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Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under his real name and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He rose to fame for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Daniel Bryan from 2009 to 2021.
- 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
- 2
- 210 lb (95 kg)
- October 4, 1999
Jul 13, 2021 · As of early July 2021, Daniel Bryan is a free agent. While he has been under a WWE contract for 11 years straight, it expired in 2021.
- Overview
- Professional wrestling career
- Personal life
- In wrestling
- Championships and accomplishments
Bryan Lloyd Danielson (May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and author currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Bryan Danielson.
In World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Daniel Bryan, he held the WWE Championship four times and the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once, in addition to being a one-time United States Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion and a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion as part of Team Hell No (with Kane). He was also the 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner and the 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner. Bryan is the 26th Triple Crown Champion and the 6th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history under its current format, and headlined several major pay-per-view events, including SummerSlam and WrestleMania XXX.
Early career (1999–2004)
Danielson's first exposure in wrestling was as a backyard wrestler competing for Backyard Championship Wrestling (BCW) under his real name with the nickname "The Dagger". There he won the promotion's Heavyweight Championship. After Danielson graduated from high school in 1999, he decided to pursue wrestling professionally and initially attempted to train at Dean Malenko's Wrestling School. Due to its subsequent closure, however, he instead trained under Shawn Michaels at the Texas Wrestling Academy. Danielson debuted in Michaels' promotion, the Texas Wrestling Alliance (TWA), and on March 21, 2000, he won his first professional wrestling championship, when he teamed with Spanky to win the TWA Tag Team Championship by defeating Jeromy Sage and Ruben Cruz. As Danielson continued to tour the country, he was signed to a developmental deal by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to work in their developmental system where recently signed performers train and refine their skills before debuting on WWF's television programming. Bryan was assigned to Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) where he gained exposure, and was trained by WWF competitor, William Regal. It was during this time that Danielson adopted his well-known moniker "American Dragon". WWF severed its ties with MCW in 2001, releasing Danielson from his contract, but not before he won the MCW Light Heavyweight Championship and the MCW Tag Team Championship with Spanky. Danielson returned to the company on later dates after it was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment to compete on its secondary programming, Velocity and Heat, initially as enhancement talent before being allowed to compete in longer matches; he once wrestled future WWE Champion John Cena in a losing effort. Danielson also toured Japan with the promotion, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) with fellow trainee from the Texas Wrestling Academy, Lance Cade, competing in several tag team matches. He returned to the country after his release from the WWF, competing in Japan's premier promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he used his American Dragon persona, and donned a red, white, and blue mask reminiscent of a dragon. As a part of the junior heavyweight division, Danielson had success in both singles and tag team competition in the company, the latter of which culminated on March 12, 2004 when Danielson (sans mask) won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Curry Man from division veterans, Jado and Gedo, on the Hyper Battle tour.
Other promotions
Aside from competing primarily in ROH, Danielson has also competed in a multitude of other independent promotions, both in the United States and abroad. In 2003, Danielson also toured the United Kingdom for British promotion, All Star Wrestling. While he was in the UK, Danielson won the World Heavy Middleweight Championship on May 6 in an 8 Man One Night Tournament in Croydon defeating James Mason. He spent the next 6 months in the UK, working for ASW, FWA, WAW and Premier Promotions. He returned several times over the next 5 years, working for various promotions. In February 2005, at New Dawn Rising, Danielson made his debut in ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), teaming up with Rocky Romero in a match against Austin Aries and Homicide. The next night at Dangerous Intentions Danielson competed in a losing effort against CM Punk, which led to a brief feud between the two. Danielson's biggest success came in 2006 by winning the FIP World Heavyweight Championship, holding the belt for eleven months before losing it to Roderick Strong. Danielson wrestled his last match for FIP in December 2006 at Florida Rumble, in a losing effort to Erick Stevens. Danielson has also wrestled in the California-based promotion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). He made his debut in November 2003 at An Inch Longer Than Average, in a losing effort to PWG Champion Frankie Kazarian. He continued to appear 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. He made his return to PWG at the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. In May 2009, he made another appearance teaming with Paul London, referring to himself as American Dolphin in a parodied manner. On September 4, 2009, at Guerre Sans Frontières, during his last night in PWG, Danielson defeated Chris Hero to win the PWG World Championship for the second time and immediately vacated it afterward. Following his return from his injury in 2007, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) published a video of Danielson stating his intent to challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as the establishment that sanctioned the championship at the time, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, was relinquishing the championship back to the NWA. A tournament, entitled Reclaiming the Glory, was held to determine the new champion with Danielson making his way to finals, scheduled to compete face Brent Albright on September 1, but due to the eye injury he sustained at Manhattan Mayhem, the NWA announced he withdrew from the tournament with Adam Pearce replacing him; Danielson was appointed the referee of the match. In 2009, Danielson's contract with Ring of Honor expired; this opened up Danielson to travel to other companies more freely while competing in his home promotion. He made his debut with Philadelphia-based promotion, Chikara to compete in their King of Trios tournament, which saw him team with Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor in a contingency called Team Uppercut. In the same year, it was announced Danielson would compete in Dragon Gate USA in their second show, which saw him lose to Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi.
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 debut 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 debut at the FCW television tapings on January 14, where he was defeated by Kaval. At the February 11 tapings, Danielson was renamed Daniel Bryan. On February 16, it was announced that he would be wrestling on the first season of the WWE NXT show, using the name Daniel Bryan, with The Miz as his storyline mentor. He made his debut 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 episode of NXT. After losing five more matches on NXT, Bryan earned his first victory on the May 10 episode of 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 editions 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 episode of Raw, Bryan defeated The Miz in a singles match, and after the match, he threw The Miz into Cole, who was commentating at ringside. 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 heels in the process. On June 11, WWE announced via their official website that Danielson had been released from his WWE contract. It was later reported by the Wrestling Observer that his release was due to him strangling Roberts with his own tie during the segment on the June 7 episode of Raw, which WWE felt was too violent for their TV-PG programming. 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 he would not be seen in the WWE again.
Danielson has cited a number of wrestlers as influences to his style: Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuharu Misawa, and William Regal. He has also made mention of modeling his wrestling off of the work of Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit in his early career, then using Jujutsu as a platform to develop his own style. In 2009 Danielson relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has began training in mixed martial arts at Randy Couture's Xtreme Couture gym.
During his time as ROH World Champion, ROH appointed Danielson the head trainer of the ROH Wrestling Academy, replacing Austin Aries. He relinquished the position to Delirious in 2007.
Danielson married Brie Bella on April 11, 2014, with whom he had been in a relationship for nearly three years.
On April 21, 2014, WWE announced the death of Danielson's father. Danielson insisted on performing that night on Raw as scheduled but left for home immediately after his segment.
In July 2014, Danielson's home in Phoenix, Arizona was broken into by two burglars. Danielson came home at that time; he managed to chase down and subdue one of the burglars with a rear naked choke until police arrived. Based on information gleaned from the caught burglar, police apprehended three other people about two weeks later who were involved in burglaries throughout Arcadia and Phoenix.
During a 2014 interview, Danielson stated that he cannot swim or go deep into water due to a ruptured ear drum he suffered in an unspecified 2007 Ring of Honor match against Kenta. Danielson has never had the ruptured ear drum fixed, and he claims he still has problems hearing in his left ear.
•Finishing moves
•As Daniel Bryan
•Guillotine choke – 2011; used rarely as a signature move thereafter
•LeBell Lock / "Yes!" Lock / "No!" Lock (Omoplata crossface) – 2010–present; adopted from Gene LeBell
•Busaiku Knee Kick – 2013–present; adopted from KENTA
•Heel Hook - 2018-present
•All Pro Wrestling
•APW Worldwide Internet Championship (1 time)
•King of the Indies (2001)
•All Star Wrestling
•ASW World Heavy Middleweight Championship (1 time)
•East Coast Wrestling Association
People also ask
Is Daniel Bryan a good wrestler?
How many times did Daniel Bryan win a WWE title?
Will Daniel Bryan be a full-time Superstar if he returns to WWE?
Is Daniel Bryan a Vegan pro wrestler?
- Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins: Raw, June 10, 2013 (Full Match)
- John Cena vs CM Punk – Raw: Jun 7, 2010 (Lucha Completa)
- Team WWE vs. The Nexus - 7-on-7 Elimination Match: SummerSlam 2010 (Full Match)
- Team Hell No bicker their way into the No. 27 spot: WWE 50 Greatest Tag Teams sneak peek.
Feb 20, 2016 · The wave crested, initially, at SummerSlam 2013, when Bryan captured his first WWE Championship by defeating none other than Cena himself, 10 years after their first match on Velocity. To finish Cena off for good, Bryan used a running Busaiku Knee to the head, a favorite of his old rival KENTA. 03:45.
- Anthony Benigno
On this page, you find the full wrestling profile of Daniel Bryan / Bryan Danielson, with his Career History, real name, age, height and weight, the Promotions he worked for, all the Face/Heel turns, the Championship Titles he won, his Finishers, Theme Songs, Tag Teams and Stables, his appearance changes through the years, and more.
Feb 9, 2016 · Daniel Bryan was an indie wrestling grinder who became a beloved WWE champion because of how uniquely talented he was. His career is over, but his legend is secure. ... Daniel Bryan (real name ...
