and get their sh*t in for as long as they needed – so that’s what they did. They all got developmental deals out of it, so I guess it worked. It is easy to laugh at this match. They bump like idiots, no sell like crazy and are getting absolutely zero reaction from the crowd. BUT, watching this I couldn’t help but feel like it was FAR ahead of it’s time. The Young Bucks work this kind of match in 2016 and get rave reviews for it.
Bryan Danielson vs Jamie Noble
Velocity (18th January 2003) - I actually reviewed a very grainy copy of this match as part of a random compilation tape I had more than ten years ago. By this point Bryan had started to gain some notoriety on the independents and had been a stand-out talent in the first year of Ring Of Honor. ECWA promoter Jim Kettner got him in as a WWE enhancement talent enabling him to work with the likes of Rico, a pre-debut John Cena and this match against Jamie Noble (the man he’d go on to beat for the ROH World Championship two and a bit years later).
They work the mat with almost unnecessary intensity considering nobody in the crowd cares at all. Rather amusingly, they are chanting ‘tighty whities’ at Bryan’s white trunks. He and Noble chain back and forth effortlessly…with Danielson the first to break it in order to deliver a stiff kick to the back. Noble gives him a snug Saito suplex for 2 before feeding him into a running kick from Nidia too. Big uppercuts by Dragon actually knock Jamie’s elbow pads off! Sayama flip, into a Roaring Elbow to the neck and a German suplex for 2! Noble lands a swinging neckbreaker for the win at 06:52
Rating - ** - Surely purists in the WWE office must have watched this match and realised how good Danielson was (even at this relatively early stage of his career). Yes his look and his gear weren’t great, but Noble was a well-respected solid hand inside the ring and at times Bryan’s work was eclipsing even him. Jamie was very generous, and probably let Danielson get as much of his stuff in as he possibly could within the boundaries of an enhancement match. The chain-wrestling exchange at the start was a joy to watch, and a real prelude to the brilliance of their ROH World Title Match at Glory By Honor 4.
Daniel Bryan vs Chris Jericho
NXT (23rd February 2010) - The inaugural season of NXT wasn’t even close to the beloved Triple H-inspired developmental project it is now. It started as a rather hokey, gameshow-esque skit show designed to become something of a hybrid between popular reality shows, Tough Enough and actual professional wrestling. There were a group of developmental talents (although interestingly, Bryan reveals that he was always signed to a full contract, never a developmental deal) dubbed ‘NXT rookies’, each assigned to a ‘pro’ – an established superstar who would guide them through some goofball skits in the hope of moulding them into a fully fledged WWE Superstar. In a move more brilliant than I think WWE creative are given credit for, the internet darling, the enormously respected independent scene veteran Bryan Danielson was partnered with The Miz. Their chemistry was entertaining, but Bryan himself revealed that he felt he was going nowhere on the show…until he got a chance to show what he could do against then-World Champion Y2J in the main event of the first ever episode.
Wade Barrett is Jericho’s ‘rookie’. Jericho talks some smack, and even Josh Matthews is acknowledging Bryan’s pre-WWE career. The World Champ does his best to put Daniel on the back foot but is continually frustrated by the tenacity of the ‘rookie’. He manages to drill Y2J’s shoulder into the ringpost, then Sayama flips into the running elbow for 2. Michael Cole trying to be ‘edgy’ by trashing the independents makes him sound like a tool…and not in the way he thinks. MASSIVE TOPE SUICIDA INTO THE ANNOUNCE TABLE BY BRYAN! Immediately Dragon has a massive bruise on his lower back…and Jericho looks to take immediate advantage with a Walls Of Jericho attempt. COUNTERED to a heel hook by Bryan! Codebreaker nailed – but it hurts Chris’ now-injured leg! WALLS OF JERICHO! He has the knee right in that bruised back, and Bryan taps at 05:54
Rating - *** - Within the documentary portion of the DVD you get the impression that Bryan views this as a turning point in his career. I’m hard-pressed not to agree with him there on that. It didn’t go long, but Bryan produced enough quality within this little cameo of a match to prove that he really could live up to the hype he came into the WWE with. Chris Jericho deserves a lot of credit too, as he skilfully created an environment whereby he gave Danielson very little to work with (the World Champion can’t be getting beaten up by a developmental guy) but still allowed him to get over.
The Miz tries to beat some ‘respect’ into Bryan after the match…and lays in some noticeable stiff shots. A post-match interview segment reveals that Danielson really did feel very offended by Michael Cole’s asshole commentary. In a separate interview Cole claims they were ‘building an underdog’ character for him, but comes off like a corporate stooge making it incredibly hard to believe his version of events.
The Miz vs Daniel Bryan – WWE United States Title Match
Night Of Champions 2010 (19th September 2010) – Unlike Michael Cole’s commentary, the pairing of the ‘rookie’ Daniel Bryan with the ‘pro’ Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin actually was an unique and interesting way of connecting American Dragon to the sports entertainment fanbase. The world-travelled, highly respected wrestler with no personality, taking on the reality show reject, fast-tracked to WWE success despite limited in-ring skill ‘superstar’ – it wrote itself. Here we see them lock horns on pay-per-view with Miz defending the US Title, seven months on from their obvious personality clash during the first season of NXT. Miz’s season two rookie, Alex Riley, accompanies the champ.
Tall, handsome and charismatic as he is, The Miz is very aware that Bryan can tap him out without warning so spends the early minutes frantically trying to keep out of his clutches. Looking to make a statement at Dragon’s expense, he goes after the shoulder like a classically trained grappler. Matt Striker is on commentary, and he points out exactly how much Daniel’s Lebell Lock will be negated by an injured shoulder…and Riley is on hand to further exacerbate the injury by stretching the arm over the middle rope. SHOULDERBREAKER gets 2, and such is Miz’s side advantage that he is even able to include an arm capture as part of that manoeuvre. TOPE SUICIDA BY BRYAN! Shades of his NXT debut match against Jericho – including a rough trip into the announce table at the end of it. He comes up clutching his shoulder but still storms through Miz with a PK Kick for 2. Kicks to the shoulder by Miz…countered with a running enzi by Dragon! Even with an arm limp at his side Bryan has enough striking power to rattle the skull of the US Champion it seems. BUZZSAW KICK gets 2! Daniel tries to mount the ropes with Miz…who channels one of Bryan’s greatest ever opponents by pushing him away and hitting a SUPER MCLARIAT! FUJIWARA ARMBAR! Skull Crushing Finale blocked! Lebell Lock blocked! A rolling prawn hold out of that brings Danielson desperately close to the title! The Miz throws more kicks at the shoulder…but as he mounts Bryan looking for some punches he gets dragged into the LEBELL LOCK! MIZ TAPS! BRYAN WINS! It’s his first WWE belt at 12:28
Rating - **** - Bryan has always had a special ability to draw an audience into his matches. Even when, as was the case at the outset of this one, the crowd isn’t vocal and doesn’t appear to be into proceedings he normally finds a way to craft a story to grab their interest. That was certainly the case here. We had the scrappy underdog reaching deep into the bag of tricks he’d cultivated by wrestling all over the world, taking on a bigger and stronger opponent. Likewise Miz’s approach was really interesting as he worked the whole match with a chip on his shoulder, almost having to prove his own in-ring credentials against this guy who had barely been on WWE TV for six months. Dragon sold the arm well, the match moved at a fearsome pace and ended with the crowd-pleasing moment of Bryan winning his first singles title in the WWE.
Next we have clips of Bryan winning the Smackdown title contract at Money In The Bank 2011 (how is that match not on this set!?), then cashing it in to take the World Championship from Big Show at Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2011. The highlight of this has to be Dragon screaming in Michael Cole’s face after winning…
Daniel Bryan vs Big Show – World Heavyweight Title Match
Smackdown (6th January 2012) – Bryan talks about how much he enjoyed working with the likes of Mark Henry and Big Show, feeling that the difference in size and stature between them really emphasised his character and allowed them to have fun with a crowd. He felt some of his house show matches with Show in particular were some of the best of his career. Here we see them do battle for the belt on television, with Show coming to regain the belt he felt robbed of at TLC 2011.
Bryan’s cocky entrance during this title run was a lot of fun. He tries to run away from Show obviously but keeps getting caught and violently thrown out of the ring. Using the environment to his advantage, the champ manages to smash Show’s knees into the steel steps then blasts him with a diving knee. Strikes pepper Show but just aren’t doing enough damage. Pretty soon the giant has Daniel bleeding from the mouth and on the cusp of defeat following a big spear. Chokeslam COUNTERED to a guillotine choke! LEBELL LOCK! Big Show is too huge though, and powers out of the submission move. WMD Punch ducked…and Bryan retreats to the outside. Sensing an opportunity, he starts hurling abuse at Mark Henry (who is on commentary), luring him into pushing him over. Bryan then whines at the ref, convincing him to call that a DQ. Show loses, and Dragon retains at 06:18 (shown).
Rating - ** - A bit of a weird inclusion on the compilation, particularly when you consider Money In The Bank 2011 isn’t on it. Having said that, it was entertaining enough for Smackdown and it’s easy to see why Bryan had a lot of fun working these guys. His slimy, cocky, idiotic World Champion persona despite his diminutive stature played so well off the two giants he was feuding with.
Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan – World Heavyweight Title 2/3 Falls Match
Extreme Rules 2012 (29th April 2012) – Most people know the story behind this one. Of course they were feuding in kayfabe too, but the story behind the curtain is probably more dramatic. At WrestleMania 27 they were scheduled to have a US Title Match…which eventually got cut to the pre-show and dragged down by lumberjack rules, much to the disappointment of the two participants. At WrestleMania 28 they thought they were getting the chance to steal the show with Bryan getting to defend this World Title against Royal Rumble winner Sheamus. That night would go down in infamy with the notorious 18-second title change which altered the course of AmDrag’s career It meant that this becomes an extremely personal match to both of them. They know they can deliver an awesome match. At Extreme Rules 2012 they got a chance to vent all that WrestleMania frustration…
Sheamus goes straight for the Brogue Kick, looking to recreate their infamous WrestleMania moment. Dragon knows it’s coming, dodges that, but then gets surprised as the champion takes a page out of his own playbook and tries to attack the arm. Cloverleaf applied next as Bryan continues to struggle to get out of first gear. A desperate American Dragon attempts a diving knee off the apron, only to be caught in mid-air for a SPINEBUSTER INTO THE GUARDRAIL! It’s only a mistake by Sheamus that allows Danielson into the match as he makes an ill-advised move to the top rope only to be toppled and grounded so the challenger can finally start to run through his arsenal of submission stretches. In a flash he has opened up an injury to the Irishman’s shoulder, rolling back the years to his Ring Of Honor heyday to produce a mat-based clinic. Plenty of his old tricks come out, like the high angle chickenwing or the over-the-shoulder armbreaker. Sheamus is a lot bigger than most guys he fought on the indies though and is soon back on his feet clobbering him in the ropes. Frankensteiner attempt countered into the Battering Ram from Sheamus for 2 – but it used the bad arm so he takes longer to get back to his feet! Bryan’s tope suicida blocked with an elbow smash, but he is up quickly and ferociously looking for the Yes Lock (now renamed from the LeBell Lock). Sheamus refuses to cooperate so gets his shoulder bashed into the ringpost multiple times. MACHINE GUN KICKS TO THE SHOULDER! He refuses to stop even when ordered by the referee…eventually forcing the official to disqualify him – giving Sheamus a 1-0 lead at 14:31. Dragon doesn’t care as he recognises he has a major advantage now. Yes Lock applied, and Sheamus is choked into unconsciousness. The score is 1-1 at 16:37. Medical personnel enter the ring to check on the KO’d champion. The match seems to be temporarily paused as Daniel Bryan seems content to prance around the ring ‘Yes’-ing endlessly. BROGUE KICK! BOTH MEN DOWN! Unlike at WrestleMania it takes Sheamus more than eighteen seconds to even attempt a cover so he stands no chance of winning there. More kicks to the shoulder by Daniel! BUZZSAW KICK! FOR 2! The challenger looks for a killer blow and misses a diving headbutt aimed at the injured shoulder. Irish Hammer’s by Sheamus, into the Irish Curse! BROGUE KICK! Sheamus retains at 22:53
Rating - **** - This would probably have been better without the 2/3 Falls stipulation, but was still a great match that played to the skills of both participants extremely well. Sheamus is in his comfort zone when a more technically astute wrestler can hold things together whilst he runs through his barrage of heavy-handed strikes and high impact signature moves, so Danielson is the perfect foil for him in that sense. This didn’t feel too rehearsed or stage managed like some major WWE matches of this length do. I’m sure they had plenty laid out, but this felt organic. I wanted to see a little more tension around the finish (which felt very sudden), or a little more pay-off to the arm injury Bryan inflicted onto his opponent. That’s where the 2/3 falls stipulation worked against them – in that they had to waste precious minutes putting over the gimmick rather than getting to flesh out the basic stories they were telling with their work. Regardless of some flaws it’s still a very strong match and it is easy to see why Bryan picked this as one of his favourite WWE matches. It more than proved that ‘his style’ of title match would work in front of a WWE crowd…
CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan – WWE Title No DQ Match
Money In The Bank 2012 (15th July 2012) – The selection of this match seems a no brainer. I’ve never seen it, but the significance of two iconic figures on the independent circuit getting to lock horns in a WWE Championship match on a WWE pay-per-view is obvious. Bryan talks about wrestling Punk in FIP, in front of very few fans for very little money so loving that they got to work together on ppv. There was a feud around this too, involving Bryan’s former on-screen love interest (and Punk’s future real-life love interest) AJ Lee – who is the guest referee for this one. This was the start of the crazy AJ gimmick, which probably wound up being a lot more memorable than this match in truth.
Both men are proficient strikers and that’s how they commence proceedings – going all over ringside trading kicks and chops. In fact, more than three minutes in they are still absolutely laying into each other. Inside the ring Bryan appears to have the edge, so Punk takes it back to the outside by hitting the elbow suicida. Much happier street fighting than his challenger, he deposits him throat-first into the guardrails…before accidentally getting shoved into referee AJ, injuring her sufficiently to remove her from proceedings. Dragon capitalises and dumps him into the steps. BUSAIKU KNEE OFF THE APRON! Punk recovers from that (plus a suplex into the ring steps) to catapult Dragon into the timekeeping area. He follows it with a diving lariat off the barricade to leave them both in a heap on the floor of the arena. Bryan arms himself with a kendo stick and drives it into Punk’s ribs for 2! He goes all Sandman on Punk’s Tommy Dreamer, leaving CM Punk on the brink of a resounding defeat. Somehow he lays in the climbing knee…before the Go To Sleep is countered into hurricanrana for 2! With the back and ribs severely injured the American Dragon pulls out one of his favourite moves – the Mexican surfboard. Punk escapes with the kendo stick! SUPERPLEX BY BRYAN! AJ Lee returns to the ring as both men take their time recovering from that…and she’s coming back with a steel chair in hand, which she mischievously places directly between the two combatants. Bryan gets their first! CHAIR SHOTS TO PUNK’S BACK! He absolutely HAMMERS Punk with kicks to the chest too, all the while intimidating AJ and demanding she count to three. It seems to work as well, as she them prevents Punk from using the chair then directly causes him getting his back dropkicked into it. But her weirdness intensifies as she then stops Daniel from using the kendo stick either. NECRO BUTCHER BODY SLAM BY PUNK! MACHO ELBOW MISSES! PUNK LANDS ON THE CHAIR! With a bad arm and back, the champ is ensnared into the YES LOCK! WITH A F*CKING KENDO STICK ACROSS THE FACE! Punk actually bites his way free! GO TO SLEEEEEEEEEEP! GETS 2! A table is set up in the ring by CM Punk, leading to an intense battle on the top rope over who gets to use it. MMA ELBOWS BY PUNK! That was Bryan’s ROH finish! BACK SUPERPLEX THROUGH THE TABLE! PUNK WINS! He retains the belt at 27:46
Rating - **** - This is my favourite Punk/Danielson match that I’ve seen. They had a couple of fun outings on the indies, but they always felt weighed down by expectation and never quite lived up to the hype. Whilst this wasn’t perfect, it went almost half an hour, was fought at an incredible speed and was SO entertaining. From a wrestling standpoint they were superb. The striking was incredibly fearsome for a WWE show, they each worked their roles cleverly (Bryan as the heelish aggressor over a babyface CM Punk was a neat twist over what you might expect them to work). From a sports entertainment perspective the interactions with AJ were all very entertaining. As a purist obviously I’d rather have seen them wage a 30-minute technical battle – but I’ve seen them do that before. At times this was pure pantomime – which I mean in an extremely positive manner. From Bryan sucking up to AJ, to AJ being completely enthralling to watch as a total headcase it was all so unpredictable and exciting. And they didn’t let it overshadow an awesome finish either, with a big table bump and a reference to their past employer ROH. Definitely my favourite match on the DVD so far. Getting to watch Punk and Danielson, perhaps THE faces of the early-00’s independent scene, tear it up in a WWE Title match on pay-per-view was an awesome sight.
Kofi Kingston/R-Truth vs Daniel Bryan/Kane – WWE Tag Title Match
Night Of Champions 2012 (16th September 2012) – In a classic piece of WWE booking, after having Bryan in and around the top championships for the first half of 2012, they didn’t have a whole lot planned for him after the Punk match, so stuck him in a feud with Kane. Their odd couple feud/team, along with the infamous anger management vignettes wound up becoming one of the most entertaining double acts in WWE history and certainly some of the most organically comedic stuff the WWE has produced in the post-Attitude era. Now Raw General Manager, AJ Lee (along with their therapist) has forced Bryan and Kane to team together, and somehow they became #1 contenders despite fighting each other as much as their opposition. Will they be able to keep it together for long enough to take
Both members of Team Hell No want to start…and obviously Kane wins the argument because he’s much bigger. Quickly Truth and Kofi start teaming up on him, with Daniel Bryan showing no interest in helping his partner. The favour is soon repaid though as the champs get to work Dragon over too. The fact that Kane and Bryan refuse to tag each other actually works to their advantage since the use of blind tags serves to catch R-Truth off his guard. But gradually the teamwork between them gets better and better! They work together to isolate Truth…and Bryan even wants a hug! They hug, allowing Kofi to get a hot tag in the process. Boom Drop nailed…so Kane saves Dragon from Trouble In Paradise. TOPE ATOMICO UP THE AISLE by Kingston! R-Truth misses a pescado, and Bryan grabs hold of Kane’s leg to rescue him from a frankensteiner from Kofi. They argue again…so Daniel elbows his own partner off the top rope! He lands on Kofi, giving them an unlikely Tag Title win at 08:29
Rating - ** - Included for the significance of Team Hell No winning the Tag Titles rather than the quality of the match, but it’s actually more enjoyable than I’d initially expected. The way the relationship between Bryan and Kane ebbed and flowed throughout the match was great fun, and any time Bryan and Kofi got into the ring together the wrestling was pretty good too.
Daniel Bryan vs Jack Swagger/Antonio Cesaro/Ryback – Gauntlet Match
Raw (22nd July 2013) – This was at the height of Bryan’s feud with ‘The Authority’, as he and the crowd begged for opportunities and acceptance in a main event role but Triple H and Stephanie dismissed him as a solid midcard hand. In an interview Bryan suspects that the ‘B+ Player’ tag was legitimately how he was seen at the time, and in fact how he’s been seen for his entire career (including Ring Of Honor). On this episode of Raw he runs a Gauntlet thrown down by The Authority almost immediately after inking his contract to face John Cena for the WWE Championship at Summerslam.
Swagger is in first, quickly clipping Bryan’s leg looking to set up for the Anklelock. Jack is bigger than American Dragon and, unlike most, has the mat credentials to pick him apart on the canvas too so this is an uphill struggle. Swagger Bomb nailed…but he takes too long posing to the fans and gets caught out of nowhere with the Yes Lock. He taps at 02:57, bringing Cesaro into the ring for another indy reunion. The Swiss ‘Real American’ uses his height to pile into Daniel with strikes, culminating in the POP-UP EUROPEAN for 2! He controls Bryan with a chinlock, so when he breaks free Dragon realises he has to quicken the pace. He Sayama flips into a kick flurry then sprints into repeated dropkicks in the corner. Swagger is still at ringside though, and he shoves Daniel into another big European uppercut to put him on the back foot again. Leapfrog attempted, only for Cesaro to catch him into a POWERSLAM BACKBREAKER! Les Artess lift nailed next for another nearfall on the ailing American Dragon. ALPAMARE WATER SLIDE! GERMAN BY BRYAN! He looks for the back superplex but sees it countered in mid-air by Cesaro! EUROPEAN UPPERCUT DUEL! MACHINE GUN UPPERCUTS BY CLAUDIO! Somehow the Neutralizer is blocked, and Bryan counters to a MOUNTED DEATHLOCK WITH ELBOW SMASHES! TOPE SUICIDA TO BOTH REAL AMERICANS! Swiss Death COUNTERED TO THE MR SMALL PACKAGE! BRYAN WINS! 21:12 (total shown) is your time…but his ordeal isn’t over. Ryback is sent out next and, after twenty plus minutes in the ring already, he is quickly able to pick apart his exhausted opponent. He goes to the chinlock that Cesaro had used so successfully…and shows even more sensible wrestling as he blocks Daniel’s running elbow spot with the Thesz Press. Unfortunately Bryan is awesome and, in turn, counters that to a half crab. Warrior Splash by Ryback to escape…Meat Hook blocked with a jumping knee! The big man goes to the floor to set up a table out there, but before he can use it Daniel jumps OVER THE TABLE into a tope which knocks Ryback into the announce table. YES LOCK! Ryback crawls out of the ring to escape, and when Dragon goes for a flying knee of the apron he catches him for a POWERBOMB STRAIGHT ONTO THE FLOOR! Was that intentional? POWERBOMB THROUGH THE TABLE! That’s a DQ, meaning Dragon is technically the winner at (32:24 total shown)…but he doesn’t look like one!
Rating - *** - Fair play to the WWE for giving these guys all the time they needed to make this far more rewarding than the usual standard of Gauntlet Match you tend to see. Of course, with a three hour Raw broadcast every week you could argue they have plenty of TV time to waste on frivolous matches like this, but this was pretty decent. Bryan is a master of his craft and looked in his element getting to wrestle various styles in front of a big crowd for more than half an hour. The obvious highlight was his battle with Cesaro which was outstanding and extremely reminiscent of some of their best stuff on the indies. I actually liked the Bryan/Ryback segment too…although that powerbomb on the floor looked horrifying, and was a shockingly violent way to end the whole thing. As a 30-minute example of just how good Bryan Danielson truly is, this probably deserves it’s spot on the compilation even though I’m sure he’s had many ‘better’ matches which didn’t make the cut.
John Cena vs Daniel Bryan – WWE Title Match
Summerslam 2013 (18th August 2013) – The interview segment to set up this match is extremely interesting. Danielson talks about being thrilled at getting his first real opportunity to actually main event a pay-per-view with a singles match, then his subsequent disappointment when he found out that this didn’t draw well (even with Lesnar/Punk on the undercard). People remember a lot of the theatrics surrounding Daniel Bryan at this point in his career, but at the core this is actually pro-wrestling at its most traditional. We have two men, each believing they are the best, fighting for the title belt. Cena thinks he is doing his pseudo brother-in-law a massive favour just by working him, whilst Daniel believes he is the best wrestler in the world and has had his craft tarnished by cartoon sports entertainers like Cena. Triple H is guest referee and is supposedly more favourable to Bryan potentially becoming WWE Champion than Vince McMahon is.
Cena comes in carrying an injury to his left arm which is far ideal given his opponent this evening. Instantly Bryan snaps off an armdrag to that bandaged limb. The crowd is awesome for this – solidly behind the challenger and roundly booing Cena as he retreats to get his arm checked by the ringside doctor. The champion really struggles to shake Dragon off…until finally his power comes into play as he tackles Bryan off the apron straight into the announce tables. SUPLEX OFF THE STEEL STEPS! Having used a brawl on the floor to his benefit, Cena presses home his advantage with a series of simple punches to the face – delivered with the kind of force and power than Danielson just can’t match. LIGERBOMB by Cena for 2! Five Knuckle Shuffle gets major heat at the ten minute mark, only for Bryan to flip out of the F-U and MISSILE DROPKICK THE BAD ARM! One of Cena’s eyes is swelling shut and he struggles to regain his focus as Daniel smashes into his injured arm with more kicks. STF-U ON CENA! John battles to his feet, so Dragon effortlessly captures him into ROLLING GERMANS instead! YES LOCK! Still the raw power of the WWE Champion is the hurdle Bryan needs to overcome, and eventually his submission finish is countered by Cena simply standing up and wrapping his torso around the turnbuckles. F-U NAILED…FOR 2! American Dragon refuses to quit – and drives a running boot straight into Cena’s bruised face. SPIDER SUPERPLEX! FLYING HEADBUTT ON THE BAD ARM! Yet again John leaves the ring, but this time it’s a ploy as he lures Bryan into attempting his crazy tope then whacks him in the head with an elbow smash. Desperate to put the challenger down, Cena drags him up the ropes for an avalanche F-U. COUNTERED WITH MMA ELBOWS! Frankensteiner…COUNTERED TO THE STF-U! That looked INSANE! Still, Bryan COUNTERS TO THE YES LOCK! Triple H wants the doctor to check on Cena’s arm – then gets shoved out of the way so he can absolutely NAIL Dragon with a running lariat. Both men are running on fumes now, and collide mid-ring as Cena uses his diving shoulder tackle to meet the running elbow smash of his opponent. CENA F*CKING SLAPS DRAGON! WHO SLAPS HIM BACK! B*TCH SLAP DUEL! SAYAMA FLIP…CENA CATCHES BRYAN! F-U COUNTERED TO A DDT! BOTH MEN DOWN! Bryan tries one last diving headbutt…CAUGHT! F-U COUNTERED! MR SMALL PACKAGE COUNTERED! BUZZSAW KICK BY BRYAN! BUSAIKU KNEE STRIKE! AMERICAN DRAGON HAS DONE IT! He is WWE Champion at 26:53
Rating - ****1/2 - This is as close to an ‘ROH style’ Bryan Danielson match I’ve seen from his WWE tenure, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it was done with the archetypal sports entertainer John Cena. I watched this match live, loved it then and still love it now. Of course it helps that Cena likes Bryan I suppose, and he worked insanely hard here to put the new champion over. He sold the arm brilliantly, he took his licks (his face was a mess by the end) and put him over as clean as a whistle. He also kept up with arguably the finest technical wrestler of all time, which is a real testament to how much of an under-rated worker Cena actually is when he is motivated and in there with someone who can get the best out of him. The last five minutes are unrelentingly fantastic and had the red-hot crowd on the edge of their seat. Did the wounded and battered champion have enough sheer power and size to stave off the ferocious challenge of a technically superior but smaller-in-stature challenger? Of course, to all fans of Bryan – both those who had followed his career for more than a decade, and newer ones – seeing him win his first WWE Championship was extremely special (even if Randy Orton would soon show up and ruin it).
Cena shakes hands with Bryan as if to pass the torch. The celebrations continue, until you can hear the ENTIRE arena groan as Randy Orton’s music hits and he comes in carrying his Money In The Bank briefcase. Triple H is in the ring too of course – and he pounces to lay the new champion out with a Pedigree. Apparently it is ‘best for business’ that Orton is the WWE Champion. He cashes in his briefcase and instantly wins the title.
Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton – No DQ Match
Raw (17th March 2014) – After Summerslam Bryan and Orton would engage in a lengthy feud. At several points it seemed like Daniel was finally going to get his win but the rug would constantly be yanked out from under him. Now we’re all the way at March 2014, and very much on the lead-in to WrestleMania 30. Despite three pay-per-view main events (including a Hell In A Cell Match), this is the Dragon/Orton match they’ve gone with. Is it that good, or are they keeping the good sh*t back for WWE Network subscribers? This is the week after the famous ‘Occupy Raw’ segment.
Bryan is the first to utilise the lack of rules by ramming Orton’s leg against the ringpost. It’s a good idea and a clear strategy that Daniel needs to move as quickly as possible to negate Randy’s obvious physical attributes. He nails a sweet elbow suicida…but drives Randy under the ring where he pulls out a kendo stick and cracks him with it. BACK SUPLEX THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! Having screamed abuse at some fans at ringside, Orton sets about using Bryan’s own tactics against him and starts picking apart his arm. He hits a savage back suplex over the guardrails too, with the match racing along at an unrelenting pace. Bryan grabs the kendo stick for a stick/kick strike flurry! It’s a momentary respite for him though as Orton soon has him on the mat again after the hanging DDT. More kendo stick shots by Dragon – then a running dropkick which knocks the champion into the timekeeping partition. Orton comes out brandishing a steel chair…but encounters Dave Batista who takes him out with a spinebuster. Dragon capitalises to take the win at 13:09 (shown).
Rating - *** - This was a pretty good TV match and nothing more. I’m certain some of their ppv matches will have been better than this, so I’m presuming this one was included more to set the scene for the next match (the WWE Title triple threat at WrestleMania) rather than for it’s individual artistic merits. Bryan and Orton looked to be enjoying themselves out there though. Orton absolutely savaging a fan at ringside after he brought the kendo stick into play was the clear highlight for me…
Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan – WWE World Heavyweight Title Match
WrestleMania 30 (6th April 2014) – I’ll be completely honest and say that I’ve never seen WrestleMania 30. I’ve never seen the end of Undertaker’s Streak, and I’ve never seen the career highlight of one of my favourite wrestlers ever (or the Bryan/HHH match that some even hyped as the best WrestleMania opening match of all time). Initially Vince had planned to run Orton/Batista as the main event, but after fans buried big Dave (somewhat unfairly) and showed no interest in this, the super-over American Dragon was added to the mix. The culmination of more than eight months of struggle – in one night Bryan is looking to settle his score with the Authority, avenge repeated losses to Randy Orton and recapture the WWE Championship he has craved for so long but only held for the briefest of moments.
Bryan heads down the stadium-sized entrance ramp nursing a severe shoulder injury as a result of his match with HHH earlier in the show. He tries to start quickly, sending Big Dave to the floor by countering the Batista bomb…only to have Orton stomp on his bad shoulder immediately. The crowd is extremely strange when Batista and Orton fight amongst themselves – ranging from total disinterested silence to general jeering. The Animal tries to powerbomb his former Evolution team-mate on the outside only for it to e countered with a back drop onto the steel steps! GUARDRAIL BACK SUPLEX next! Dragon dives back into the fray with a double missile dropkick…but as he looks to press home his advantage with a kick flurry Randy counters him into a capture suplex which drops him onto the bad arm again. SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR from Batista to Bryan! Amazingly he flies back in with the diving headbutt only to find his efforts thwarted by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at ringside. He walks into the Batista Bomb…but kicks out at 2! TOPE SUICIDA TAKES OUT THE AUTHORITY! SLEDGEHAMMER TO HHH’S FACE! With their former mentor on the deck and American Dragon’s momentum approaching fever pitch Batista and Orton realise they need to work together to eliminate a common enemy. They take turns beating him on the floor culminating in Randy blasting the bad shoulder with the steps. The announce tables are stripped for action. BATISTA BOMB/RKO COMBO THROUGH THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE!!!! DANGEROOOUUUUUS! Bryan looks dead and Randy landed right on top of a TV monitor mangling both his back and his permanently injured shoulders. Dave stands around like a lemon surveying the carnage – before eventually capitalising to assault the champion whilst medics attend to Daniel. ELEVATED DDT OFF THE APRON BY ORTON! The whole crowd is behind Bryan and roar with delight as the RKO is countered to the Yes Lock! Batista breaks it of course, making himself even more hated than he was before. RKO blocked by The Animal…who in turn SPEARS BRYAN IN THE HEAD! RKO NAILED! FOR 2! Orton sets up the Punt on Batista, but is stopped by Dragon’s Busaiku Knee! BATISTA BOMB ON ORTON! BUSAIKU KNEE ON BATISTA! YES LOCK! BATISTA TAPS! YES! YES! YES! Bryan has done it! 23:18 is your time! American Dragon just become WWE Champion in the main event of WrestleMania!
Rating - **** - As Bryan Danielson I’ve seem him wrestle countless better matches. Hell, I’ve seen him wrestle better Triple Threat matches for that matter. But as the culmination of an entire career of excellence, this whole match was an unashamed delight. Some of the Orton/Batista exchanges were awkward of course – but that hardly mattered. This main event showcased what WWE does so well. It takes it’s fans on a journey. Little kids were invested in the Daniel Bryan story. Smart fans were wondering whether they’d actually pull the trigger on ‘their guy’ as a WrestleMania champion. The overwhelming majority of this crowd wanted one result – and got what they wanted. The rollercoaster of a journey that got them there, however, was quite the thrill-ride. And a joyous one at that…
Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns
Fast Lane 2015 (22nd February 2015) – He wrestled after this of course, and even won the IC Title in a Ladder Match at WrestleMania 31, but to me this is perhaps the last truly high profile singles bout of Daniel Bryan’s career. He talks about being cleared to wrestle, and being motivated to follow up on his career highlight WrestleMania moment by stimulating himself creatively in the way he once did on the independent scene. Foremost in his mind was a desperate desire to get a match with Brock Lesnar, which he felt would draw well for the company but also artistically deliver an outstanding match. As such the stakes are incredibly high for this one, as the winner meets Lesnar in the WrestleMania 31 main event for the WWE Championship.
We begin with an entertaining game of cat and mouse as Bryan uses his wrestling prowess and speed to frustrate the heavy-handed former-Shield member across the ring from him. Reigns has more than enough power to stop him locking in any of his signature holds at this early stage though. He also has Bryan’s usual Sayama flip/running elbow sequence scouted and easily counters it into a tilta-whirl powerslam. The stakes are so high meaning Reigns doesn’t hesitate in testing out his opponent’s surgically repaired neck by driving the spine into the guardrails and apron. Dragon moves to get him off his vertical base so in response starts targeting the legs. Reigns has another signature Bryan sequence scouted though, and counters the charging dropkick in the corner with a clubbing lariat for 2. ROLLING suplexes drop Bryan repeatedly on his neck, and are followed by a running dropkick right on the neck again. Superman Punch blocked with a kick TO THE STOMACH! Since Roman is attacking his surgically repaired neck Bryan has no problem kicking him right in the region that Reigns underwent hernia surgery on a couple of months previously. Frankensteiner COUNTERED TO AN AWESOMEBOMB BY REIGNS for 2! More punishment on the herniated region follows from Dragon though, as he crotches Roman on the ropes and folds him in half with the back superplex. Yes Lock applied – and even though Roman survives there he is in heaps of trouble. ROLLING TOPE’S BY BRYAN! COUNTERED TO A BELLY TO BELLY ON THE FLOOR BY REIGNS! SPEAR DODGED! ROMAN EATS THE RING STEPS! Diving headbutt by Bryan COUNTERED WITH THE SUPERMAN PUNCH! FOR 2! SPEAR…COUNTERED TO THE MR SMALL PACKAGE FOR 2! BUSAIKU KNEE NAILED! ROMAN KICKS OUT! Dragon is desperate and pummels Roman with kicks…then slaps! YES LOCK! COUNTERED WITH MOUNTED ELBOWS BY ROMAN! Dragon counters those with a triangle choke…so Reigns escapes that with a powerbomb! This is awesome! REPEATED HEAD KICKS BY DRAGON! BUZZSAW KICK! SPEAR REIGNS! HE WINS! Roman is going to WrestleMania at 20:09
Rating - ****1/2 - I wrote in a blog and on a couple of forums last year that I absolutely loved this match. Watching it back in 2016, I still rate it incredibly highly. The intensity and physicality were superb. The drama was hugely effective, and I was particularly impressed with how important this match felt, and how effectively they conveyed the high stakes through the strength of their wrestling. Bryan worked the speed and technical aspects as you’d expect, just as in return Roman was all about power and muscle. Each attacked a recent surgery of the opponent too – which really added a palpable tension to proceedings. At the time I felt like people were hugely under-rating this one, and I still do now.
Back in 2015 I was SO disappointed that they didn’t pull the trigger on Bryan winning, meaning another Daniel Bryan Mania main event and an absolute dream match with Lesnar. It would be the internet dream match people craved, it would give WWE more time to actually get crowds into Roman Reigns, and give Brock an outstanding WrestleMania match which he could win without really damaging the credibility of his challenger (Bryan was over regardless, and got ‘his’ moment the preceding year). Dragon’s subsequent retirement means we never did get that dream match with Lesnar either – which is a shame. Ultimately one has to consider the health of these workers though. With hindsight we know just how perilous Bryan’s physical state was. Rumours of more neck problems and potentially more neck surgery were already circulating before the concussion in Europe which would ultimately end his career. At the best of times Daniel Bryan’s style in the WWE was intense and demanding on his body. Throw in the rigours of working such a brutally intense and unashamedly physical competitor as Brock and it would have been an extremely hazardous situation for him. So maybe it was for the best…(even though a cynic could point out that rather than having him work Lesnar, they had him work an even more dangerous Ladder Match, and since his career was all but over after WrestleMania 31 anyway, surely a better end to his career would have been in a blaze of glory stealing the show with Brock).
Tape Rating - **** - I make no apologies for being an ardent American Dragon fan. He is arguably the finest professional wrestler of his generation, and his ability to unite both the hardcore and casual viewer alike despite lacking obvious size and traditional charisma was truly unique and extraordinarily special. This DVD provides us with some wonderful snippets from his WWE career – culminating in his unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime WrestleMania title win. Despite the sad end to Bryan’s wrestling career, his time in the squared circle should be remembered with joy though. Whether wrestling in front of a few people in a high school gym or winning the WWE Championship in a packed stadium, he always impressed people not with his look – but with his skill. Not with his style, but with his work ethic. His career tells the story of a truly deserving athlete getting to the very highest level of his sport against all the odds. The story of a guy who actually was ‘the best’ getting to be presented as ‘the best’ by the WWE corporate machine. He’s the little guy, from a small town, with humble roots and a great family who wound up fronting an entire movement and, for a brief time, transcending professional wrestling altogether. It’s hard not to find happiness in that.
I will say that, as a long-time Ring Of Honor fan I came in hoping to see the same Bryan Danielson I’d known and loved on the indies…and I didn’t get that. On the independent scene, since the early 00’s his matches became EVENTS. He always got plenty of time, and he always told a variety of rich, exciting and in-depth stories with his matches. For better or worse, his WWE style changed. His matches were more repetitive and at times I was frustrated that I didn’t necessarily see the depth of story-telling in his matches I was hoping for. Sure seeing he and Punk duke it out in a ppv main event was awesome…but I know how much more they were capable of. Same story for he and Sheamus. Or he and Orton. Perhaps the greatest irony is that the two matches I felt most closely resembled the ‘independent’ Bryan Danielson were against John Cena (the walking embodiment of modern day sports entertainment) and Roman Reigns (the guy who ‘can’t work’ that got pushed at his expense). There are some great matches on here, and his two WWE Title wins are stunning moments. But, having not seen as much of Bryan’s WWE career as some I do want to express some marginal disappointment at how his style changed. Judging by the final interview segment, it is probably a greater disappointment that Bryan had noticed that too – and wanted to rectify that with his 2015 run, but never got the chance.
Top 3 Matches
3) Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan (**** - WrestleMania 30)
2) Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan (****1/2 - Fast Lane 2015)
1) John Cena vs Daniel Bryan (****1/2 - Summerslam 2013)