116 Facts About Bryan Danielson

Bryan Lloyd Danielson was born on May 22,1981 and is an American semi-retired professional wrestler.

Bryan Danielson is signed to All Elite Wrestling, where he performs on a part time basis.

Bryan Danielson is known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Daniel Bryan from 2010 to 2021.

Bryan Danielson joined Ring of Honor in 2002, wrestling in the main event of the promotion's first event; considered a mainstay of ROH, he stayed with the company until 2009, winning the ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship once each.

Bryan Danielson unified the championships at one point and was the inaugural winner of the annual ROH Survival of the Fittest tournament.

Bryan Danielson wrestled extensively in Japan, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Bryan Danielson won numerous titles on the independent circuit, including the PWG World Championship, the FIP Heavyweight Championship, and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship.

Bryan Danielson again signed with WWE in 2009, but was fired after an incident in 2010.

Bryan Danielson won the WWE Tag Team Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, becoming the 26th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the 15th WWE Grand Slam Champion.

Bryan Danielson won the 2011 Money in the Bank ladder match and the "Superstar of the Year" award at the 2013 Slammy Awards, and headlined several major WWE events, including the 2014 and 2021 editions of their flagship event WrestleMania.

Bryan Danielson initially retired from professional wrestling in 2016 due to injuries arising from multiple concussions, which led to seizures and a brain lesion.

Bryan Danielson then took on a non-wrestling role for WWE as the on-screen general manager of SmackDown and remained in the role until 2018, when he was unexpectedly cleared by doctors to return to in-ring competition.

Bryan Danielson defeated Swerve Strickland to become the AEW World Champion at All In 2024, his first championship in the promotion.

At WrestleDream 2024, Bryan Danielson lost the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley in what was billed as the final match of his full-time professional wrestling career.

Bryan Lloyd Danielson was born in Aberdeen, Washington, on May 22,1981, the son of therapist Darlene and lumberjack Donald "Buddy" Danielson.

Bryan Danielson's mother was pregnant with him for over 10 months.

Bryan Danielson's parents divorced over his father's alcoholism when Danielson was a child, though they remained on good terms.

Bryan Danielson considered himself shy and antisocial as a child and teenager, but still competed in sports such as football and track and field.

Bryan Danielson won the TWA Tag Team Championship with Spanky on March 21,2000, defeating The Board of Education, but they dropped the titles back to The Board of Education two weeks later.

WWF severed its ties with MCW in 2001, but not before Bryan Danielson won the MCW Light Heavyweight Championship and the MCW Tag Team Championship with Spanky.

Bryan Danielson revealed in his 2015 autobiography that he was close to being called up to the main roster during the 2001 Royal Rumble match: he explained that the WWF thought of using him as one of their key figures in the newly created cruiserweight division, which was inspired by World Championship Wrestling.

In 2002, Bryan Danielson wrestled two matches for the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment despite not being a contracted performer for the company.

Bryan Danielson was quickly defeated by both Sean O'Haire and Little Guido in his two appearances.

Bryan Danielson went to Japan after his release from the WWF, competing in Japan's premier promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he used his American Dragon persona and donned a red, white and blue mask reminiscent of a dragon.

In 2002, Bryan Danielson joined the independent promotion Ring of Honor, where he is acknowledged as a "Founding Father" of the company.

In 2005, Bryan Danielson explained in the company's newsletter, The ROH Newswire, that he had quit ROH after being frustrated by his inability to defeat Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship.

However, Bryan Danielson had several dates booked in Europe and Japan, leading fans to believe that the periodical was likely a storyline claim for Bryan Danielson's absence during this period.

Bryan Danielson defeated James Gibson for the ROH World Championship at Glory by Honor IV on September 15,2005.

Bryan Danielson became personally invested in this feud and invaded CZW himself, which led to him having physical altercations with a number of CZW wrestlers.

On May 11,2007, Bryan Danielson returned to ROH at Reborn Again and defeated Shane Hagadorn and Adam Pearce in separate matches.

Bryan Danielson's team won after Bryan Danielson made Kenta tap out to his signature submission hold, the Cattle Mutilation.

Bryan Danielson commented in March 2012 on how he felt validated at Final Battle 2008, because he and Morishima managed to get 2,500 people to see the show in New York City.

Ring of Honor made its national television debut with the program Ring of Honor Wrestling and Bryan Danielson made his television debut in the main event of its third episode on February 28,2009 by defeating Austin Aries.

Bryan Danielson spent the next six months in the United Kingdom, working for ASW, Frontier Wrestling Alliance, the World Association of Wrestling, and Premier Promotions.

Bryan Danielson returned several times over the next five years, working for various promotions.

The next night at Dangerous Intentions, Bryan Danielson competed in a losing effort against CM Punk, which led to a brief feud between the two.

Bryan Danielson wrestled his last match for FIP in December 2006 at Florida Rumble, where he lost to Erick Stevens.

Bryan Danielson made his debut in November 2003 at An Inch Longer Than Average in a losing effort to PWG Champion Frankie Kazarian.

Bryan Danielson has appeared in PWG over the next couple of years, winning the PWG World Championship in 2007 and holding it for six months before taking an eleven-month hiatus from the company.

Bryan Danielson made his return to PWG at the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament.

The match was notable for its opening, which included Omega and Bryan Danielson performing variable tests of strength, including arm wrestling and a thumb war, before singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" along with the crowd.

In 2009, Bryan Danielson signed a short-term contract with German wrestling promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling.

Shortly after his debut, Bryan Danielson won the wXw World Heavyweight Championship against Bad Bones and held it over a month before losing it to Absolute Andy.

Bryan Danielson re-signed with WWE in August 2009, under his real name.

Bryan Danielson made his debut on January 4,2010, in a dark match prior to Raw, defeating Chavo Guerrero.

Bryan Danielson went to Florida to train with Florida Championship Wrestling, the WWE developmental territory, to acclimate himself to his new work environment and work on his ring rust.

Bryan Danielson later said that he was given a list of 10 possible ring names to use in WWE but his real name was not on the list.

Bryan Danielson noted that WWE apologized to him for his release, explaining that they "had sponsors they had to deal with".

Bryan Danielson's 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 would never return to the WWE again.

Later that same night, Bryan Danielson wrestled for New York Wrestling Connection in a tag team match, where he and Tony Nese defeated Dimitrios Papadon and Alex Reynolds.

Bryan Danielson 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 The Miz, whose place he took in Team WWE, attacked him.

Bryan Danielson returned to NXTs season four as the Pro to Rookie Derrick Bateman.

In late 2010, The Bella Twins began competing for Bryan Danielson's affection, leading to them supporting him at ringside and competing in mixed tag team matches together.

Bryan Danielson lost his title rematch the next night on Raw, after which he was saved from Sheamus by the debuting Sin Cara.

Cody Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan Danielson by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper bag on his head.

Bryan Danielson then aligned with Sin Cara to feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.

Regardless of his briefcase, Bryan Danielson won a fatal four-way match on the same episode of SmackDown to become the contender for Henry's championship.

The next night on Raw SuperShow, Bryan Danielson became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three minutes.

Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan Danielson interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair, leading to a three-way feud.

Bryan Danielson'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 Danielson turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan Danielson lashing out at audiences.

At WrestleMania, Bryan Danielson defeated Triple H and, later that night, he won the triple threat match against Batista and champion Randy Orton to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Stephanie McMahon enticed Kane to return to his masked self which Kane complied and was granted a future title match against Bryan Danielson and proceeded to carry out a brutal attack against Bryan Danielson which led to a scripted injury to give him time off to mourn his recently deceased father.

At some point in time, Bryan Danielson lost all strength in his right arm and required neck surgery.

Bryan Danielson returned on November to television, returning to the ring on the January 15,2015 episode of SmackDown.

Bryan Danielson entered the 2015 Royal Rumble match at number 10, being eliminated by Bray Wyatt in the first half of the match, causing the Philadelphia crowd to repeatedly chant for him during the second half of the match while booing other wrestlers entering the match, including eventual winner and fellow "good guy" Roman Reigns.

Bryan Danielson came in like a homecoming hero and was gone, just a few minutes later, like a freshman nerd.

Bryan Danielson's run [as champion] was cut short and I think fans wanted to see him get that [WrestleMania] moment that he deserves.

Bryan Danielson said a recent EEG reflex test revealed slowing and a small subacute or chronic lesion in his brain's temporoparietal region, which explained Bryan's post-concussion seizures and led to his retirement decision.

Bryan Danielson had been cleared by a doctor for the Arizona Cardinals and passed a concussion test at UCLA with "flying colors", but WWE's head of medical Joseph Maroon refused to clear him.

Bryan Danielson underwent a new test, where the lesion in his brain was discovered, after which he himself made the decision to retire.

On Thank You Daniel, a WWE Network tribute to Bryan Danielson, he confirmed that he had been asked about working for WWE in a different capacity while comparing this to "a partner breaking up with you, getting married to someone else and then asking you to be best friends", expanding to say that he needed time to heal emotionally before he could agree to such an offer.

Bryan Danielson co-hosted Talking Smack with Renee Young, a post-show interview segment on the WWE Network.

Bryan Danielson feuded against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, wrestling his first match in years at WrestleMania 34, where he and Shane McMahon defeated them.

Bryan Danielson broke the record for longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match, previously held by Rey Mysterio in 2006.

Bryan Danielson defended the title in an Elimination Chamber at the Elimination Chamber event, by last eliminating Kofi Kingston.

On May 6, Bryan Danielson competed on his first match on Raw since March 2015, where he lost to Kingston in a WrestleMania rematch, ending their feud.

Reigns suspected Rowan as his attacker due to seemingly incriminating video footage, but Bryan Danielson instead revealed that the attacker was merely a man who resembled Rowan.

However, Rowan later turned on Bryan Danielson and revealed that he was the attacker the entire time, ending the alliance between the two.

Bryan Danielson then joined with Reigns to take down Rowan and Harper, thus turning face in the process.

Bryan Danielson then began a rivalry with Drew Gulak, who claimed to have "found holes in Bryan Danielson's game".

Bryan Danielson won the match, but was quickly defeated by Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

On September 5,2021, Bryan Danielson made his surprise debut for All Elite Wrestling at the All Out pay-per-view, confronting The Elite; the team had been joined by Adam Cole, who had made his debut just moments earlier.

Bryan Danielson came to the aid of Christian Cage and Jurassic Express following a brawl between the two teams after Kenny Omega had retained the AEW World Championship against Cage.

At Forbidden Door, the debuting Claudio Castagnoli took Bryan Danielson's place, defeating Sabre Jr.

Bryan Danielson came down and told Garcia to make his own decision, and offered him a spot in the Blackpool Combat Club.

Bryan Danielson finished top of his block with 10 points, allowing him to advance to the semi-final round.

On March 3,2024 at Revolution, Bryan Danielson unsuccessfully challenged Eddie Kingston for the Continental Crown Championship.

Bryan Danielson returned on the May 8,2024 episode of Dynamite, becoming the final member of Team AEW with Eddie Kingston and FTR to take on The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.

Bryan Danielson lost the title against Moxley at WrestleDream, thus ending his reign at 48 days and full-time wrestling career.

On June 6,2023 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Bryan Danielson made his return to NJPW for the first time since 2004 in a pre-taped vignette, challenging Kazuchika Okada to a match at Forbidden Door which Okada later accepted at a press conference.

On January 4,2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Bryan Danielson was defeated by Okada.

At The New Beginning in Osaka, Bryan Danielson was defeated by Zack Sabre Jr.

On March 29,2024, at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, Bryan Danielson made his Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre debut, teaming with Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, and Matt Sydal in a losing effort against Volador Jr.

Bryan Danielson has spent the majority of his career without an overt character or catchphrase in favor of becoming popular with the fans through his monikers, signature mannerisms, and wrestling ability.

Bryan Danielson's attire has varied, with the majority of his tenure spent wearing a pair of short trunks, but he ventured into wearing a mask for a time in Japan as an extension of his American Dragon persona.

Bryan Danielson has cited a number of international wrestlers as influences to his style, including Japanese wrestlers Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa and English wrestler William Regal.

Bryan Danielson has made mention of modeling his wrestling on that of American wrestler Dean Malenko and Canadian wrestler Chris Benoit in his early career, before using Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a platform to develop his own style.

Bryan Danielson is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

Some notable parts of Bryan Danielson's persona are his mannerisms and the reactions he inspires from the crowd during the course of his matches, which include the following:.

Bryan Danielson was prominently featured in the Wrestling Road Diaries documentary, which was filmed in 2009 before he signed with WWE.

In 2011, Bryan Danielson recorded a single with Kimya Dawson that was a tribute to wrestling legend "Captain" Lou Albano.

In May 2016, during his first retirement, Bryan Danielson competed in an Olympic weightlifting competition in his hometown.

Bryan Danielson came in first place in his weight division, receiving a katana as his prize.

Danielson has been featured in 10 WWE video games under the Daniel Bryan name, starting with WWE '12 in 2011 and most recently WWE 2K Battlegrounds in 2020.

Bryan Danielson was the alternate cover star of WWE 2K14, alongside The Rock.

Bryan Danielson made his first video game appearance under his real name in WWE 2K19, which featured a showcase story mode based on his career in WWE.

Bryan Danielson made his first appearance in a AEW video game under his real name when he appeared in AEW Fight Forever in 2023.

Bryan Danielson married fellow WWE wrestler Brie Bella on April 11,2014, after they had been dating for nearly three years.

Bryan Danielson originally began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2002 under Wallid Ismail.

Bryan Danielson was roommates with Xtreme Couture's head grappling trainer Neil Melanson, and had previously lived with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida and fellow professional wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura while they trained at the NJPW Dojo in 2003.

Bryan Danielson became a vegan in 2009 after suffering from elevated liver enzymes and several staph infections.

Later that year, Bryan Danielson explained that he was no longer a vegan due to his inability to find sufficient vegan food while traveling with WWE.

Bryan Danielson revealed that he had developed a soy intolerance and could not find enough non-soy vegan protein on the road, but was still maintaining a primarily vegan diet.

In 2011, in response to fans mistakenly pointing out what they believed was a nicotine patch on his arm, Bryan Danielson revealed that the discoloration actually stems from vitiligo.

The campaign succeeded, with Bryan Danielson meeting Michalek in December 2012 and October 2013.