Details on how Daniel Bryan reacted to being reprimanded by WWE and then fired
When the Nexus made their debut in WWE, they proceeded to demolish everyone in the ring, and not only the competitors, but also the commentators, and the ring announcers. Hardly anyone was allowed to escape their wrath. During this time, Daniel Bryan, who was part of Nexus, also attacked Justin Roberts and choked him with his tie, something that was considered to be against the policy as it was not PG. Daniel Bryan would be fired for this transgression before he was re-hired by the company later once again.
Arn Anderson has talked about the incident on his ARN podcast and how Daniel Bryan reacted backstage when he found out that he had crossed an invisible line. He would later be fired from WWE four years later.
Daniel Bryan reacts to being fired from WWE
Arn Anderson revealed that he was sure that when the Nexus were told to go out to make their debut, they were simply told to do whatever they could to get themselves over with the crowd.
"I'm sure, these guys and Daniel Bryan were told, 'Go out there and get yourselves over. Be a vicious p***k."
However, he mentioned that he was also sure that when it happened, it was not something that Daniel Bryan did after planning it. It was a spur of the moment when he saw Justin Roberts' tie hanging in front of him. Vince McMahon would not take too kindly to it, and would lose his mind when he saw it.
"The second it went down and no one pre-warned the guy, I'm sure he was not thinking about it. Choking was always something that was part of the heel's repertoire and if done properly it's vicious. So that went down before anyone knew it. The guy in the big chair saw it and probably went ape-s***. Because it was clear that not even grabbing a guy with one hand by the throat was allowed. But it was too late in his mind."
Anderson went on to describe what was happening when Daniel Bryan came backstage after the WWE show. Arn heard a disturbance in the WWE Gorilla Position and went to check and Daniel Bryan was sitting with a blank expression where it was clear that he was thinking that he had no idea what he had done.
"I was backstage and from a distance, I was eyeballing this thing and I could see this was a big deal. The blank look on Daniel Bryan's face told me he had no idea he had done anything wrong. He had certainly not done anything wrong on purpose. He was just sitting there with his eyes bugged out of his head going, 'What did I do, what did I do?' He wasn't saying that but if a VH1 bubble popped up in his head, that's what it would say. 'What did I do wrong, I just did what I was told!'"
Daniel Bryan would go on to take independent bookings, but with the WWE fan support behind him, and others like John Cena supporting him, thankfully WWE hired him back and Bryan got to eventually be a part of multiple WrestleManias.