Bryan Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Daniel Bryan. He is signed to WWE, where he is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion in his third reign.
In WWE, Danielson is a four-time world champion: a three-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a former United States Champion, had a 245-day reign as WWE Tag Team Champion as part of Team Hell No, and is a Money in the Bank winner. Danielson has headlined several major pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania XXX, and was awarded the 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award. Prior to joining WWE, Danielson wrestled for various companies using both his real name and the ring name (and later nickname) "American Dragon". He had a notable tenure in Ring of Honor (ROH), becoming a one-time ROH World Champion, and the final ROH Pure Wrestling Champion (unifying the Pure title and World title). Along with CM Punk, Danielson is one of only two men to have won the WWE, World Heavyweight and ROH World championships.
Danielson has also wrestled extensively in Japan including in Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH), where he held the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, and in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former co-holder of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. He has also wrestled on the independent circuit, where he won various titles – most notably two PWG World Championships, the wXw World Heavyweight Championship and the FIP Heavyweight Championship.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2009–2010)
On August 23, 2009, ROH announced that Danielson had signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Danielson made his début as a WWE contracted wrestler on January 4, 2010, in a dark match prior to Raw, defeating Chavo Guerrero. Later that week it was reported that Danielson had requested to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), the WWE developmental territory, to acclimate himself to his new work environment and work what he saw as "ring rust". He made his début at the FCW television tapings on January 14, where he was defeated by Kaval. At the February 11 tapings, Danielson was renamed Daniel Bryan. He later indicated that he was given a list of ten possible names to use in WWE (including Buddy Peacock and Lloyd Bonaire) and "Daniel Bryan" was one of them, while his real name was not on that list. His name was given by William Regal.
On February 16, it was announced that he would wrestle on the first season of the NXT show, using the name Daniel Bryan, with The Miz as his storyline mentor. He made his début on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, losing by submission to the World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho. After the match, Bryan was attacked by The Miz for disrespecting him earlier in the show. Over the next several weeks, Bryan failed to win a single match, but despite having a win-loss record of 0–5, he was ranked first in the inaugural Pros' Poll on the March 30 NXT. After losing five more matches on NXT, Bryan earned his first victory on the May 10 Raw by pinning Santino Marella in an eight-on-four handicap match. The following night on NXT, he was eliminated from the show, along with Michael Tarver, as neither man had confidence in themselves to win the competition. Later that night, in an interview, Danielson said that the elimination might be the end of Daniel Bryan, but that Bryan Danielson will be fine. Despite his elimination, he appeared on the following episodes of NXT, being interviewed by Matt Striker and attacking both Michael Cole, who had constantly belittled him on commentary, and The Miz.
On the May 31 Raw, Bryan was granted a match against the Miz by guest host Ashton Kutcher; Bryan defeated Miz and threw him into Cole at ringside after the match. The following week on Raw, the season one NXT rookies interfered in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, the announce team, and the ring announcer Justin Roberts, before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment, turning Bryan and the other rookies heel in the process. On June 11, 2010, WWE announced that Danielson was fired from WWE. It was reported by the Wrestling Observer that Bryan was released as WWE felt that Bryan's act of strangling ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie during the segment on the June 7 Raw was too violent for their TV-PG programming. Danielson noted that WWE apologized to him for his release, claiming that they "had sponsors they had to deal with". His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of the NXT rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared that Bryan will never return to the WWE again.
Return to the independent circuit (2010)
After being released, Danielson received several offers to sign with other wrestling companies, being contacted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, albeit indirectly, and some Japanese promotions. Two weeks after his departure from WWE, Danielson made his return to the independent circuit on June 26, 2010, defeating Eddie Kingston at the Chikara event We Must Eat Michigan's Brain in Taylor, Michigan. Rather than receiving streamers, the fans instead threw neck ties in light of the Justin Roberts incident in WWE. The following day at Chikara's Faded Scars and Lines Danielson defeated Young Lions Cup holder Tim Donst in a non–title match. On July 3 Danielson returned to westside Xtreme wrestling, defeating Wade Fitzgerald and TJP in the round robin stage of the Ambition 1 tournament. The following day he defeated Tommy End, TJP in a rematch and finally Johnny Moss in the finals of the tournament to win Ambition 1. On July 17, Danielson débuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), being booked to defeat Q.T. Marshall for the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship. On July 23 Danielson débuted in the fledgling Evolve promotion, which was originally conceived to be built around Danielson as their top star before he signed to WWE. In the main event, he defeated Bobby Fish, while Danielson continued on undefeated the following day by returning to Dragon Gate USA, and submitted Shingo in the dark match main event Return of the Dragon. After the match Danielson joined BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi and PAC as the fifth member of the stable World–1. On July 30 Danielson returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, competing in a match where he defeated Roderick Strong. On August 7 Danielson unsuccessfully challenged Adam Pearce for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the NWA Legends Fanfest.
Despite returning to WWE on August 15, Danielson honored most of his independent bookings, making his first appearance on August 20 and defeating Jon Moxley at Heartland Wrestling Association's Road to Destiny. The following day he was defeated by Drake Younger at Insanity Pro Wrestling's Ninth Anniversary Reign of the Insane. The day after that Danielson defeated J Freddie at a Squared Circle Wrestling event. On September 10 he returned to the IWA, using the name Daniel Bryan, and lost the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship to Dennis Rivera. The following day Danielson returned to Evolve, defeating Munenori Sawa in the main event. Later that same night Danielson wrestled for New York Wrestling Connection in a tag team match, where he and Tony Nese defeated Dimitrios Papadon and Alex Reynolds. On September 25 Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA and defeated YAMATO in the main event of the evening. The following day Danielson defeated Jon Moxley. On October 1, Danielson wrestled the last of his independent matches by defeating Shelton Benjamin at a Northeast Wrestling event.
Return to WWE
United States Champion (2010–2011)
On August 15, 2010, Danielson returned to WWE as Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, where he was revealed as the surprise seventh member of Team WWE for the seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus, the other NXT season one competitors. At the event, Bryan was one of the two final members of Team WWE, and managed to eliminate two members of the Nexus, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett after his former pro The Miz, whose place he took in Team WWE, attacked him. Despite this, Team WWE won the match. The following night, he was revealed as part of the Raw roster. He feuded with the Miz, with both interfering in each other's matches, and The Miz being aided by Alex Riley, his rookie from the second season of NXT. At Night of Champions, Bryan defeated The Miz to win the WWE United States Championship, his first championship in WWE.
He then successfully defended the championship two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell. Bryan went on to challenge then Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler to a Champion vs. Champion match at Bragging Rights as a special attraction Smackdown vs. RAW match, defeating Ziggler in a highly acclaimed match. Bryan went on to successfully defend his United States title against Ted DiBiase at Survivor Series. On the November 30 NXT, it was announced that Bryan was returning to the show as the Pro to NXT Rookie Derrick Bateman on season four. In late 2010, The Bella Twins began competing for Bryan's affection, leading to them supporting him at ringside and competing in mixed tag team matches together. On the January 24, 2011 Raw, it was revealed that Bryan had been secretly dating Gail Kim, who began accompanying him to ringside. On the March 14 Raw, Bryan lost the United States Championship to Sheamus. Bryan was originally scheduled to have his rematch against Sheamus for the United States Championship on the main card at WrestleMania XXVII, but the match was rescheduled as a dark lumberjack match that ended in a no contest when the lumberjacks fought among themselves to trigger the start of a battle royal. Bryan lost his title rematch the next night on Raw, after which he was saved from Sheamus by the débuting Sin Cara.
Money in the Bank and World Heavyweight Champion (2011–2012)
On April 26, Bryan was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. Bryan débuted for the SmackDown brand on the May 6 episode, when he lost to Sheamus. Cody Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper bag on his head. Bryan then aligned with Sin Cara to feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. On June 28, Bryan returned to NXT to manage Derrick Bateman once again.
On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match at any point within the following year. On the July 22 SmackDown, Bryan declared he would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania XXVIII. After several months of losing matches, Bryan began a feud with World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry on the November 4 SmackDown, after Henry challenged Bryan to a non-title match to prove that Bryan could not become champion. During the match, Big Show knocked out Henry, making him win by disqualification. Big Show, as a friend of Bryan, then urged a groggy Bryan to cash in his championship match, but Henry recovered and attacked both Bryan and Big Show before the match could start. After losing a rematch, Bryan suffered attacks from Henry the following two weeks. On November 25, Henry was knocked out again by Big Show, at which point Bryan cashed in his briefcase for a title match and quickly pinned Henry. However, SmackDown authority figure Theodore Long revealed that Henry was not medically cleared to compete and voided the match, so Henry remained champion and the briefcase was returned to Bryan. Bryan later admitted he betrayed his principles by not waiting for WrestleMania, but explained he felt strongly about exacting revenge on Henry and realised he may not make it to WrestleMania due to Henry's continued attacks. Regardless of his briefcase, Bryan won a four-way match on the same episode of SmackDown to become the contender for Henry's championship. On the live November 29 SmackDown, Henry managed to pin Bryan to retain his title in a steel cage match. Also in November, Bryan started being involved in a romantic storyline with AJ.
Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs against Big Show, who had just defeated Henry and subsequently received a DDT onto a steel chair, which allowed Bryan to secure a pinfall victory and become the World Heavyweight Champion. In the following weeks, tension was teased between Bryan and Big Show, with Big Show unhappy about Bryan taking the world championship from him, and Bryan being displeased about Big Show's lack of appreciation for Bryan's help in matches against Henry. As World Heavyweight Champion, Bryan began a slow heel turn as he gradually showed signs of overconfidence and arrogance, with Bryan beginning to partake in excessive victory celebrations, even when he won his matches by disqualification or count-out. Also, despite AJ's declaration of love for Bryan, Bryan avoided saying that he loved her in return.
In January 2012, Bryan successfully defended his title three times; the first occasion against Big Show when Bryan goaded Mark Henry into attacking him and causing a disqualification; the second occasion a No Disqualification rematch with Show which ended abruptly after Show accidentally ran into AJ, hospitalising her within the storyline for which Bryan blamed him; the third occasion against Henry in a Lumberjack match when Bryan provoked the lumberjacks to interfere and cause a no contest. This culminated in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match to exclude outside interference; at the 2012 Royal Rumble event, Bryan escaped the cage after freeing himself from Big Show's grasp to retain his championship.
At Elimination Chamber, Bryan defeated Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali, Santino Marella, and Wade Barrett in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Sheamus attacked Bryan and chose him as his WrestleMania opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship. In March, Bryan began to mistreat AJ, publicly demanding her to shut up and claiming that she always got in his way. Despite these actions, AJ continued to stand by Bryan. Bryan's reign as world champion ended when Sheamus defeated him in eighteen seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII due to Bryan being distracted with receiving a good luck kiss from AJ. On the next SmackDown, Bryan blamed AJ for his world title loss and ended their relationship. Despite AJ's attempts to mend their relationship, Bryan cruelly rebuffed her multiple times, leaving AJ an emotional wreck. At Extreme Rules, Bryan failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a 2-out-of-3 falls match, losing two falls to one.
Team Hell No (2012–2013)
The following night on Raw, Bryan became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler in under three minutes. Bryan received his title shot at Over the Limit and suffered a controversial loss; when Bryan rolled back onto his shoulders as he applied the "Yes!" Lock, Punk tapped out immediately after the referee counted a pinfall win for Punk. Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair, leading to a three-way feud. During this time, a jilted AJ turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. On the June 1 SmackDown, Bryan's interference caused WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane to end in a double disqualification, resulting in a triple threat match being set up at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On the June 25 Raw, Bryan defeated Punk and Kane in a non-title three-way elimination match to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. At Money in the Bank, Bryan failed to capture the WWE Championship again from Punk in a No Disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee. The following night on Raw, AJ accepted Bryan's marriage proposal, On Raw 1000, Bryan's wedding ended in failure when AJ left Bryan at the altar and instead accepted Mr. McMahon's offer of the position of permanent Raw General Manager. Bryan's night turned from bad to worse as he was later attacked by The Rock and insulted by celebrity Charlie Sheen.
AJ's rejection of Bryan turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan lashing out at audiences. AJ continued to exact her revenge on Bryan by denying him a WWE Championship shot and instead forcing him to face Kane at SummerSlam, where Bryan emerged victorious. As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby, and they were later forced to "hug it out". At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant bickering and infighting even during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship on the September 10 Raw and then defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions. Bryan and Kane made their first successful title defense the following night on Raw, defeating the former champions in a rematch. The following week onRaw, "Team Hell No" was chosen as the official team name via a Twitter poll while Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) started a feud with Bryan and Kane, turning Bryan face once again. On October 28 at Hell in a Cell, Team Hell No lost to the Rhodes Scholars via disqualification, but retained their title. This was followed by a rematch on the November 14 Main Event, where Team Hell No defeated the Rhodes Scholars to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the November 26 Raw, after Kane lost to WWE Champion CM Punk in a non-title match, he was assaulted by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns). Bryan and Ryback, who both attempted to save Kane, suffered a similar fate. This attack had the effect of uniting Bryan and Kane, and after The Shield and Team Hell No, along with Ryback, attacked each other on the December 3 Raw, all six men were decreed to face each other in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where The Shield was victorious after pinning Bryan. Team Hell No went on to defend the Tag Team titles through the end of the year, retaining against Team Rhodes Scholars on the following Main Event, and against 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) on the December 31 Raw. Bryan ended 2012 having wrestled the second most TV/PPV matches that year with 90.
On January 27 at the 2013 Royal Rumble, Team Hell No retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars. During the Royal Rumble Match, Bryan eliminated Kane and was in turn thrown out of the ring by Antonio Cesaro; Kane caught Bryan before he touched the floor and despite Bryan's begging, dropped him to complete Bryan's elimination. On the February 4 Raw, Bryan was inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender Elimination Chamber match when he defeated Rey Mysterio, after which, the returning Mark Henry attacked both men. On February 17 at Elimination Chamber, Bryan was the first man eliminated from the match, courtesy of Henry. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston for another successful title defense. Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield the following night on Raw, after saving The Undertaker from an ambush by them. On the April 22 Raw, Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by the Shield in a six-man tag team match. The Shield went on to take out Undertaker and rack up wins over Bryan and Kane in both singles and tag matches that also included WWE Champion John Cena. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Bryan and Kane lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245 days.
Yes! Movement; WWE World Heavyweight Champion (2013–present)
As Bryan being pinned led to the loss of the tag titles, Bryan became obsessed about proving that he was not the weak link of Team Hell No. As a result, Bryan became even more aggressive, but his overzealous behavior led to Team Hell No losing their rematch against Reigns and Rollins on the May 27 Raw. When Kane tried to reassure Bryan, Bryan replied with harsh rebukes that alienated Kane from him. As a result, Bryan was paired with Randy Orton despite their poor relationship to face a common enemy in the Shield. During this storyline, Bryan was praised as the best performer in WWE and having an unmatched connection with crowds by critics, peers and veterans of the professional wrestling industry. On the June 14 SmackDown, Bryan ended the Shield's unpinned and unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag matches by forcing Rollins to submit in a match with Kane and Orton as his tag partners. Two days later at Payback, Bryan and Orton's poor teamwork resulted in an unsuccessful challenge for Reigns and Rollins' Tag Team Championship. The following night on Raw, while the status of Team Hell No was left up in the air after both members considered individual pursuits, Bryan and Orton faced off in a no disqualification match that Orton won via referee stoppage after Bryan suffered a legit nerve injury. Four days later on SmackDown, Bryan defeated Orton, but to Bryan's dismay, it was via count-out. On the next Raw, Bryan decisively defeated Orton via submission in a street fight, and later continued his hot streak by picking up wins over Sheamus and Christian. On July 14 at Money in the Bank, Bryan competed in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match; during the match, Bryan was attacked by Curtis Axel, a non-participant, which ultimately prevented Bryan from winning the match that was won by Orton.
The following night on Raw, WWE Champion John Cena picked Bryan to be his opponent for the WWE title match at SummerSlam. This led to Bryan being embroiled in the McMahon family's internal feud, with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon against Bryan due to Bryan's image not fitting the mold of McMahon's typical "WWE Superstar", while WWE COO Triple H was in support of Bryan. On the July 22 Raw, Bryan ran a gauntlet match to prove his worth as number one contender, defeating Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro in succession, while his third opponent Ryback was disqualified after powerbombing Bryan through a table. The following week on Raw, Bryan was forced to face Kane and emerged victorious, but Kane attacked Bryan after the match. On August 18 at SummerSlam, Bryan defeated Cena to win his first WWE Championship. However, after the match, special referee Triple H attacked Bryan, leading to Randy Orton cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title from Bryan.
The next night on Raw, Triple H and the McMahons endorsed Orton as "the face of the WWE", forming The Authority faction, claiming that the company was looking for Orton as champion instead of Bryan. Bryan also assumed the top babyface role in WWE with Cena being out injured. With Triple H threatening to fire anyone who disobeyed him, Bryan was left alone to take on and suffer attacks from Orton and the Shield. On September 15 at Night of Champions, Bryan defeated Orton to regain the WWE Championship, but was stripped of the title the following night on Raw by Triple H after referee Scott Armstrong admitted he had made a fast-count the previous night resulting in Bryan's win, while Bryan denied that Armstrong was working for him. This resulting in his second WWE Championship reign coming to an end, meaning Bryan hasn't held the WWE Championship for one full day over his two reigns as the WWE Champion. Bryan and Orton faced off again for the vacant title on October 6 at WWE Battleground, but the match ended in a no contest after Big Show interfered and knocked out both men. Bryan once again challenged Orton for the vacant championship at Hell in a Cell, but was unsuccessful after the special guest referee Shawn Michaels superkicked Bryan for attacking Michaels' best friend Triple H.
The following night on Raw, Bryan confronted Michaels, who offered a handshake, but Bryan put Michaels in the "Yes!" Lock. Later in the night, Bryan was attacked by The Wyatt Family. As a result, Bryan allied himself with CM Punk, and the duo defeated Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt Family at Survivor Series, but the entire Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in a handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, with Wyatt attempting to recruit Bryan in the previous weeks. On the final Raw of 2013, Bryan defeated Harper and then Rowan in a gauntlet match so that he could face Wyatt, whereupon Harper and Rowan interfered for a disqualification and beat him down. Bryan then acknowledged that no matter how many times the fans chanted "Yes!" or supported him, it wasn't enough for "the machine", so he gave up and decided to join the Wyatt Family. On the January 13 Raw, after the Wyatt Family punished him for their lack of success since he joined, Bryan attacked all the other members of the Wyatt Family to break free from the group. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, despite Bryan losing to Wyatt in a singles match and later not participating in the Royal Rumble match, the audience continued to chant for Bryan during the Rumble match and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
On the January 27 Raw, Bryan qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the eponymous pay-per-view by teaming up with John Cena and Sheamus to defeat the Shield via disqualification. Meanwhile, he also continued his feud with the Authority, as Kane attacked him on multiple occasions, attempting to injure Bryan before his Elimination Chamber match. At the Elimination Chamber event, Bryan survived until he was one of the final two participants in the Elimination Chamber match, but defending champion Randy Orton retained after Kane interfered against Bryan. On the March 10 Raw, Bryan and multiple fans occupied the ring and refused to leave, resulting in an irate Triple H agreeing to Bryan's demand for a match at WrestleMania XXX, with the stipulation that the winner would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the event. At WrestleMania XXX, Bryan defeated Triple H and was inserted into the title match. He went into the main event with a badly injured shoulder, but defeated Randy Orton and Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by making Batista tap out to the Yes Lock, despite interference from the Authority and a crooked referee. After successfully defending the championship against Triple H in a one on one match, Bryan resumed feuding with his former partner, Kane. After getting married to Brie and learning Kane was his next challenger, Kane brutally assaulted Bryan in front of Brie by executing a Tombstone Piledriver three times outside the ring on the floor, on the steel steps and lastly on the announcing table, despite Stephanie McMahon's orders. He was taken away on a stretcher afterwards. In real life, Bryan's father had recently passed away, so this angle was put in place to give Bryan time off. Bryan would then go on to defeat Kane at Extreme Rules to retain his title.
On the May 12 episode of Raw, Bryan announced that he would undergo neck surgery, and would be absent from WWE for an unspecified amount of time. That same night, Stephanie McMahon called Bryan to the ring, before Kane dragged him out into the entrance before being loaded onto a stretcher by medical personnel. On May 15, Bryan underwent successful neck surgery, with a cervical foraminotomy to decompress the nerve root having been performed. No return date for Bryan has been announced.
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