Line #33 YMMV/BryanDanielson


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: Bryan once had a theme song called "Big Epic Thing." [[GagPenis No wonder all the ladies loved him]]...
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: His rather abrupt FaceHeelTurn at the end of 2021 left a lot of room for ambiguity, especially considering how starkly his actions after ''Full Gear'' in 2021 contrasted his actions before it.[[note]]This was reportedly because Wrestling/JonMoxley was originally slated to win the 2021 Eliminator Tournament, but [[SerendipityWritesThePlot his shot at the championship had to be given to Danielson after he dropped out of the tournament to check himself into rehab]]. Danielson's HeelFaceTurn may also have been originally intended for Moxley, given that in the weeks before his hiatus, Moxley began displaying a (even) more aggresive in-ring style, and began cutting promos implying that he was dissatisfied with the big-name signings like Danielson and CM Punk coming to the company once it became popular while he gave it a chance during its inception.[[/note]] Was Danielson ''always'' [[BitchInSheepsClothing an arrogant and sadistic bully hiding under a superficial veneer of niceness]], or did he just succumb to his worst impulses once the World Championship title was within his grasp? Did he originally challenge Wrestling/TheElite to end their reign of terror, or because [[EvilerThanThou he wanted their dominant position at the company for himself]]? Relatedly: did he pick his vicious feud with [[Wrestling/AdamPage "Hangman" Adam Page]] because he didn't believe that Hangman was worthy of the championship, or was he motivated by his former association with his [[TheRival arch-rival]] Wrestling/KennyOmega and determined to get RevengeByProxy?
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
4	** He went from Europe's "The Final Countdown" to a really generic hard rock riff... to Music/RichardWagner's '''"Music/RideOfTheValkyries"'''!
5	** And shortly after winning Money in the Bank, he had switched to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9ehcpw_DpE Freefall]] by Music/TwoStepsFromHell.
6	** This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ptrkmV8kM rap song]], "Yes! Yes! Yes!" is equally awesome.
7	** As to "The Final Countdown", here's how awesome it was. At ROH's "The Chicago Spectacular" in 2006, as a heel, he was scheduled to defend his world title against Homicide later that month. Homicide had a match against Brent Albright on that particular night, which ended when Albright locked a crowbar submission hold onto Homicide and would not release it even after Homicide grabbed the ropes. Albright was obviously not interested in winning the match so much as he was in injuring Homicide, but why? The reason was revealed very quickly: as Albright was walking to the back, Bryan walked out to meet him and, with a smug grin on his face, gave Albright a big handful of cash. This garnered him tremendous heat from an crowd that was already hostile to him, starting up a loud "FUCK YOU DRAGON!" chant. With that match over, the show moved on, until it was time for the main event: a steel cage match in which Bryan would defend his title against Homicide's friend Wrestling/SamoaJoe. As much as this crowd wanted to see Joe destroy him, as firmly against him as they were, they ''still'' sang along with "The Final Countdown" during his entrance. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku2mYBy83tE When Danielson reused the song at ''Forbidden Door'' in 2023]], the crowd '''erupted''' and, despite being a heel, he couldn't help but smile over coming out to the song again. It helps that Tony Khan paid for it to be used for Danielson again for just that event due to it being expensive to use frequently.
8	** He's using "Ride of The Valkyries" again...but now it's '''''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R50LCqCr5_0 FUCKING METAL]] YES! YES! YES!'''''.
9	** 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 -- while announcing his arrival at AEW in a BoastfulRap.
10	* 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.
11	* DracoInLeatherPants: To the point where Danielson could get loudly cheered and applauded for [[KickTheDog kicking the dog]].
12	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
13	** It seems like every time WWE tried to make him look like a joke, he gets more popular. Fire him for being too violent? Next PPV is bookended by chants of his name. Make him an undeserving champion? He gets a popular catchphrase. Make him lose in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania? He becomes the most beloved star of the following Raw, more so than hometown hero [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] and ''a returning Wrestling/BrockLesnar''.
14	** Really, if WWE was trying to get fans to hate him by turning him into an ArrogantKungFuGuy ManipulativeBastard Heel, then it backfired spectacularly as it had only made him even ''more'' popular than he already was. Casual fans preferred his Heel persona due to disliking the squeaky clean babyface persona from before, and [[SmartMark Smarks]] preferred his Heel persona due to his in-ring talent and a reminiscence of his Heel run in Wrestling/RingOfHonor. It really all came down to the fact that Danielson simply made a fantastic heel.
15	** During the anger management skits with Daniel Bryan and Kane, their fellow classmate Harold ended up getting quite the fanbase, especially when it was revealed that Harold was in fact indy wrestler Scorpio Sky.
16	** He puts HBK in the Yes Lock, the crowd is ''Completely on his side.''
17	** It seemed to have happened again. After Daniel Bryan was knocked down to the midcard to team with CM Punk to feud with the Wyatt family, audiences have been chanting either his {{Catchphrase}} or his name even when he is not in the ring.
18	** In Royal Rumble 2014, when the crowd realized Daniel Bryan wasn't in the rumble, all the excitement of the match fading was audible, which then culminated into outright booing and chanting for Daniel Bryan at any opportunity. Poor Sheamus's attempt at a Brogue chant was replaced with [=NOs=]. Batista's eventual victory got booed or replaced with the "NO!" chants. Hell '''Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio\|Jr}}''' of all people was booed for being number 30 and people cheered when he got ''eliminated''. That should tell you something.
19	** The Yes Movement pretty much sealed this trope in a can. Bryan went from being the runt of the WWE roster to getting a shot at the WWE World Heavyweoght Title, and winning.
20	** He showed up in Royal Rumble 2015...and was eliminated in an anti-climax before the show was even halfway done. You could feel all the heat drain from Wells Fargo Center the moment he went over that top rope. His departure started an outburst of anger and disappointment that became uglier and uglier with the abrupt elimination of other darkhorses like Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/DolphZiggler, and eventually culminated in the crowd booing [[Creator/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] when he came to congratulate [[spoiler: Wrestling/RomanReigns]] on his victory. Of all people to boo during that event, the fans went ahead and '''''booed. The. Rock.'''''
21	* EvilIsCool: He's an absolutely savage fighter who sees himself as the best wrestler in the world which is hard to deny given his track record of incredible matches since he's arrived in AEW.
22	* FanNickname:
23	** Because of his name in the WWE (it's easier to market people when their names have fewer syllables), many people had started calling him Daniel Bryan Danielson, D-Bry, or or "DBD," to avoid confusion.
24	** When he was first signed in WWE, speculation on what his WWE ring name would be led to to the creation of "Dirk Dickbutt".
25	** D Bryan Danielson
26	** During the short time in the independent circuit after being fired from WWE in 2010, he teased going to TNA and competing by the name of "Lloyd Boner". After the mere mention of TNA got quite a few boos from the crowd, he simply asked "What? You guys wouldn't want to see a match between Desmond Wolfe and Lloyd Boner?" The crowd responded with "Boner! Boner! Boner!" chants. Amusingly, in a 2012 interview, Bryan revealed that among a list of possible names he was given when starting in WWE, one of the names ''actually'' was "Lloyd Bon''aire''."
27	* FanPreferredCouple: Bryan/Brie? Bryan/Nikki? Bryan/Gail? Bryan/AJ? Forget all of those, the [[OneTruePairing OTP]] is Daniel Bryan/[[Wrestling/EC3 Derrick Bateman]].
28	* FridgeLogic: During his match with Wrestling/AJStyles at ''IWA Mid-South An IWA Homecoming'', 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.
29	* 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?
30	** On the one hand, he only got to hold the WWE Championship for a few minutes before it was ripped away from him by Triple H Pedigreeing him and Orton cashing in. On the other hand, the preceding match vs. John Cena was itself entirely clean without interference or distractions. The last guy to beat Cena that way? ''The Rock''.
31	* HarsherInHindsight:
32	** Shortly after being injured in 2015, Bryan had an interview where he revealed that he had pitched a match against Wrestling/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.
33	** In his official autobiography, Bryan talked about his WWE feud against ''Wrestling/CMPunk'' in one chapter and ended things by saying he would never say never but he had a feeling after Punk walked out of WWE that he and Punk would never face each other again. Many years later, this got seemingly subverted by Punk joining ''Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling'' where Bryan also worked, giving them the opportunity to work together once again. However, CM Punk's [[HostilityOnTheSet real life issues with Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and eventually Jack Perry]] ended up getting Punk suspended in 2022 and finally fired in 2023, with Punk and Bryan not being able to face each other in the ring during their short time together in the same company. And with Bryan officially saying he would no longer be an active full time performer in 2024, the likelihood of the two ever wrestling again goes down even further. So in retrospect, Bryan's statement about how he suspected he would never face Punk again ended up being a lot more prophetic than he possibly intended it to be. And the prospects of them sharing a ring again becomes even more dim in light of [[https://www.sescoops.com/news/bryan-danielson-was-reportedly-the-face-of-the-aew-disciplinary-commitee-that-terminated-cm-punk Bryan playing a sizable part in firing Punk when he was part of the disciplinary committee that reviewed Punk's case]].
34	* HilariousInHindsight:
35	** What was Bryan's first word when debuting on ''NXT''? Why it's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SJZoSMZ-A&t=1m5s "Yes."]]. Wrestling/TheMiz even tells him to "have a good catchphrase" in the same segment.
36	** In January 2012 he was presented with an award from PETA for being the "Most Animal Friendly Athlete" for his veganism. Within weeks, his on-screen character started throwing his veganism around in a smug manner during promos. In September 2012 he gave up veganism due to troubles finding food on the road. Another noteworthy fact is that he used to go fishing and hunting with his father before converting to a vegan diet.
37	** All those memes saying "Wrestling/TheWyattFamily? Hell yeah, more beards"? Downright hilarious with them feuding now. Threatened to cross into HarsherInHindsight with Bryan ''joining'' the Wyatts at the end of 2013, but was quickly made simply hilarious again after January 13, 2014.
38	* HollywoodHomely: DBD may not have the super defined bodies of a lot of his peers, but put him in any other circumstance and he'd be quite studly. On a meta-level, this also applies to his vanity [=WWE=] title made out of kayfabe eco-friendly materials, which looked really good.
39	* HoYay:
40	** He and his manly... so manly...oh, ''so'' manly NXT rookie, [[Wrestling/EC3 Derrick Bateman]]. So, so much.
41	** Also kind of with Kane, given their ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'' diner skit, when it sounded like they were having a simultaneous orgasm remembering beating up the other tag teams with chairs.
42	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: The "Loser Leaves WWE" match he had against Wrestling/RomanReigns in 2021. Everybody called that he would lose the match, but nobody thought it would actually result in him leaving the company in any long-term capacity, with most assuming it was just to give him a break from wrestling or allow him to transition into more of a backstage role. Then the news broke that Daniel Bryan's WWE contract had expired the same day with no renewal, and only then did people start taking the idea that he was a free agent seriously.
43	* LoveToHate: It remained to be seen how an EnsembleDarkhorse like Bryan could get over as a heel, but man, oh man, had his character turned into a ''bastard'' during his time as World Heavyweight Champion.
44	* MemeticMutation:
45	** The Final Countdown. It started as an ROH thing but has mutated into something far more. As late as 2014, Shane [=McLane=] making his U Know Pro debut with the Final Countdown as his entrance theme instantly got him boos and chants of "You're not Danielson!" (for reference, not only had Danielson not used Final Countdown in four years, [=McLane=] had been wrestling ''thirteen years'' before Danielson debuted ''anywhere'', that's how strong the association had become)
46	** After Danielson was fired from the 'E for choking Justin Roberts with his tie, he supposedly [[http://www.411mania.com/siteimages/deadliest%20warrior_56570.jpg gained a reputation for heinous tie-related violence]]. Made all the worse by WWE.com advertising ties for Father's Day shortly thereafter. Fans at his later indie appearances threw ties into the ring and asked him to autograph their ties, too.
47	** SUBMISSION WRESTLING.
48	** White Swan of SUBMISSION.
49	** From his Wrestling/RingOfHonor days: "You're gonna get your fucking head kicked in!" (Chanted to the tune of what is known in Australia as the "You're going home in the back of a divvy van!" chant)
50	** Indirectly responsible for "Is Wrestling/SamoaJoe gonna have to choke a bitch?"
51	** '''YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!''' Stemming from his run as World Heavyweight Champion.
52	*** This could be headed for AscendedMeme status, as WWE crowds are starting to adopt this as a chant not only in support for Bryan, but for EVERYTHING.
53	*** WWE also has officially [[http://www.wweshop.com/item/daniel-bryan-yes-authentic-t-shirt/NewUpcoming/01-16384 made]] a "YES! YES! YES!" shirt.
54	*** The chant has popped up at Wrestling/RingOfHonor shows, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0F5zP2159c high school sporting events]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ttEbPycDs Michigan State's celebration of their NCAA victory]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9WRmK-Wqyc Mexico vs. Nigeria soccer games]], and even [[http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/cf83a56879af54ad67cd95fbaaf488e828976241/c=0-0-640-854&r=183&c=0-0-180-238/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/02/18//1392755578000-SeahawksShoutout-to-DanielBryan.PNG being acknowledged by the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.]][[note]]Danielson lives a couple of hours away in Aberdeen, and is a huge Seahawks fan.[[/note]]
55	** [[Wrestling/TeamHellNo "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.
56	** [[SpellMyNameWithAThe THE]] Wrestling/{{Ryback}}.
57	** SO RIDICULOUSLY OVER!
58	** "...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\|Wrestler}}, 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.
59	** An image exists of Daniel Bryan with his face extremely close to Buddy Murphy, whilst staring at him and Buddy is looking away.
60	** In AEW, during one of Bryan's promos, Bryan makes a rather...unnerving face that's often used as a reaction image.
61	* [[AmericansHateTingle Mexicans Hate Bryan Danielson]]: Despite managing to get over nearly everywhere in the world, Danielson had particular trouble getting a reaction in Mexico, even after working with Wrestling/{{Konnan}}, who is to Mexico what Hulk Hogan is to Danielson's native land.
62	* {{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.
63	* NarmCharm:
64	** He is a LargeHam with some truly epic NarmCharm moments, such as declaring himself a "ONE MAN RIOT SQUAD!" in the build up to Final Battle 2006 ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGysGxgNr4I seen here]] at 1:59).
65	** His dancing with the Raw divas.
66	** YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! Even as a heel, Danielson is NarmCharm incarnate.
67	* NeverLiveItDown: Danielson was always a good wrestler, but from 2002-2005 his promo and speaking ability were...well, "lacking" is generous. He improved quite a lot as ROH Champion and afterward, but he seems incapable of escaping the label of "talented in the ring, but no personality," no matter how much [[LargeHam he has hammed it up since then]]. ''NXT'' tried its best to alter that perception. His feud with Wrestling/TheMiz was helping too, especially since the Miz is ''[[CatchPhrase awesome]]'' at promos. These days, however, no one questions his ability to cut a good promo or get a good reaction entirely on his charisma. Becoming an extremely LargeHam following his World Heavyweight Championship victory might have had something to do with it.
68	** More recently, Daniel Bryan has become strongly tied to his "YES!" catchphrase. Time will tell if he can shake that association off.
69	* OlderThanTheyThink:
70	** 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.
71	** Back in Wrestling/{{WCW}} in 1995, [[Wrestling/BrutusBeefcake the Zodiac (Brutus Beefcake)]] of the Wrestling/DungeonOfDoom spoke ''only'' in "YES! NO! YES! NO!".
72	** Whenever people think of wrestlers proudly declaring themselves the "best in the world" in the 2010s, either Chris Jericho or CM Punk will come to mind (in fact, Jericho and Punk feuded exactly for that reason, even though Jericho's catchphrase was actually about being the "best in the world ''at what I do''"). However, in ''Ring of Honor'' before then, Bryan Danielson was already declaring himself to be that, with the crowd even chanting "best in the world" during his matches.
73	* OneSceneWonder: Danielson's WWE Pay Per View experiences had been like this when he had just re-debuted; he wrestled in the first or second match on the card, but those matches usually winded up match of the night. Examples include Miz/Morrison/DBD at ''Hell in a Cell'', DBD/[=DiBiase=] at ''Survivor Series'', or DBD/Ziggler at ''Bragging Rights''.
74	** Given his former status in the mid-card, pretty much every wrestler he's fought since ''Night of Champions'' (Miz, Ziggler, etc) has had their "best match ever" in many people's eyes with Danielson.
75	* PanderingToTheBase:
76	** Bryan beating up Wrestling/MichaelCole was awesome not just because of the angle, but because there is significant overlap among WWE fans who hate Michael Cole and WWE fans who like Bryan Danielson. For that exact same reason, Cole goes over the top in heeling it up whenever he's announcing a Danielson match.
77	** The same is true, to a somewhat lesser extent, with his feud with Wrestling/TheMiz. Smarks actually tend to like Miz (as a rule, they're fans of charismatic heels)... but they didn't like the much less experienced Miz being made the NXT mentor for the man whom many consider the best wrestler in North America (for reference, Bryan was already wrestling while Miz was still a cast member on ''Series/TheRealWorld'').
78	** And of course, the build-up to his Summerslam 2013 match against John Cena ran on this, complete with him declaring about his new shirt to Cena: "This shirt is a parody of you, because I think that you are a parody of wrestling."
79	* ShockingElimination: On ''NXT'', especially after ending up in 1st place in the previous poll. He was removed from the competition due to him not being all in, as WWE management called it, along with Michael Tarver.
80	* SignatureScene: Oh where do we ''start''?
81	** Choking Justin Roberts with his tie that lead to his release before returning to [=SummerSlam=] months later.
82	** Him betraying the Wyatt Family on January 2014 on top of a Steel Cage.
83	** His 18 second [=WrestleMania=] XXVIII match against Sheamus that gave birth to the "YES!" chants.
84	** His [=WrestleMania=] XXX victory ending him with both Championship belts in his arms.
85	** His first retirement in 2016.
86	** Announcing that he has been cleared to return to the ring in 2018.
87	** Making his [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] debut at the end of ''All Out 2021''.
88	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Daniel Bryan isn't the WWE's most cherished worker, but he had enough PopularityPower to force major rewrites after the PR disaster that was the 2014 Royal Rumble. Even now, the WWE and their fanbase don't seem to see eye-to-eye on just how much D-Bry is worth, though his neck injury now provides some justification for the WWE's reluctance to rely on him.
89	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: 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.
90	* UnexpectedCharacter: Danielson's surprise AEW debut at the end of ''All Out 2021'' made him this. Everyone pretty much knew he was coming at ''some'' point, much like CM Punk's return it was an OpenSecret by that stage, but AEW swerved everyone by having Wrestling/AdamCole make his own shocking debut at the end of the show, which would have been surprise enough, only to bring out Danielson as well barely ''two minutes'' after Cole!
91	* UnintentionallySympathetic:
92	** The beginning of Bryan's WHC run. Yes, he is now a heel that has a high opinion of himself. Yes, that was a dick move using [[EnsembleDarkhorse AJ]] to take a hard bump from Wrestling/TheBigShow in a title match. However, it was a little hard to not root for him. Putting aside his admirable past work for a moment, his feud going into the 2012 Royal Rumble alone was "David v. 2 Goliaths" of Wrestling/MarkHenry and Wrestling/TheBigShow (who were also booked to NoSell most of Bryan's offense). In addition, he defended the title three times before the Rumble, coming out with somewhat clever methods to walk out with the title against the odds (though again, using A.J. to help in one of those matches was questionable at best).
93	** There's also the fact that Michael Cole, an unambiguous heel commentator (and ridiculously annoying one at that) still hated his guts.
94	** For that matter, even the other commentators other than Josh seemed to flop back and forth as to whether they support him or are against him. Josh for his part remained the face and while he doesn't outright question Bryan, he will often call the others out for their conflicting statements.
95	** His [=WrestleMania=] match against Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}. Despite everything which had happened up to then, entering into [=WrestleMania=] as champion as he had wanted, only to lose the title in 18 seconds after Sheamus takes advantage of distraction from his pre-match good luck kiss left a bad taste in the entire show.
96	*** This was taken to an entirely different level on the 4/2/12 RAW, where the Miami crowd, filled with leftover fans from the previous night's [=WrestleMania=], took over the show and spent the entire night chanting variations of "YES!" and "DANIEL BRYAN!"

Context YMMV / BryanDanielson