History Heartwarming / BryanDanielson

* How did Miami react to Bryan's [[spoiler: 18-second [=WrestleMania=] 28 loss]]? By chanting his name and YES! throughout the rest of the first hour and for nearly every segment and match on the following RAW. Daniel Bryan thanked the crowd after the show and joked that they convinced WWE to make a YES! shirt. By week's end, WWE had indeed released a shirt that read YES! YES! YES!

* DBD recently visited Connor, a child with brain cancer, and let the little guy put him in the No Lock. In the fine tradition of WWE Make-A-Wish visits, this one really struck this troper as adorable, because DBD is still in his full arrogant semi-heel character, tapping out to a 7 year-old.

** Even '''Wrestling/BrockLesnar''' got a moment of this. Lesnar was the subject of an on-air interview with ESPN which happened to take place shortly after Daniel Bryan's retirement due to accumulated injuries. When asked his opinion of it all, Lesnar, speaking in a manner vastly different than the [[SmugSuper arrogant]], [[BloodKnight fight-happy]] {{jerkass}} he is in the ring, reflected on how he had lost count of how many concussions he himself had, and for Bryan to put aside his pride and do the right thing for himself and his family, Brock had the utmost respect for him.

-->'''Bryan:''' I've had people ask me why I gave them so many opportunities. I've given them opportunities because I think they're two of the greatest performers of this generation. I gave them opportunities because I've known them for fifteen years. Because we've struggled together, we've been poor together - when I needed a place to stay, they gave me a bed. We fought ''together''.

-->'''Bryan: I've had people ask me why I gave them so many opportunities. I've given them opportunities because I think they're two of the greatest performers of this generation. I gave them opportunities because I've known them for fifteen years. Because we've struggled together, we've been poor together - when I needed a place to stay, they gave me a bed. We fought ''together''.

** When Bryan talks about when and where his comeback match will take place, nearly the entire arena begin pointing towards the Wrestlemania sign hanging above the stands.

** His Smackdown announcement was predictably greeted by the happy cheers from fans, but of note is that every time Daniel talks about his wife and how much she has supported him in his quest to return to the ring, he chokes up with tears.

* On March 20th, 2018, it was announced that Daniel Bryan was medically cleared to compete in the ring again for the first time in almost three years. This was met with instant excitement and praise from both fans and fellow wrestlers.

* On May 9th, 2017, He and Brie Bella welcomed their first child into the world; a baby girl named Birdie Joe Danielson.

** In response to popular demand, Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter renamed its "Best Technical Wrestler" award (which Bryan had won nine years in a row from 2005-2013, more than anyone else in history) the "Bryan Danielson Award" to mark the retirement of one of the best in-ring performers in wrestling history.

* Even if it'll probably turn out to be some kind of ploy, it's hard to deny D-Bry proposing to [[ChickBusters AJ]] on the Raw after Money In The Bank was pretty damn sweet. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9a0EQA1cAY See it here]].

* His retirement speech on February 8, 2016 edition of RAW. Oh God, his retirement speech. It doubles as a TearJerker -- a massive one, reducing grown men to tears. He said that he's felt all the emotions over the spectrum -- but that morning, all he felt was gratitude. Gratitude because he got to do what he loved for ''sixteen years''. Gratitude, because the fans gave him so much. Gratitude, because of all this, he got to meet ''[[Wrestling/BrieBella the love of his life]]''.

** In terms of coworkers, perhaps the most heartwarming ones came from wrestlers like Wrestling/RomanReigns[[note]]Whose feud with Bryan was one of Bryan's last[[/note]], [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Rusev]][[note]]whose tweet went something like "He is American... But I like him."[[/note]] and current US Champion Kallisto[[note]]Who addressed it as "From the Lucha Dragon to the American Dragon..."[[/note]] And those are just a few from his fellow entertainers.

** Hell, ''Wrestling/CMPunk'' went ahead and simply tweeted a gif of him and Bryan shaking hands right before one of their ROH matches together. That's how much he respected Bryan, to be willing to acknowledge wrestling again for one more moment just to honor him.

* His retirement speech on February 8, 2016 edition of RAW. Oh God, his retirement speech. It doubles as a TearJerker -- a massive one, reducing grown men to tears. He said that he's felt all the emotions over the spectrum -- but that morning, all he felt was gratitude. Gratitude because he got to do what he loved for ''sixteen years''. Gratitude, because the fans gave him so much. Gratitude, because of all this, he got to meet ''[[Wrestling/BellaTwins the love of his life]]''.
** What solidifies this is that he got to retire and announce his retirement in Washington with all of his family and the entire locker room including Vince, Triple H and Stephanie, and of course Brie, sending him off one last time with a massive Yes chant.

** In a way, the fact that Wrestling/MichealCole, who spent a good amount of Bryan's early career slamming the guy, capped off the episode after his speech praising Bryan and announcing further vignettes of his career is heartwarming in itself.

* The moment he announced his retirement on Twitter, his Twitter Feed exploded with both gratitude and disbelief but being supportive of his career. Among fans, coworkers, other wrestlers and close friends, everyone showed all the support they could for the famed career of Daniel Bryan.

* The moment he announced on Twitter, his Twitter Feed exploded with both gratitude and disbelief but being supportive of his career. Among fans, coworkers, other wrestlers and close friends, everyone showed all the support they could for the famed career of Daniel Bryan.

** What solidifies this is that he got to retire and announce his retirement in Washington with all of his family and the entire locker room including Vince, Triple H and Stephanie, and of course Brie, sending him off one last time with a massive Yes chant.

* His retirement speech on February 8, 2016 edition of RAW. Oh God, his retirement speech. It doubles as a TearJerker -- a massive one, reducing grown men to tears. He said that he's felt all the emotions over the spectrum -- but that morning, all he felt was gratitude. Gratitude because he got to do what he loved for ''sixteen years''. Gratitude, because the fans gave him so much. Gratitude, because of all this, he got to meet ''[[Wrestling/BellaTwins the love of his life]]''.

* His retirement speech on February 8, 2016 edition of RAW. Oh God, his retirement speech. It doubles as a TearJerker -- a massive one, reducing grown men to tears. He said that he's felt all the emotions over the spectrum -- but that morning, all he felt was gratitude. Gratitude because he got to do what he loved for ''sixteen years''. Gratitude, because the fans gave him so much. Gratitude, because of all this, he got to meet ''[[Wrestling/TheBellaTwins the love of his life]]''.

* The "Thank You, Daniel" chants after Bryan was forced to relinquish the Intercontinental Championship due to injury, which saved the whole segment from being a ''massive'' TearJerker.

** It's just the general reaction of the people in the ring that sells it. Most of the champions, from Miz to Mick Foley to CM Punk to Booker T to The Great Kali can't help but smile at the appreciation for Daniel. Big Show starts to smile, but by the YES chants he loses it and starts laughing. Early on when the chants start, you can see Mysterio show respect to Bryan, as if to say "Nice job, buddy. You just hijacked Raw. I hope you appreciate this." Mark Henry, a veteran of WWE, raising Bryan's hand was a massive sign of respect. For a very brief instance, you can see Stephanie McMahon crack a grin.

* The "Thank You, Daniel" chants after Bryan's forced to resign the Intercontinental Championship due to injury, which saved the whole segment from being massive TearJerker.

** Also, according to [=NoDQ.com=], after Summerslam went off the air fans started chanting "NO!" and "BUILLSHIT" in response to Bryan losing the title. That really says something about the popularity of a wrestler when [[spoiler: losing the title makes the crowd turn on Wrestling/RandyOrton.]]

* On the December 9th episode of Raw, Bryan is down in the ring with about twenty other former WWE Champions and World Heavyweight Champions to be a part of the ascension ceremony to build up towards the TLC 2013 match between John Cena and Randy Orton for the Undisputed Championship. Triple H is about to begin his speech to build up the [=PPV's=] main event, when the crowd starts chanting for Daniel Bryan, who, bear in mind, is in the ring as a background character with no involvement in the current segment. The crowd cheers for him so loudly that the segment is completely disrupted and Triple H has to stay quiet with visible annoyance until the crowd dies down, which doesn't happen for several minutes (he knows full well he can't tell the crowd to quiet down; that's just [[ReversePsychology asking for trouble]] ). This ring has people like CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Triple H, Mick Foley, Big Show, and Rey Mysterio, a who's who of wrestling greats both past and present, and the crowd only has eyes for Daniel Bryan. The other part to this scene is Daniel Bryan's reaction. [[{{Corpsing}} He gets the biggest smile on his face and starts laughing.]] He looked like he was having the time of his life up there. Even some of the people standing in the ring seem to be enjoying it. Mark Henry is shown smiling and even raises Bryan's hand, and The Miz briefly starts laughing, despite the fact that he had very recently turned heel (although the turn was in the midst of being aborted).

* After being out over seven months with a neck injury, Bryan came out on the December 29th, 2014 Raw to make an announcement about his career. It looked like it was about to be a TearJerker moment with him announcing his retirement, but instead he announced he was returning to compete in the 2015 Royal Rumble.

* When Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship from Wrestling/JohnCena, he did via pinfall rather than submission. The move that he used to keep Cena down long enough for the 3-count? A jumping variant of the Knee Trembler, the [[FinishingMove finisher]] of his mentor Wrestling/WilliamRegal.
** Actually, the move is a Busaiku Knee, a trademark move of Japanese wrestler KENTA, with whom Bryan is good friends (and who uses the YES Lock in tribute to Bryan).