History Wrestling / BryanDanielson

'''[[RuleOfThree YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!]]'''

'''[[RunningGag YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!]]'''

'''[[OverlyLongGag YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!]]'''

** Wrestling/MichaelCole insisting he'd never had a date. However, since he's [[{{Jerkass}} Michael]] [[TheScrappy Cole]] and Bryan is WWE's current ChickMagnet, it's pretty much a given that he was [[TakeThat just being obnoxious.]]

* AntiClimax: At the aptly named ''ROH Hell Freezes Over'' 2006 event, the three way anything goes match between Danielson, [[Wrestling/NelsonErazo Homicide]] and Wrestling/RoderickStrong [[TooGoodToLast didn't last five minutes]]. Bryan now being champion of both FIP and ROH had an impact for sure, but the match itself was this trope.

** When Bryan signed with WWE in 2010, Wrestling/ZackSabreJr quickly took his place as the commonly recognized best technical wrestler in the world and wasn't above taking pot shots at Danielson in the meantime. When Bryan signed with AEW, he was quick to agree to a match with ZSJ at Forbidden Door 2022 before he was injured and had to be replaced by his BCC stablemate Claudio Castagnoli. When their match finally happened at WrestleDream 2023, Danielson came out victorious though not by submission as Sabre Jr was quick to point out. When they had their rematch at NJPW New Beginning 2024, Sabre Jr won though again by pinfall not submission.

* BeardOfSorrow: During his first ROH feud with Homicide, he grew his Hobo Beard. During this time, he also came to the ring to a remix of [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic The Imperial March]].

** Again after getting the attention of Wrestling/JohnCena and having the latter pick him as his Wrestling/SummerSlam opponent for the WWE title. It got him mired in a strange feud with Vince [=McMahon=], who [[RealitySubtext doesn't seem to like the idea of a guy with Bryan's image carrying the company's top belt]], and also with Wrestling/WadeBarrett and Brad Maddox, who seems to have been brought on as Vince's enforcer and stooge, respectively.\\

* BreakupBreakout: Wrestling/WadeBarrett has done well, but his push was derailed due to injury. As of now, Bryan is the only member of the original Nexus lineup (Bryan, Barrett, Slater, Gabriel, Otunga, Sheffield, Young) to win a world title. Most of the others are floundering around in the midcard or are {{Jobber}}s. Except for Skip in a way who been repackaged as Wrestling/{{Ryback}}.
** Considering his career now, being the first to be kicked out of Wrestling/TheNexus was probably the best thing to happen to Daniel Bryan's career.

** [[HilariousInHindsight Ironically]], as of 2014, he's married to Brie Bella in real life while Nikki was dating TheRival John Cena in real life. They even took a vacation together.

* ChickMagnet: Bryan once noted in an interview that he seemed to get paired or find attention from Divas in his storylines. This ranged from the time he danced with the Raw Divas in the ring (which was rumored to lead to a "ladies' man" gimmick), to have the Bellas accompanying him and having a competition to be "his first", having Gail Kim as his girlfriend, and the recent storyline with A.J. Lee. He joked that creative probably did the pairings because the idea of a Diva being with a [[HollywoodHomely "plain-looking"]] guy seemed amusing.

** While in the indies and ROH, he primarily used a submission hold called the Cattle Mutilation, but he's also known as [[UnfortunateImplications "Mr. Small Package"]] for his tendency to use small package pins to win matches.

* HeroicRROD: One could argue his string of injuries that led to his temporary retirement was this. A natural consequence of Bryan's increased visibility during his meteoric rise up the card (as it is for any WWE superstar who ascends to the main event scene) was that he had to fight bigger and stronger opponents in bigger matches more often. (This includes non-televised house shows, where fans typically pay money [[JustHereForGodzilla to get a glimpse of a popular superstar]]). Combine this with a naturally frenetic and [[DeathOrGloryAttack risky in-ring style]], and you could easily make the argument that his world title face run accelerated an already ticking time bomb. This was actually the crux of [[WorkedShoot that]] ''Talking Smack'' promo with TheMiz. On top of that, Bryan seems to have figured this out in character - and possibly out as well. His post-return heel run has seen him not only work safer (focusing more on the strikes and submissions in his offense) but employ hired muscle in Erick Rowan to take pressure off him in matches.

** Bryan had a storyline in 2011 where the Bella Twins were fawning over him. That storyline ended with Bryan rejecting the Bella's as he was already seeing Gail Kim. Fast forward to 2012, where he's with A.J. in storyline but, in RealLife, he's [[RomanceOnTheSet dating Brie Bella]]. One can imagine that they've shared a couple of jokes about the previous year's angle.

** The YES! chant usually is this to begin with, but when Bryan re-named his finisher as The Yes Lock, he punctuated it by yelling YES! in Kofi Kingston's face for a good thirty seconds, prompting Kofi to [[{{Corpsing}} corpse]] from the sheer ridiculousness.

** Has [[CharacterDevelopment largely lost this aspect of his character.]] [[RealitySubtext Part of this could be because he's no longer a strict vegan.]]

* CatchPhrase:
** "I have until five, ref!"
** "Best in the world!"

** During NXT, he (and people talking about him) were throwing around "You tap, or you snap!", a holdover from his time in the independent leagues.
*** However, since Wrestling/MichaelCole (repeatedly) got it wrong, it was dropped in short order.

* CelibateHero: [[TwinThreesomeFantasy The Bella Twins took a fancy to him]], and he turned them down. This was later revealed to be due to him already having a [[Wrestling/GailKim girlfriend.]]
--> '''Daniel''': Didn't you guys get enough of that last week? (referring to their now-famous triple kiss)
--> '''Brie and Nikki''': Uh, nooo.
** [[HilariousInHindsight Ironically]], as of 2014, he's married to Brie Bella in real life while Nikki was dating TheRival John Cena in real life. They even took a vacation together.

** Him spitting in Wrestling/JohnCena's face and [[CatchPhrase kicking his fucking head in]]. Wrestling/JohnCena's aura of invincibility was put to the test by his indy cred.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1vVmNJkKAw&t=1m44s&hd=1 This... this... THIS... is AMAZING. This is miraculous. This! is ART!]]
** [[http://youtu.be/Ta__kdPU7SU?t=6m40s YES!! I DID IT!! I'M 2-0 AGAINST BEARS!!]] [[CatchPhrase YES!! YES!! YES!!]]

** Got in a fan's face and engaging in HamToHamCombat. In a battle of CatchPhrase vs CrowdChant.

'''''[[{{CatchPhrase}} YES! YES! YES!!]].....[[RunningGagged NO! NO! NO!!]].....[[ThatManisDead FICKLE! FICKLE! FICKLE!!]]'''''

** Wrestling/EddieKingston held a deep resentment towards Bryan both for looking down on him when they were on the indies as well as his inability to defeat Danielson whenever they faced off. Bryan generally paid Eddie no mind - even coming to his aid on several occasions - until Kingston finally defeated Danielson in the 2023 Continental Classic which kicked the feud into another gear.

* AmicableExes: A non-romantic example between Bryan Danielson and WWE. Unlike a lot of the wrestlers who have left (or been fired from) WWE and have gone to other companies, Danielson claims he had a very hard time making the decision to leave after his contract expired, as while he wanted to do things he simply wouldn't be able to do if he stayed (e.g work in Japan), he genuinely believed WWE had treated him well and he loved working there, talking effusively about how close he was with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and how he still has an excellent relationship with the company. As a result, he's probably the only former WWE star to have signed with AEW who might ever be able to some day in turn leave AEW and return to WWE in good standing.

* SelfDeprecation:
** In WWE, he has referred to himself as the "anti-superstar," saying that his music is so generic and forgettable that even he can't recognize it[[note]]In 2010 he had a theme called "Rage" done by Jim Johnston[[/note]], and that he looks so shabby and is so un-stylish that he has to show his ID to WWE security to stop them from throwing him out of the building. This is also a bit of a [[BitingTheHandHumor knock at]] Wrestling/{{WWE}} management, for giving him a generic song and being so disorganized their employees don't know who he is. He then got the ''very'' identifiable "Ride of the Valkyries".

** Bryan's feud with Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada started off relatively cordially as both men just wanted to see who the better man was. It quickly became personal after Okada injured Bryan in back to back matches - first a broken arm then a broken orbital bone.