7 best Daniel Bryan WWE matches
Daniel Bryan debuted in WWE in 2010 after a dazzling career on the Independent scene which saw him compete for a wide array of promotions such as the FWA, ASW and PWG. However, the company wherein he made his name was Ring of Honor.
Bryan's relationship with ROH lasted from 2002 through to 2009 and incorporated a lengthy reign as ROH World Champion between 2005 and 2006 which included a record 38 successful title defences across the 462-day title run.
Bryan's success on the Indy scene caught the attention of WWE officials and he was unveiled as a new signing at WrestleMania XVI along with the rest of the cast of the inaugural season of NXT to which Bryan was assigned.
Bryan's previous life as a touted Indy performer was referenced on air but denigrated. WWE commentator, Michael Cole openly mocked Bryan, declaring he had achieved nothing in his career as he had not competed in WWE.
WWE booked Bryan to lose every single match he competed in as a member of the NXT roster and he was the first person to be cut from the show. However, due to his beautifully crisp performances and dynamic personality he had already gotten over huge with the WWE Universe.
Bryan became part of the main roster from SummerSlam 2010 onwards and a year later would hit upon a heel character that got him over even more with the WWE audience. He has not looked back since. As of November 2018, Bryan is a four-time WWE and 1 time World Heavyweight Champion in the promotion and has contested more thrilling matches in the company over the past eight years than anybody else.
In the following slideshow, SK looks at seven of the best WWE matches of Daniel Bryan's career.
#7 versus AJ Styles - SmackDown Live (October 30, 2018)
Daniel Bryan was set to face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 2, 2018. However, after Bryan refused to go, WWE brought forward his title bout with Styles to the go home show of SmackDown instead.
In a thrilling encounter, Bryan and Styles targeted parts of each other's anatomy to soften them up for their signature submissions as well as neutralize their top offensive maneuvers.
Watching Bryan target Styles’s arm to prevent him utilising the Phenomenal Forearm and Styles targeting Bryan’s knee to prevent him from using Knee Plus was a thing of beauty.
Witnessing such psychology in a WWE match in 2018 was a joy.
The finish came when Styles locked Bryan in a submission that didn't rely on his neutralised arm strength before Samoa Joe interfered and choked Styles out to set up another Styles versus Joe match at Crown Jewel.
It was the type of match that offered much but was easy to see that the two men had so much more to give. They did and they gave it to the WWE audience in an even more incredible contest two weeks later.