History YMMV / BryanDanielson

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: His tendency to be screwed and/or injured out of title shots and/or reigns can make one see it hard, if not futile, to stay invested.

** "...vs. Daniel Bryan in a [[MeleeATrois Triple Threat match!]]" - after his very late insertion into the WrestleMania 37 main event with Wrestling/RomanReigns and Wrestling/{{Edge}}, this took off due to the internet's BrokenBase reaction[[note]]Many, including Bryan himself, thought his presence added little to the storyline[[/note]] and Bryan's UnintentionallyUnsympathetic character portrayal in the build to the match itself. Given that this was the second time Bryan had been thrown into a Wrestlemania main event that originally featured a [[Wrestling/RandyOrton current top star]] and [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} returning star from the past]], the meme kind of grew legs from there and began to feature Photoshops of previous match graphics with Daniel Bryan inserted, expanding beyond WWE and even beyond Wrestling itself.

** His AEW theme, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VoqgBceP_8 Born for Greatness]]", feels like a tribute to all of the stages of his career: Combining "Ride of the Valkyries" with his classic American Dragon chant, and topping it off with a BoastfulRap that celebrates his arrival to his new home.

** His AEW theme, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VoqgBceP_8 Born for Greatness]]", feels like a tribute to all of the previous stages of his career: Combining "Ride of the Valkyries" with his classic American Dragon chant, and topping it off with a BoastfulRap that celebrates his arrival to his new home.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The crowd alternating chants goes back at least to Wrestling/{{ECW}}'s [[Wrestling/HackMeyers "The Shah" Hack Myers]], since fans would chant "Shah" when he hit a move[[note]][[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael [=McGillicutty=]]] took up that tradition during his time at ''NXT'' developmental[[/note]] and "Shit" when his opponent retaliated.

** His 18 second Wrestlemania 29 match against Sheamust that gave birth to the "YES!" chants.
** His Wrestlemania XXX victory ending him with both Championship belts in his arms.

** Choking Justin Robert with his tie that lead to his release before returning to Summerslam months later.

* HypeBacklash: Played with on ''NXT'' with Wrestling/MichaelCole's insistent ripping on Danielson.
** He sometimes has legimate HypeBacklash. He is constantly referred to by the IWC as being the greatest at everything in wrestling that can be done. While he is legitimately one of the most talented wrestlers around[[note]]You don't get ''[[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter WON]]'' to name a "Best Technical Wrestler" award after you for nothing, after all.[[/note]], the constant praise makes it simply impossible to live up the hype.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The crowd alternating chants goes back at least to Wrestling/{{ECW}}'s "The Shah" Hack Myers, since fans would chant "Shah" when he hit a move[[note]][[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael [=McGillicutty=]]] took up that tradition during his time at ''NXT'' developmental[[/note]] and "Shit" when his opponent retaliated.

* FridgeLogic: During his match with Wrestling/AJStyles at ''An IWA[[note]]IWA Mid-South[[/note]] Homecoming[[/note]], September 16, 2004, he hit a suplex and told the crowd, "Clap for me my baboons." He didn't get a reaction, since he hadn't considered that ComplimentFishing and TakeThatAudience don't go well together.

* FanPreferredCouple: Bryan/Brie? Bryan/Nikki? Bryan/Gail? Bryan/AJ? Forget all of those, the {{OTP}} is Daniel Bryan/[[Wrestling/EC3 Derrick Bateman]].

* {{Misblamed}}: It's par for the course when it comes to the WWE. Nevertheless, he received some major criticism during his post-WM30 championship run. Everything from the storylines to his ''injuries'' were apparently all his own doing.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The crowd alternating chants goes back at least to Wrestling/{{ECW}}'s "The Shah" Hack Myers, since fans would chant "Shah" when he hit a move[[note]][[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael McGillicutty]] took up that tradition during his time at ''NXT'' developmental[[/note]] and "Shit" when his opponent retaliated.

* ICouldaBeenAContender: He was considered one of the best all-around wrestlers in the world at his peak, and had so much fan support that the notoriously intractable WWE creative team derailed an entire storyline to put the belt on him. However, arguably poor booking meant he was never a true star in the WWE, and his career was cut short by injuries.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: A big part of why his heel character was so popular. He had little to no redeeming qualities. He was a misogynistic douchebag, a preachy vegan extremist, cheated and connived his way through most of his matches leading to totally bogus finishes. To summarize, he was just a shameless douche in general. And yet... he was not loved by his fans in spite of this all, but partly because of it. It was such a radical departure from the average cocky pretty boy heel, and his over the top promos culminating with that magical three letter word just made it hard to hate him for too long; you can just tell he was having fun. And of course, the fact that he's an amazing wrestler doesn't hurt at all.
* [[AwesomeMusic/ProfessionalWrestling Crowning Music of Awesome]]:

* CounterpartComparison:
** Bryan seems to draw comparisons to Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. This mostly comes from both being good technical wrestlers that are known as submission specialists. In addition, the diving headbutt tends to show up in their matches (though Bryan does not connect often with the move, perhaps to avoid or minimize head injuries) as well as suplexes. They also have overcome the stigma of being "short" wrestlers in WWE. To be fair, both men tend to differ after these similarities. Benoit was typically described as an intense wrestler devoted to the sport. Bryan is lauded as a tactician in the ring and comes off as a relatable person or everyman in his persona;by all accounts, they also differ in that while Benoit has often been described as being intense to the point of sounding angry backstage, Bryan comes off as a totally chill PromotedFanboy.
** He's also drawn comparisons to Wrestling/KurtAngle in that they're both supremely technically gifted and are both freaking hilarious. Many times, a wrestler can be either one or the other, but these two can wrestle a flawless match, and then deliver a ridiculously hammy and funny promo.
** It's a stretch, but his career so far can be seen as a parallel to Wrestling/HulkHogan up to his AWA run. Both became popular outside the company (Hogan in Japan, Bryan in the indies) and after joining the company they quickly captured the audience's interest, but were passed over by the promoter for older stars despite fan demand that they be given a title shot. Both did receive a title shot and were screwed out of the belt. The comparisons admittedly break down there, and Bryan's unlikely to cameo in a Creator/SylvesterStallone movie anytime soon, so we'll see where things go.
** In the end, his short run at the top of WWE positions him as a GoodCounterpart (or at least a far saner, less sociopathic counterpart) to Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Their wrestling styles are very disparate, but their roles in the company in their respective eras are similar. Both were positioned as everyman underdogs who wanted to ascend the ranks of WWE but were held back initially by booking and strange gimmicks because they didn't quite fit the corporate look. Both languished on the midcard until they built such a groundswell of support that it was bad for business not to elevate them. Both entered feuds with onscreen authority figures that, in fact, went as far as to insert ''themselves'' into in-ring competition with the sole purpose of keeping the belt away from them. Both eventually came out on top. Both are associated with a finger gesture and a one-word {{Catchphrase}} that became hilariously ubiquitous. And both suffered neck (and other) injuries that unfortunately forced them into retirement.
** Now that his in-ring career is done, you could argue that he's what Wrestling/MickFoley would have been if he'd been a technical wrestler as opposed to primarily a hardcore guy. Both were dismissed as non-prototypes by WWE brass because of their looks and pre-WWE backgrounds. On the other hand, they were both [[EnsembleDarkhorse insanely over with WWE fans because of their underdog appeal.]] For both, this was parlayed into storylines against Wrestling/TripleH and [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie]], who generally made life hell for them. Both eventually did win the company's top title in moments that would be considered iconic to their particular generation of fans. Both unfortunately had their careers CutShort because of the injuries they sustained in their career. Both would re-emerge a bit later in other roles to allow the WWE to continue taking advantage of their massive popularity. And for much of 2016 and 2017, the two were actually counterparts, with Foley the onscreen GM of Wrestling/WWERaw and Daniel Bryan occupying the same role on ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackdown Smackdown! Live]]''.

* FridgeBrilliance:
** Was the fans embracing Bryan following his 18-second Mania loss part of the WWE's plan all along?
** Judging from the fact that Smackdown tapings have been edited to eliminate his cheers and he had only become even more of a douche since then to counteract cheers, probably not.
** After the 18 second loss, Bryan made better connections to the audience and gained more support and demand from them. Sheamus, on the other hand, just seemed to be there in comparison with his importance to the overall story-lines, despite receiving more support from booking and management. Given the above fridge brilliance, Bryan's storyline with Orton and HHH over the WWE title seemed to be creative making an almost meta storyline out of how popular Daniel Bryan is with the audience despite management attempting to push an "ideal" champ instead.
** Nearly a half year using the move [[TookALevelInBadass (and a lot of uses of the move)]] and Daniel Bryan's running knee ''still'' doesn't have a [[NameOfPower name]] yet. Nearly all unique finishers have names - even the ones that belong to {{Jobbers}} that you have to [[AllThereInTheManual dig]] to find. That means it's probably very purposeful. Here are two possible reasons:
*** In storyline, WWE hasn't bothered assigning a name to Bryan's running knee as a subtle TakeThat and in trying to let him know that they don't feel like he belongs there.
*** '''Bryan''' hasn't picked a name for it himself as a way to make a point. The move itself is the definition of SimpleYetAwesome and a microcosm of Bryan's entire bearing. Bryan doesn't care about flash — he chooses moves that get the job done. And a knee forcefully applied to an opponent's skull, will usually get the job done. As of 3/10/14, he's finally given the move a name, "Knee +", a sarcastic jab at Stephanie grading him as a "B+".
* FridgeLogic: Shouting "NO! NO! NO!" after a victory doesn't quite sound right somehow.

* HarsherInHindsight: Shortly after being injured in 2015, Bryan had an interview where he revealed that he had pitched a match against ShinsukeNakamura as part of a WWE/NJPW cross-promotion, which never came to boot. In 2016, Bryan announced his retirement mere weeks before Nakamura formally signed his WWE contract.

** He sometimes has legimate HypeBacklash. He is constantly referred to by the IWC as being the greatest at everything in wrestling that can be done. While he is legitimately one of the most talented wrestlers around, the constant praise makes it simply impossible to live up the hype.

** "I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!" was swiftly adopted by the WWE fans after Bryan and Kane took to yelling this at one another following their tag team championship win.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The crowd alternating chants goes back at least to Wrestling/{{ECW}}'s "The Shah" Hack Myers, since fans would chant "Shah" when he hit a move[[note]][[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Michael McGillicutty took up that tradition during his time at ''NXT'' developmental[[/note]] and "Shit" when his opponent retaliated.

* ScheduleSlip: Justified. His Youtube channel and website have not been updated very much, but Bryan was too busy being in the main event. By the time he retired, he honestly forgot about it.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** And now we'll never see [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Desmond Wolfe vs. Lloyd Boner]].
** He once commented that he'd like to do a program with Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura. A pity The American Dragon vs The King of Strong Style won't happen due to unfortunate circumstances. Made even worse by Nakamura stating getting to wrestle Bryan had been a major reason he wanted to come to WWE in the first place, so it was as much a dream match for him as it was for Bryan.
** Nakamura's not the only well-renowned wrestler for whom wrestling Bryan would've been a dream match. Wrestling/KurtAngle, who just left TNA in early 2016, has said on numerous occasions he'd like to wrestle Bryan as well.
*** Matches with both Nakamura and Angle ''could'' still happen since Bryan's WWE in-ring career has restarted, so we live in hope...
** Apparently the two WWE ring names he had chosen for himself before WWE gave him Daniel Bryan were "Lloyd Bonaire" (which, as mentioned before, sounds a bit like the "Lloyd ''Boner''" he teased using in several other promotions) and Buddy Pea''cock.'' [[HehHehYouSaidX Which really does make you wonder a bit about]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar the guy's sense of humor.]]

* OneOfUs: Oh yeah, [[http://twitter.com/#!/WWEDanielBryan/status/87339196322295808 this]] is just a small sample of how nerdy Daniel Bryan truly is.

* PoisonOakEpilepticTrees: After his injury in 2015 but before his retirement, many fans took cues from reports indicating that doctors outside of WWE were giving him a clean bill of health but the WWE medics weren't as a sign of a conspiracy to keep Bryan out of the ring. The retirement speech in Seattle on ''Raw'' and interviews immediately in the aftermath in February 2016 changed the minds of many of these fans, especially when he talked about the lesion in his brain, seemingly justifying WWE's reluctance. However, a few months since then he's made some claims in interviews that have called the medical necessity of his retirement right back into question[[note]]Wrestling/VinceMcMahon called him and asked him to retire the day of the show and he and Brie realized at that point he indeed would never be cleared even if a million doctors told him yes, the test in New York that had unfavorable results did not adhere to the main recognized concussion testing standard, etc.[[/note]] and even remarked on the 8/23/16 edition of ''Talking Smack'' when questioned by Wrestling/TheMiz that "if they would let me come back, I would come back," almost stating out of hand that he was forced out. Given the fact that WWE is extremely concerned with playing it safe in every way that doesn't involve reducing the talent's touring schedule and thus would not be in any hurry to have someone get back in the ring after multiple concussions, other injuries, and missing most of the last couple years, as well as the fact that Wrestling/RomanReigns still struggles to be fully embraced by the wider fanbase after being clearly pushed to become "The Guy" over an increasing litany of seasoned talents including Bryan at the height of his popularity, they would have plenty of reason both altrustic and otherwise to hold Bryan back even if it was unnecessary.

* GrowingTheBeard: Since his "18 Seconds" at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} 28'', Bryan's gone on to have one of the longest tag team title reigns in recent memory, defeated Wrestling/TheShield, gave Wrestling/{{Ryback}} a run for his money, got the best of ''Wrestling/RandyOrton'' of all wrestlers in a street fight, and now he's main eventing ''Wrestling/{{SummerSlam}} facing Wrestling/JohnCena for the WWE Championship and Bryan's beard has never looked fuller...FridgeBrilliance is a funnily awesome thing, isn't it?

** He went from Europe's "The Final Countdown" to a really generic hard rock riff... to Creator/RichardWagner's '''"Music/RideOfTheValkyries"'''!

** And shortly after winning Money in the Bank, he had switched to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9ehcpw_DpE Freefall]] by TwoStepsFromHell.

** Nakamura's not the only well-renowned wrestler for whom wrestling Bryan would've been a dream match. Wrestling/KurtAngle, who just left TNA in early 2016, has said on numerous occasions he'd like to wrestle Bryan as well.

** Now that his in-ring career is done, you could argue that he's what Wrestling/MickFoley would have been if he'd been a technical wrestler as opposed to primarily a hardcore guy. Both were dismissed as non-prototypes by WWE brass because of their looks and pre-WWE backgrounds. On the other hand, they were both [[EnsembleDarkhorse insanely over with WWE fans because of their underdog appeal.]] For both, this was parlayed into storylines against Wrestling/TripleH and [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie]], who generally made life hell for them. Both eventually did win the company's top title in moments that would be considered iconic to their particular generation of fans. Both unfortunately had their careers CutShort because of the injuries they sustained in their career. Both would re-emerge a bit later in other roles to allow the WWE to continue taking advantage of their massive popularity. Presently, the two are actually counterparts, with Foley the onscreen GM of Wrestling/WWERaw and Daniel Bryan occupying the same role on ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackdown Smackdown! Live]]''.

** He's using "Ride of The Valkyries" again...but now it's '''''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R50LCqCr5_0 FUCKING METAL]]'''''.