Daniel Bryan has to be the only guy in WWE history to be of a slight stature and still end up being booked as an offensive monster that he was. I don't think guys like Punk or Rey got the respect that Bryan did when putting matches together with the road agents and opponents. People just seemed more willing to get destroyed by this one small guy than they were for just about anyone else.

 

Agreed. Bryan used to beat the shit outta Big Show when he made his heel turn. He was a cowardly heel but he still was a bad ass in the ring. Show bumped his ass off for him too.

 

Bryan would kick the shit out of Big Show. Big Show would also kick out at 2 and throw Bryan half way across the ring and Bryan would run away from him a lot and fight against Big Show like you would fight against Big Show. Big Show would bump huge for like, Bryan Dropkicking him in the leg, but that's what he does for pretty much everyone so....

You're right, it wasn't 30 minutes... it was 26 minutes. While I agree it didn't feel remotely like your standard HHH self-conscious epic, they put in the time. In terms of length, it ranked #4 out of 18 with Hunter's matches at Mania. Only the four-way at Mania 2000 and the back to back Undertaker matches went longer.

 

Which I think is overall a glowing testament to Bryan's ability when he can make a longer-than-average Triple H match feel like a shorter-than-average Triple H match.

Was it really 26 minutes from bell to bell? I thought it was clocked in at like 18 minutes but maybe I am misremembering it. All the same, yeah, the way it was put together the time went by quickly and nicely so. I think a big part of it was that I don't think the match allowed for too many moments where both guys were just laying around for minutes after an "epic" spot like HHH/HBK.

I just went and watched it again and checked the timer myself: yep, 26 minutes, give or take a few seconds. I also thought it was less than 20, until I saw your comment and went "wait... how long WAS it?" and checked Wikipedia for the exact number.

Yeah the more I thought about it the more 25+ sounded right. When I watched the match again a few months ago on the Network it definitely ate up a decent chunk of the meter you see at the bottom of the screen where you paused the show. So yeah I guess I was wrong about that.

I am wondering if anyone has him at No. 1? Because, realistically, he can very well end up being No. 2 on my list; he definitely will be in the top 5.

He's my 23 but he DOES beat Mocho Cota so he's got that going for him.

I got him at 12 and thought that was pretty high

Currently slotted in at #5.

Nothing finalized, but very much in play for my number 1. At worst he finishes at 5th.

If I was participating, I think Bryan has maybe one of the strongest cases for the #1 spot and will no doubt have finished at worst #2 on my ballot.

I had Danielson at 25, which is probably a bit too low. I imagine in 2026, with 10 more years of perspective and 85% of his stuff on tape, he would turn into an easy top 10'er for me.

If I were making a favourites list Bryan wouldn't make a top 100. I also do think criticisms of his hot tag run are valid and don't regret voting Cesaro over him in the March Madness final. His last run was actually a big plus for me because it did rehabilitate my view of him after the tag run but I also though he was clearly the best wrestler in the world when he left. They may have their fans but I couldn't care less for guys like Sheamus and Rollins and he got great matches out of them and worked a very compelling series of matches against KANE, including a casket match that went like 20 minutes. Part of the ranking process for me was valuing how much I value stuff comparatively and working super indies for so long probably hurts him there but he absolutely got the most out of that environment. I do think his absolute peak stuff doesn't compare well with the people I ranked above him and I feel like he really wasn't able to reach transcendence in his performance and may have been too small minded in opting to work longer and take more big bumps and do more shoot headbutts thinking it would do the trick. It is ridiculous nitpicking, but only comes natural when I have to compare absolute top tier wrestlers, and that is what Bryan was.

Could someone recommend his best matches since WrestleMania 35 (I fell off watching regularly after that)?

 

 

If the rumours of Bryan winding down are true, then I hope he has a run like early last year when it felt like he was testing how good he was. Can he have a good strap match against a guy who refuses to sell and isn't remotely good? Incredibly yes. Can I work a PPV opener against a talented, but underutilised, guy, worked almost entirely on the mat and still get the crowd into it? Also yes. I just want to see him having the most unusual matches and still being great on his way out.

2 hours ago, NotJayTabb said:

If the rumours of Bryan winding down are true, then I hope he has a run like early last year when it felt like he was testing how good he was. Can he have a good strap match against a guy who refuses to sell and isn't remotely good? Incredibly yes. Can I work a PPV opener against a talented, but underutilised, guy, worked almost entirely on the mat and still get the crowd into it? Also yes. I just want to see him having the most unusual matches and still being great on his way out.

I also remember an argument against him last time being he hadn’t proven he could work as a top heel and actually be a Hated Heel. Then the Planets Champion gimmick happened, and that had to end that.

He’s my working No.1 and it will take a lot to nudge him, but there are guys who can probably give him a run.

Bryan is an easy top 10 candidate for me, borderline top 5. The Pillars have higher peak and that's probably gonna give them the edge, but Bryan being the most versatile wrestler ever could give him an edge in the end.

I read through all 9 pages here and there are varying levels of criticisms that should be addressed by people. I don't think many (though not all) of those criticisms were adequately addressed five years ago.

That said, as I go back through early ROH and other things in the next few years and am potentially put off by elements of the style and the bloated length as I was during the 2016 poll, I do wonder how much i'm going to hold some of that against him. I mean, the guy only turned 25 in 2006. I'm pretty certain that if I were to look at my 2016 list, we wouldn't have age 20-25 footage (maybe a match or two tops) for most of my top 10.

34 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

I also remember an argument against him last time being he hadn’t proven he could work as a top heel and actually be a Hated Heel. Then the Planets Champion gimmick happened, and that had to end that

I think what happened here is Bryan saw his ranking in 2016 and decided to return specifically to undermine all those arguments against him. His whole comeback has been astonishing not just in how great he's been, but how great he's been in totally new ways.

19 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I read through all 9 pages here and there are varying levels of criticisms that should be addressed by people. I don't think many (though not all) of those criticisms were adequately addressed five years ago.

That said, as I go back through early ROH and other things in the next few years and am potentially put off by elements of the style and the bloated length as I was during the 2016 poll, I do wonder how much i'm going to hold some of that against him. I mean, the guy only turned 25 in 2006. I'm pretty certain that if I were to look at my 2016 list, we wouldn't have age 20-25 footage (maybe a match or two tops) for most of my top 10.

Going through the old pages, you highlighted “Bryan not selling for a year”. I’m assuming you meant the 2013 through Mania 30 run and I was curious why you classified it as not selling. It’s been 6 years so maybe your stance has changed since then but I’m fascinated by that. As a Bryan number 1 voter, I do think people saying Bryan should have a more critical lens on him is fair and I think if he’s gonna be a guy in play for the overall number 1, all possible critiques should be addressed.

Just now, Quentin said:

Going through the old pages, you highlighted “Bryan not selling for a year”. I’m assuming you meant the 2013 through Mania 30 run and I was curious why you classified it as not selling. It’s been 6 years so maybe your stance has changed since then but I’m fascinated by that. As a Bryan number 1 voter, I do think people saying Bryan should have a more critical lens on him is fair and I think if he’s gonna be a guy in play for the overall number 1, all possible critiques should be addressed.

I promise to go back through that stuff and tell you in the years to come. I think my issue was that he was getting a free ride that other people wouldn't have gotten for basically hulking up because he felt like it was what he needed to do to get over as a main eventer. But I'm distant from a lot of these things now.

In general, there are nitpicky things that we may raise when dealing with a #1 candidate that we wouldn't when dealing with a guy who might end up as #86 because the competition at the top is so fierce.

I will admit not seeing a lot of 2020-2021 wrestling, but Bryan is one of the people who seems to have looked for the opportunities for the empty arena setting and made that work well, which could well be another point in his favor.

6 hours ago, BigBadMick said:

Could someone recommend his best matches since WrestleMania 35 (I fell off watching regularly after that)?

 

 

There are a couple of rematches with Kofi from some house shows that are pretty good. They are on youtube. If we talking about TV, I'd say these are worth checking out. In bold are the "top tier" ones, imo.

vs Buddy Murphy - Smackdown 20.08.2019

vs Adam Cole - Smackdown 1.11.2019

vs The Fiend - Rotal Rumble 2020 (this one feels more impressive when you know how abysmal The Fiend was in the ring)

vs Drew Gulak - Elimination Chamber 2020

vs Drew Gulak - Smackdown 11.05.2020

vs AJ Styles - Smackdown 26.05.2020

w/ Roman Reigns vs Bludgeon Brothers - Hell In a Cell 2020

vs Jey Uso - Smackdwon 20.11.2020

Gauntlet match - Smackdown 08.01.2021

vs Cesaro - 15.01.2021

vs Jey Uso - Smackdown 05.03.2021

vs Roman Reigns - Fastlane 2021

I remember his team with Rowan had some fun stuff, though I can't pinpoint the exact matches either.

The Fiend match is way better than it has any right to be and I would probably say it’s Bryan’s most impressive babyface match in WWE.

3 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

I remember his team with Rowan had some fun stuff, though I can't pinpoint the exact matches either.

Yup, saw the list on cagematch and couldn't remember which ones were the most fun to watch...which I guess is kinda telling because i do remember all those matches I listed.

My favourite match tagging with Rowan was vs. Heavy Machinery at Stomping Grounds 06/23/19. Not a great match or anything but it's great Bryan performance, especially when you think about how really not on his level the other three are.

The match with Roman Reigns against Harper and Rowan at Hell In A Cell 2019 is really good too. Btw if you ever watch that show, just watch the first two matches then turn it off.