Hello one and all, as I’m sure you are all aware Daniel Bryan announced he retirement from WWE in Mondays Raw.
While this may not be a huge shock it is never the less a massive blow to all at SLTD Wrestling.
So we all got together and wrote a little something, about our thoughts on the man himself, we hole you enjoy and add you thoughts below.
@Dan_089 (Twitter Manager) What can you say about a man that’s done it all in the business that he loves, from performing in front of 50 people in some school gym or 70 thousand plus while headlining Wrestlemania in the Superdome Daniel Bryan gave 110%.
He paved the way for future Indy stars making it in WWE today! Looking back my favourite Daniel Bryan Moment was everything about him during Mania 30 or YESlemania, that guy was over!! One of the nicest wrestlers around, Daniel Bryan was an A+ player in the ring, and an A+ Gentleman outside of it! This is a huge loss to the wrestling business but glad he’s gone out on his own terms! All the best in the Future Daniel Bryan!!
@CallumOwen98 (Facebook Manager) When his entrance music hits, the crowd were off their feet and chanting Yes! Yes! Yes! and quite frankly I haven’t come to terms with the fact that we’ll never hear Ride Of Valkries again or see the Running Knee one more time. Daniel Bryan had many great moments and some not so great moments in his career spanning 16 years. He is the definition of hard work paying off, he didn’t do it for the money or the fame he did for wrestling and for each and everyone of us. That is who he represented, just a fan achieving his lifelong dream to become a WWE superstar. If I had to be put on the spot on what my favourite Daniel Bryan memory was it’d had to be something I personally experienced and that was at a house show back in April 2015. I saw Bryan compete in what turned out to be one of his final ever matches, the crowd reaction was immense and you could tell how much love and respect every fan has for Daniel Bryan. I think this is why his retirement has a struck a chord in almost every wrestling fan, because really you couldn’t say a bad word about him. He was the ultimate underdog but he would always overcome any odds and personally I think we all hoped he would overcome the odds one more time. There will never be another Daniel Bryan, thank you for all the memories that I will cherish for a long time and for that I’m eternally grateful and quoting Michael Cole “I love you kid”
#ThankYouDanielBryan
@Ciaran_1986 (Write Legend Write) Arguably the greatest wrestler ever? There is an argument to be had, the founding father of Ring of Honor will be remembered as a legend in the wrestling business. Daniel Bryan traveled the globe to become the most well rounded professional wrestler on the planet, he wrestled everywhere and everyone. He broke down barriers and opened doors for the likes of Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Bryan most of all bucked the trend about independent wrestlers working in WWE. Daniel Bryan was also a survivor, when he arrived in NXT he was treated as a pariah, in WWE he was a rookie. He survived NXT yet he was banished from WWE for his supposed unprovoked attack on then announcer Justin Roberts. Daniel returned at Summerslam 2010, against all odds he flourished and persevered, he captured the US title from the Miz in an entertaining feud and had numerous outstanding matches with Dolph Ziggler and others. In 2011 much to the delight of the fans he won the MITB briefcase and in the December he cashed in. It was then that the YES/NO man phenomenon started, his subsequent 2012 feud with Sheamus was infamous for his 18 second loss at Wrestlemania 28, in the summer of 2012 he then had a celebrated feud with CM Punk. Bryan’s star in WWE was further enhanced by the formation of team Hell No with Kane, they captured the tag titles and had a famous feud with the Shield. His journey to the WWE Championship then started, his 2013 Summerslam main event against John Cena was terrific, it was the first chapter. Daniel Bryan then fought tooth and nail to become the No1 guy in the company, political games were played out on TV as WWE let us know Bryan wasn’t worthy. In 2014 the universe spoke and WWE had to listen, our choice was finally given the chance, At Wrestlemania 30 Daniel Bryan cemented his legacy as one of the very best in our business. Monday 8th February 2016 was a sad day for wrestling, fans and critics, it was the day a legend retired.
@ALFarrand (PPV Rewind) In the summer of 2003, I went to Butlins Minehead with my family. One night, my Grandad agreed to take me to watch the free Wrestling show that was put on as part of the general activities at the resort. All the matches where contested under a UK Vs. USA banner and included such wrestlers as Five Star Flash, Avalanche and a skinny but athletic guy called American Dragon.
Now, the idea for these matches were that the UK guys were the good guys and the USA guys would be the ones the fans were supposed to boo but even though I was early into my wrestling fandom, I responded to American Dragon more than anyone else on the card. After the show, Dragon was sat on the stage greeting fans and taking pictures, so I went over took a picture, asked him to sign my program and went on my way, not knowing I’d see him wrestle again.
Fast forward to 2010 and a ‘rookie’ by the name of Daniel Bryan was making his debut on WWE’s newest show NXT. By this point, I’d familiarized myself with wrestling outside of WWE and while I only watched WWE and TNA, I knew of Bryan Danielson. I knew that he wrestled under the nickname “The American Dragon” and didn’t really make the connection between Danielson and the aforementioned Butlins Dragon, it couldn’t be the same guy could it?
On the first show of NXT, Bryan wrestled, at the time, World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho. At short match by current standards but it was a showcase of what he could do and instantly solidified Daniel Bryan as the guy I was looking forward to seeing more of. It was also during this time that, while I was in Phoenix for Wrestlemania 26, I met Daniel Bryan and I re-posted the picture of the two of us today once I knew his retirement was legitimate.
Moving on from NXT, I saw Daniel Bryan get fired, rehired, win the United States, World Heavyweight, Tag Team, WWE and Intercontinental Championships, get demoted to the Pre-Show of Wrestlemania 27, win Money In The Bank, lose in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania 28, be labelled a B+ Player and finally get his ‘moment’ at Wrestlemania 30 in New Orleans.
I have had the honor of seeing Bryan wrestle live at TV Tapings in the UK and had the up-most pleasure to be a part of the Yes Movement during its inception in Miami over Wrestlemania 28 weekend. The last match I saw Daniel Bryan wrestle in live was him & CM Punk (dream pairing) Vs. The Shield (dream match) at the November 2013 Raw TV Taping in Manchester which, for me, is a great match to end it on.
I’m currently in the process of reading Bryan’s book and its only through reading it that I have come to realise that the red and blue mask wearing wrestler that I was told to boo in 2003 was in fact the future WWE World Heavyweight Champion and also the person who, when I’m asked to write ‘something small about him/career’ about them, I write 500+ words and I still don’t think its enough to translate how much I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him compete and how much I will truly miss seeing him on WWE programming.
Thank You Daniel Bryan.
@Chica_SLTD (Wrestle Chica) This has all been a little surreal for me as Daniel Bryan was the first wrestler I could name and the first wrestler who I knew was coming out when his music hit. As you may know I haven’t been watching wrestling for long but I was lucky enough to have Bryan’s WrestleMania moment to be my first WrestleMania that I watched live. I was part of the 👆YES👆 movement and would even get involved with the actions when watching it at home. WWE miss him when he hasn’t been on TV as he brings something to the audience that not everyone can and the fact that he has had to retire at just 34 is unbelievable.
I will never forget the excitement I use to get from hearing his music hit and never forget the moment I watched WrestleMania 30 to see him overcome all the odds to become the champ. Watching him win the titles actually made me tear up as I couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more than him. I hope to see you very soon back on TV doing something for WWE as it would be a shame to have you not in the company anymore. Thank You for helping this supportive girlfriend who was just watching it with her boyfriend become an actual fan and enjoy every part of it. You were the underdog who achieved more than anyone ever thought you would but you deserved every bit of it!
@AdamOB_UTS (Under The Spotlight) This isn’t the first time we’ve had to wish someone in the wrestling industry farewell far too soon, and it most certainly won’t be the last, but this one in particular stings quite a bit more than we’ve grown accustomed to.
What more can be said about Daniel Bryan that hasn’t already been? He gave us everything he had for over a decade and a half, risking his well-being and his future health for the business, and that’s a debt that can never be repaid. Professional wrestlers are no strangers to sacrifice, and Daniel Bryan is the true embodiment of that, choosing to travel hours upon hours, miles upon miles around the globe to perform in front of complete strangers, as opposed to spending time with his friends and family, especially those like his father who he will unfortunately never get to spend time with again.
This retirement has hit me pretty hard, and I couldn’t help but cry almost all day following his speech on Monday Night Raw, because as I’m sure everyone else in attendance that night does, I feel a personal connection to Daniel Bryan, having been present in Miami the night after WrestleMania 28 when the “Yes!” Movement really began. To be a part of history, with thousands of people screaming for Daniel Bryan especially when he wasn’t even booked to say a word or wrestle a match on the air that day, was incredible. The energy still gives me goosebumps just thinking back to the moment he came out for the dark match following the episode and the return of Brock Lesnar. The crowd was behind him all the way, and in a way, turned what was one of the worst weekends of his professional career into one of the best.
It’s surreal to think that moment was just short of four years ago, and in such a small period of time, Bryan went from being one of the most underutilized talents on the roster, to retiring as a Grand Slam Champion, a former WrestleMania main-eventer and a bona-fide Hall of Famer, with the potential to be inducted as early as this year. It goes to show that things can change in the blink of an eye, so embrace what you have now and don’t dwell on the future or the past, because that way, life will pass you by.
Daniel Bryan has been compared to Chris Benoit for many years, not only for their extremely similar move-set as far as suicide dives, headbutts and cross-faces go, but due to their extremely aggressive and violent styles inside the ring. When we found out the toll that Chris Benoit’s constant self-destruction had taken on his body, it was far too late, and the man’s brain had already caused him to commit unspeakable acts in his final moments. The biggest positive to take from Daniel Bryan’s early retirement is that upon finding out relatively similar news, in that his head his in pretty bad shape after years of wrestling, Bryan’s life is just beginning. He gets to start a family with the woman he loves, he gets to sit back and enjoy the rest of his days in the wilderness where he’s comfortable and live happily ever after, and despite his love for wrestling, I think that’s one of the things he’s most grateful for.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet Daniel Bryan back in 2012, and even more of a pleasure to see him perform both on television and live in person on multiple occasions. He is one of the very best wrestlers to set foot between the ropes and one of the nicest guys in the business, and for that he deserves every good thing that comes his way for the rest of his life. Thank you, Daniel Bryan
That is SLTD Wrestling’s tribute to Daniel Bryan, we hope your enjoyed or thoughts and share yours below.
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