Daniel Bryan

Bryan at the 2023 Royal Rumble

**Bryan Lloyd Danielson** (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler signed to WSC under the ring name *"The American Dragon"* **Daniel Bryan**. Bryan was originally active in WSC throughout 2020, and recently came back in 2023.

### First Appearances (2020)

Bryan made his WSC Debut when he competed in the 40-Man Battle Royal for a spot in the April 2020 Royal Rumble, but failed.

Bryan then showed up in the third Deadly Games Match along with Jon Moxley, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Ricochet, and champion The Fiend. Unfortunately, Moxley won. Bryan's final WSC match in his first run came when he entered the December 2020 Royal Rumble at #4, but got eliminated and sent into chairs by Fiend. It is unknown why Bryan never appeared until 2023, maybe due to a contract expiration.

### Return (2023-present)

After 3 years of inactivity, Bryan returned to WSC a the 2023 Royal Rumble at #25, however he got no eliminations and was eliminated by Joker Jon Moxley. A few months later, Nathan announces that Bryan will face against Randy Orton, Austin Theory, and Kenny Omega in a Fatal 4 Way match with the winner becoming the #1 Contender for the WSC World Hardcore Championship. By the end of the match, it looked like Theory was about to win and finally get a title opportunity after hitting the A-Town Down on Orton. Then Mick Foley was seen passing a chair to Theory to top it off. But when Theory turned around he was met with an RKO. Orton went for the pin and won the match, making him the #1 Contender for the WSC World Hardcore Championship from champion Cody Rhodes.

### Personal Life

On April 11, 2014, Danielson married fellow WSC wrestler Brie Bella, whom he had started dating nearly three years prior. On April 6, 2016, nearly two months after Danielson's retirement, Bella also semi-retired from wrestling in order to start a family with him. They have two children. They reside in Napa County, California, having previously lived in Phoenix, Arizona.

Danielson originally began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2002 under Wallid Ismail. In 2009, Danielson was living in Las Vegas, where he began training in MMA at Randy Couture's Xtreme Couture gym. He currently holds a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. He was also roommates with Xtreme Couture's head grappling trainer, Neil Melanson. Additionally, he previously lived with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida and fellow professional wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura while they trained at the NJPW Dojo in 2003.

Danielson became a vegan in 2009 after suffering from elevated liver enzymes and several staph infections. In 2012, he received PETA's Libby Award for Most Animal-Friendly Athlete. That same year, Mayor Micah Cawley of Yakima, Washington, declared January 13 "Daniel Bryan Day". Later that year, Danielson explained that he was no longer a vegan due to his inability to find sufficient vegan food while traveling with WWE. He also revealed that he had developed a soy intolerance and could not find enough non-soy vegan protein on the road, but was still maintaining a primarily vegan diet. In 2018, it was reported that he and his wife planned to raise their children as vegetarians. In 2022, he stated that he was "very much in favor of a plant-heavy diet" but does not "allow himself to stress too much if he feels like eating off-plan".

In response to fans on Twitter mistaking a part of his skin for a nicotine patch in 2011, Danielson clarified that he does not smoke and that the skin discoloration stems from his vitiligo. He is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks and was given control of the team's Twitter account for an hour-long Q&A in January 2015. He also donned Seahawks-themed wrestling attire at SummerSlam 2018. A self-described environmentalist and anti-consumerist, he has discussed feeling like a hypocrite for selling WWE merchandise, and endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein in the 2016 presidential election.