Daniel Bryan's 5 greatest career defining moments
Bryan vs McGuinness in ROHDaniel Bryan has been one of the most popular wrestlers of recent times. While John Cena has detractors, one cannot deny that Daniel Bryan is perhaps more universally beloved than him.He has turned from an amazing worker to one of the best underdog babyfaces in wrestling history, combining his athleticism and technical work with his unbelievably unique charisma. In recent times, no one has held the crowd in the palm of his hand like Bryan and that is saying a lot. The man formerly known as Bryan Danielson has had a fabulous career in professional wrestling for almost 16 years, wrestling all over the world and 'living his dream'. Bryan has had some great moments in his career and in this article I will cover the top 5 that defined his career. Honorable mentions go to his Money in the Bank ladder match victory and his first world title win over a prone Big Show as he cashed in briefcase and his 18-second defeat to Sheamus at WrestleMania 28 which kicked off the ‘Yes’ movement.
#5 NXT and main roster match debuts
Bryan Danielson as Daniel Bryan didn’t have the best start to his WWE career as he showed up in the gameshow version of NXT. He failed to win the season (Wade Barret would go on to win and lead the Nexus) but WWE officials were convinced of Bryan’s titles after his short but fantastic match against then World champion Chris Jericho on an episode of NXT. Bryan may have lost, but he made a dent and his efforts wouldn’t go unnoticed. Of course, he would be fired for ‘choking’ Justin Roberts with his own tie as the NEXUS debuted on RAW.
At SummerSlam, Bryan, having been rehired was a surprise entrant on team WWE in what was a great booking decision fought off and eliminated two members of the Nexus. He then engaged in a rivalry with his NXT pro The Miz and won the United States Championship at Night of Champions.. it was clear that Bryan was going to be a major player in WWE and his first steps were reasons for optimism.