History Awesome / BryanDanielson

* Wrestling then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html WWE RAW World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/ChrisJericho in his first match ever on Wrestling/{{WWE}} television. He lost, but still - what a way to debut.

* '''June 14, 2013''': Bryan becomes the ''very first man'' to pin a loss on Wrestling/TheShield in six-man tag action, tapping out Seth Rollins in the NO! Lock after a mid-air RKO from Wrestling/RandyOrton...with the crowd going ballistic for him during and after the match. '''WEAK LINK MY ASS.'''

* '''June 10, 2013''': Bryan and Seth Rollins from the Shield get a one-on-one match (Rollins's second on the main roster, as Kane had defeated Rollins on the May 31, ''[=SmackDown=]'''). WWE gives the two former Ring Of Honor stars about fifteen or twenty minutes... and the result is nothing short of '''epic.'''

* Wrestling then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/ChrisJericho in his first match ever on Wrestling/{{WWE}} television. He lost, but still - what a way to debut.

** 2. And then the following week, the most brilliant WorkedShoot in recent history -- punking out [[SmallNameBigEgo The Miz]] (with William Regal and CM Punk - who, in WWE kayfabe, have no history with Daniel Bryan except for ''NXT'' - both ''enthusiastically'' agreeing with Bryan behind Miz's back) and slapping around [[CreatorsPet Michael Cole]] like he owed him money, all while disassembling the [[ExecutiveMeddling politicking in the]] Wrestling/{{WWE}} and their blatant ignorance of non-Wrestling/{{WWE}} promotions. The camera work is notable during that brawl, as well. Other than it airing at all (the first and best sign of a WorkedShoot), ''tell me'' that didn't look real.
** 3. And then ''the next week'', Bryan follows that up by faking an apology to MichaelCole for the previous week's attack, instead apologizing for him being the worst announcer in wrestling today. Cole rips on Bryan with an (uncharacteristically) good promo, saying that Bryan had "tapped out" of ''NXT'' because he had "no heart". This earned Cole another attack (with Bryan escaping security's grasp so he could ''tackle Cole into the ringside barricade''), and as security led Bryan past the WWE "Pros", TheMiz started to run his mouth at Bryan - so Bryan fired back with a swift right, dropping Miz like a bad habit. In the end, ''Bryan had punked out both Miz and Cole '''for the second week in a row'''''.
** 4. And did it '''again''' the next week on Raw, beating TheMiz clean in a match. When Miz tries to go for a post-match beatdown, dragging Bryan over to the announcer's desk and making Bryan apologize to MichaelCole, Bryan turns around and throws Miz right over the table, right into Cole.
* '''WWE Raw, May 3, 2010:''' His match against Batista in a beat-the-clock challenge. It's some of the best 5 minutes you will find in all wrestling. Batista did his fair share too.

** What made this a particularly surprising moment was that almost ''nobody'' expected this; Bryan's initial firing had taken place only a few months beforehand, and the general consensus was that he'd maybe be back in late 2010 or worse (if he came back at all). The fact that ''none'' of the dirtsheets or news sites picked up on it makes it even more incredible. It would have been the perfect surprise... if WWE.com had not been updated with a story on Bryan's return a few minutes before the main event took place.

*** '''WWE Bragging Rights, October 24 2010:''' Bryan ''stole the show'' with Dolph Ziggler in the opening match, winning his Smackdown vs Raw contest and being the ONLY Raw superstar to win their Smackdown vs Raw contest that night. He then went on to beat Ziggler the next night on Raw, and kicked his head in on Smackdown to pin him for a ''third time that week''!

* On the January 25 episode of NXT Season 4, Bryan was in a Pro vs Pro match with Ted [=DiBiase=]. In the middle of the match, fellow pro R-Truth started a call-and-response Daniel Bryan chant. The response was ''deafening''. The chants would only continue through the match.

* His promo against Wrestling/CodyRhodes, where he calls out Cody's narcissistic "The World is Ugly" attitude, claiming that his father Dusty Rhodes, despite not being an attractive man, was a much better person than he would ever be and refused to accept that fact.
* Winning the goddamn Smackdown Money in the Bank! And people thought he wouldn't go anywhere in the WWE!

* His match against Alberto Del Rio also counts. Two of the rising stars of the WWE going head to head...that was amazing!

* WWE TLC. Wrestling/TheBigShow defeats Mark Henry in a pretty good Chairs match. Mark Henry [=DDTs=] Big Show onto Chairs. Daniel Bryan comes out and cashes his Money In the Bank Briefcase to win. The pop was deafening. And then he went to the camera, looked into it, and said "Thank you to everybody that has supported me these past twelve years." Michael Cole is dumbfounded, and Show... has a look on his face as if he was surprised, but impressed. A fitting milestone to one that basically founded one of WWE's biggest feeder organizations.
* The Raw following TLC saw Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/ZackRyder and Wrestling/BryanDanielson in the same ring, basically saying what no one thought possible, had actually happened. They would later in their six man tag match enter through the crowd, which was all kinds of awesome!

* Back in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, Danielson defended his title against semi-retired veteran Wrestling/LanceStorm (known as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, and the only man to hold the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-us-h.html WCW United States Heavyweight Title]], the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-hc.html WCW Hardcore Title]] and [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-c.html WCW World Cruiserweight Title]] at the same time). Over the course of 30 minutes of beautiful technical skill, each of them gave as good as they got, with Danielson kicking out of the [[FinishingMove Super Kick and Cradle Piledriver, and escaping the Canadian Maple Leaf]], with the match finally ending when, after several resisted attempts, Danielson locks on the Cattle Mutilation, and Storm finally taps. Both men receive a standing ovation as they shake hands and embrace, and the fans chant [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Thank You Lance!" and "You've Still Got It!"]] to a moved Storm.
* April 2, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw. Despite being squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus at the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII, that event has made Daniel Bryan more over with the audience now than ever before. While the cameras were off, Daniel Bryan broke his heel character and thanked for the crowd for their undying support and constant cheering of "YES!" which he said most likely got him a new shirt. The audience deafened the arena with "YES!" chants and followed along with Bryan as he began the cheer before leaving.

* WrestleMania 29. DolphZiggler starts the match by kissing Wrestling/AJLee, clearly rubbing Bryan's face in the loss from last year. How does the American Dragon respond? By kicking Ziggler's head off! An awesome parallel to last years joke of a match and how does the match end? Daniel Bryan FINALLY hits the Diving Headbutt on Ziggler and picks up the win! On a broader note, everyone in the match was amped up. No comedy routine from Team Hell No.

* '''June 6th, 2013''': Bryan not only did double duty, taking on the Shield in six-man tag and Ryback one-on-one, but he ''dominated all four men'', dropping them with suplexes, dropkicks, and vicious stiff forearms. He took Ryback, the man who destroyed John Cena at Extreme Rules, to his physical limit, including a top-rope headbutt from ''two-thirds the length of the ring.'' Even when it looked like Ryback had stopped him cold with a powerbomb, he freakin' traps him in the NO! Lock...and the crowd ''explodes''.
* '''June 10, 2013''': Bryan and Seth Rollins from the Shield get a one-on-one match (Rollins's first on the main roster, if this troper remembers correctly). WWE gives the two former RingOfHonor stars about fifteen or twenty minutes... and the result is nothing short of '''epic.'''
* '''June 14, 2013''': Bryan becomes the ''very first man'' to pin a loss on Wrestling/TheShield in six-man tag action, tapping out Seth Rollins in the NO! Lock after a mid-air RKO from RandyOrton...with the crowd going ballistic for him during and after the match. '''WEAK LINK MY ASS.'''

* '''June 10, 2013''': Bryan and Seth Rollins from the Shield get a one-on-one match (Rollins's first on the main roster, if this troper remembers correctly). WWE gives the two former RingOfHonor stars about fifteen or twenty minutes... and the result is nothing short of '''epic.'''

* '''June 6th, 2013''': Bryan not only did double duty, taking on the Shield in six-man tag and Ryback one-on-one, but he ''dominated all four men'', dropping them with suplexes, dropkicks, and vicious stiff forearms. He took Ryback, the man who destroyed John Cena at Extreme Rules, to his physical limit, including a top-rope headbutt from ''two-thirds the length of the ring.'' Even when it looked like Ryback had stopped him cold with a powerbomb, he freakin' traps him in the NO! Lock...and the crowd ''explodes''.

* '''June 6th, 2013''':

* May 31st, 2013 edition of Smackdown. Danielson and Kane come to the rescue of Orton, who is being attacked by The Shield. During this attack, both Orton and Kane get taken out. Danielson proceeds to uneash a onesided curbstomp to all three members of The Shield, powering through each one of them, delivering a flurry of kicks, dropkicks, and so forth before laying every member of them out alone. The show ended with Danielson standing tall in ring with Orton and Kane, his music playing, crowd loving it.

* May 31st edition of Smackdown. Danielson and Kane come to the rescue of Orton, who is being attacked by The Shield. During this attack, both Orton and Kane get taken out. Danielson proceeds to uneash a onesided curbstomp to all three members of The Shield, powering through each one of them, delivering a flurry of kicks, dropkicks, and so forth before laying every member of them out alone. The show ended with Danielson standing tall in ring with Orton and Kane, his music playing, crowd loving it.

* April 8th, 2013 edition of Raw. Daniel Bryan gets to help Kane and the Undertaker fight off the Shield. And he gets to pose with the Brothers of Destruction as they leave the ramp. For one night, and possibly more, Daniel Bryan has become the Third Brother of Destruction...who would've thought?

* WrestleMania 29. {{Dolph Ziggler}} starts the match by kissing {{AJ Lee}}, clearly rubbing Bryan's face in the loss from last year. How does the American Dragon respond? By kicking Ziggler's head off! An awesome parallel to last years joke of a match and how does the match end? Daniel Bryan FINALLY hits the Diving Headbutt on Ziggler and picks up the win! On a broader note, everyone in the match was amped up. No comedy routine from Team Hell No.

* WrestleMania 29. Dolph Ziggler starts the match by kissing AJ, clearly rubbing Bryan's face in the loss from last year. How does the American Dragon respond? By kicking Ziggler's head off! An awesome parallel to last years joke of a match and how does the match end? Daniel Bryan FINALLY hits the Diving Headbutt on Ziggler and picks up the win! On a broader note, everyone in the match was amped up. No comedy routine from Team Hell No.

* Sept 21, 2012 edition of Smackdown. Bryan and his equally reluctant tag team partner Wrestling/{{Kane}} are on the same page for once. They then proceeded to destroy the Tag Team division and Wrestling/DamienSandow. He hits them with 26 chair shots.

* Wrestling then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html WWE RAW World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/ChrisJericho in his first match ever on Wrestling/{{WWE}} television. He lost, but still - what a way to debut.

* '''WWE Raw, June 7 2010:''' The NXT Riot. All eight Season 1 ''NXT'' rookies laid waste to the entire show during a CMPunk vs. JohnCena main event, including beating up commentators, the timekeeper, and even Justin Roberts (whom Bryan was personally choking out with his own tie). After trashing the ringside area, they would proceed to gang attack Cena, brutalizing him with multiple finishers, including Bryan actually kicking John Cena's fucking head in. He preceded this kick by yelling "YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN ME!!!" several times and then spit in Cena's face.
* '''WWE Summerslam, August 15 2010:''' The show's main event is a seven-on-seven elimination match between a team of WWE all-stars and TheNexus, and Team WWE has a one-man deficit. Earlier in the show, TheMiz accepted Cena's offer of joining Team WWE; later, he comes out during the Team WWE entrances and looks to be the final man for the team. Cena stops him as he makes his entrance, however, and informs Miz that he took too long deciding whether or not to join the team, and that he'd found someone else in that time. Daniel Bryan comes out, and the cheers of millions of nerds causes the internet to explode. And in what was both his WWE return match and his WWE PPV debut (''in the main event of the second biggest show of the year'', no less!), "[=AmDrag=]" made sure to leave his mark - in this case, by completely owning both Darren Young and Heath Slater in about a minute each, and making it all the way to the final four.

** How big was Danielson's return to WWE? After he came back, "BryanDanielson" was the #1 tending topic on Twitter ''worldwide.''
* You can tell how awesome [[FanNickname Daniel Bryan Danielson]] is by the fact that he was for a while the only member of TheNexus to have his own TV Tropes page.
** Not to mention the fact that he was one of the first three professional wrestlers to have his own personal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome page. The other members of this prestigious group? TheUndertaker and, RicFlair. That's the level of awesome Danielson maintains.
* '''WWE Night of Champions, September 19 2010:''' Daniel Bryan makes TheMiz tap out to win his first title in WWE, the United States Championship, in arguably Miz's best match to date. Smarks everywhere cheered; MichaelCole threw a hissy fit.
** '''WWE Hell in a Cell, October 3 2010:''' Daniel Bryan would retain his US title against TheMiz and JohnMorrison in a Triple Threat Submissions Count Anywhere match. Following the win, MichaelCole would be forced to admit that Bryan was the better man that night.

**** And just to add icing to the cake, that Bragging Rights match is considered by WWE to be one of the top two matches of 2010. The other? '' TheUndertaker vs ShawnMichaels at Wrestlemania''. It seems WWE finally realizes that they've got gold with [[FanNickname Daniel Bryan Danielson]], which might be why they gave him a pair of infatuated escorts in The Bella Twins later in the year.

* He brought TheBigShow to his knees during the Draft Battle Royal of 2011.
* His promo against CodyRhodes, where he calls out Cody's narcissistic "The World is Ugly" attitude, claiming that his father Dusty Rhodes, despite not being an attractive man, was a much better person than he would ever be and refused to accept that fact.

** After he gets knocked by a jealous WadeBarrett, he catches him in the Lebell Lock while laying down.

* If I'm not mistaken, didn't he just get an incredible match out of MarkHenry, of all people? And even gave his own against the World's Strongest Man? That's pretty damn awesome.
* WWE TLC. TheBigShow defeats Mark Henry in a pretty good Chairs match. Mark Henry [=DDTs=] Big Show onto Chairs. Daniel Bryan comes out and cashes his Money In the Bank Briefcase to win. The pop was deafening. And then he went to the camera, looked into it, and said "Thank you to everybody that has supported me these past twelve years." Michael Cole is dumbfounded, and Show... has a look on his face as if he was surprised, but impressed. A fitting milestone to one that basically founded one of the WWE's biggest feeder organizations.
* The Raw following TLC saw CMPunk, ZackRyder and BryanDanielson in the same ring, basically saying what no one thought possible, had actually happened. They would later in their six man tag match enter through the crowd, which was all kinds of awesome!
* Managed to retain his title three weeks in row, when facing TheBigShow and MarkHenry in rematches. The first time he managed to get a disqualification when he got Henry to shove him in front of the referee when he was facing Big Show, the second week, against Big Show again, the match went to a non contest as Big Show ran in to [[ChickBusters A.J.]] The third week, he and MarkHenry was in a lumberjack match where Bryan managed to get the lumberjacks so riled up that they stormed the ring and beat both him and Henry, before all hell broke lose and they pretty much started fighting each other.

* '''January 30, 2012.''' Champion vs Champion match. Yes, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan faces WWE Champion CMPunk.
* Back in RingOfHonor, Danielson defended his title against semi-retired veteran LanceStorm (known as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, and the only man to unify WCW's United States, Hardcore and Cruiserweight championships). Over the course of 30 minutes of beautiful technical skill, each of them gave as good as they got, with Danielson kicking out of the [[FinishingMove Super Kick and Cradle Piledriver, and escaping the Canadian Maple Leaf]], with the match finally ending when, after several resisted attempts, Danielson locks on the Cattle Mutilation, and Storm finally taps. Both men receive a standing ovation as they shake hands and embrace, and the fans chant [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Thank You Lance!" and "You've Still Got It!"]] to a moved Storm.

* Bryan, along with {{Sheamus}}, finally getting their time in the sun with an instant-classic, show-stealing 2-out-of-3 falls at ''Extreme Rules 2012''.

* Sept 21, 2012 edition of Smackdown. Bryan and his equally reluctant tag team partner Wrestler/{{Kane}} are on the same page for once. They then proceeded to destroy the Tag Team division and Sandow. He hits them with 26 chair shots.

* BryanDanielson's {{ROH}} World Title / ROH Pure Title unification match with Nigel [=McGuinness=]. A brutal war in Nigel's hometown, with Danielson bringing home the gold thanks to a seemingly endless flurry of elbows to the head of a bruised and bleeding [=McGuinness=].
* Wrestling then-World Heavyweight Champion ChrisJericho in his first match ever on Wrestling/{{WWE}} television. He lost, but still - what a way to debut.

** 1. His "Who is Daniel Bryan?" promo after he's eliminated from ''NXT'', wherein he makes it clear that Daniel Bryan =/= BryanDanielson. (The name change was forgotten by the subsequent episode, but what the hell.) Especially notable is the camera shaking, albeit slightly, as though the cameraman is giddy with the prospect of what's to come for him.

** 2. And then the following week, the most brilliant WorkedShoot in recent history -- punking out [[SmallNameBigEgo The Miz]] (with William Regal and CM Punk - who, in WWE kayfabe, have no history with Daniel Bryan except for ''NXT'' - both ''enthusiastically'' agreeing with Bryan behind Miz's back) and slapping around [[CreatorsPet Michael Cole]] like he owed him money, all while disassembling the [[ExecutiveMeddling politicking in the]] Wrestling/{{WWE}} and their blatant ignorance of non-Wrestling/{{WWE}} promotions. The camerawork is notable during that brawl, as well. Other than it airing at all (the first and best sign of a WorkedShoot), ''tell me'' that didn't look real.

* Managed to retain his title 3 weeks in row, when facing TheBigShow and MarkHenry in rematches. The first time he managed to get a disqualification when he got Henry to shove him in front of the referee when he was facing Big Show, the second week, against Big Show again, the match went to a non contest as Big Show ran in to [[ChickBusters A.J.]] The third week, he and MarkHenry was in a lumberjack match where Bryan managed to get the lumberjacks so riled up that they stormed the ring and beat both him and Henry, before all hell broke lose and they pretty much started fighting each other.

* Back in RingOfHonor, Danielson defended his title against semi-retired veteran LanceStorm (known as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, and the only man to unify WCW's United States, Hardcore and Cruiserweight championships). Over the course of 30 minutes of beautiful technical skill, each of them gave as good as they got, with Danielson kicking out of the [[FinishingMove Super Kick and Cradle Piledriver, and escaping the Canadian Maple Leaf]], with the match finally ending when, after several resisted attempts, Danielson locks on the Cattle Mutilation, and Storm finally taps. Both men recieve a standing ovation as they shake hands and embrace, and the fans chant [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Thank You Lance!" and "You've Still Got It!"]] to a moved Storm.

* May 25, 2012 edition of Smackdown. Bryan sneak attacks Wrestling/{{Kane}} and hits him with '''twenty-six''' steel chair shots in a row.

* Wrestling then-World Heavyweight Champion ChrisJericho in his first match ever on {{WWE}} television. He lost, but still - what a way to debut.
* His entire angle after being eliminated from ''NXT''. Let's go through it:

** 2. And then the following week, the most brilliant WorkedShoot in recent history -- punking out [[SmallNameBigEgo The Miz]] (with William Regal and CM Punk - who, in WWE kayfabe, have no history with Daniel Bryan except for ''NXT'' - both ''enthusiastically'' agreeing with Bryan behind Miz's back) and slapping around [[CreatorsPet Michael Cole]] like he owed him money, all while disassembling the [[ExecutiveMeddling politicking in the]] {{WWE}} and their blatant ignorance of non-{{WWE}} promotions. The camerawork is notable during that brawl, as well. Other than it airing at all (the first and best sign of a WorkedShoot), ''tell me'' that didn't look real.

** 4. And did it '''again''' the next week on Raw, beating TheMiz clean in a match. When Miz tries to go for a post-match beatdown, dragging Bryan over to the announcer's desk and making Bryan apologize to MichaelCole, Bryan turns around and throws Miz right over the table, right into Cole.

** 2. And then the following week, the most brilliant WorkedShoot in recent history -- punking out [[TedBaxter The Miz]] (with William Regal and CM Punk - who, in WWE kayfabe, have no history with Daniel Bryan except for ''NXT'' - both ''enthusiastically'' agreeing with Bryan behind Miz's back) and slapping around [[CreatorsPet Michael Cole]] like he owed him money, all while disassembling the [[ExecutiveMeddling politicking in the]] {{WWE}} and their blatant ignorance of non-{{WWE}} promotions. The camerawork is notable during that brawl, as well. Other than it airing at all (the first and best sign of a WorkedShoot), ''tell me'' that didn't look real.

* Bryan, along with Sheamus, finally getting their time in the sun with an instant-classic, show-stealing 2-out-of-3 falls at ''Extreme Rules''.

** And that lasted for most of the entire Raw broadcast itself prior to that, where fans were either chanting "YES!" or Bryan's name during most of the show, despite the fact that Bryan himself only appeared for one small segment.

* April 2, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw. Despite being squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus at the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII, that event has made Daniel Bryan more over with the audience now than ever before. While the cameras were off, Daniel Bryan broke his heel character and thanked for the crowd for their undying support and constant cheering of "YES!" which he said most likely got him a new shirt. The audience deafened the arena with "YES!" chants and followed along with Bryan as he began the cheer before leaving.

* April 2, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw. Despite being squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus at the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII, that event has made Daniel Bryan more over with the audience now than ever before. While the cameras were off Daniel Bryan broke his heel character and thanked for the crowd for their undying support and constant cheering of "YES!" which he said most likely got him a new shirt. The audience deafened the arena with "YES!" chants and followed along with Bryan as he began the cheer before leaving.

* April 2, 2012 edition of Monday Night Raw. Despite being squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus at the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII, Daniel Bryan is more over with the audience now than the whole of his WWE career. While the cameras were off Daniel Bryan broke his heel character and thanked for the crowd for their undying support and constant cheering of "YES!" which he said most likely got him a new shirt. The audience deafened the arena with "YES!" chants and followed along with Bryan as he began the cheer before leaving.

* 4/2/12 edition of Monday Night Raw. Despite being squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus at the opening match of Wrestlemania XXVIII, Daniel Bryan is more over with the audience now than the whole of his WWE career. While the cameras were off Daniel Bryan broke his heel character and thanked for the crowd for their undying support and constant cheering of "YES!" which he said most likely got him a new shirt. The audience deafened the arena with "YES!" chants and followed along with Bryan as he began the cheer before leaving.

* Back in RingOfHonor, Danielson defended his title against semi-retired veteran LanceStorm (known as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, and the only man to unify WCW's United States, Hardcore and Cruiserweight championships). Over the course of 30 minutes of beautiful technical skill, each of them gave as good as they got, with Danielson kicking out of the [[FinishingMove Super Kick and Cradle Piledriver, and escaping the Canadian Maple Leaf]], with the match finally ending when, after several resisted attempts, Danielson locks on the Cattle Mutilation, and Storm finally taps. Both men recieve a standing ovation as they shake hands and embrace, and the fans chant [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "Thank You Lance!" and "You've Still Got It!"]] to a moved Storm.