Bryan Danielson

Danielson in January 2024

###

Aberdeen, Washington, United States

**Bryan Lloyd Danielson** (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time in WWE where he worked from 2009 to 2021 under the ring name **Daniel Bryan**.

Danielson began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit, and signed an 18-month contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), in 2000; he later went on to make uncontracted appearances in WWE until 2003. He joined the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion in 2002, wrestling in the main event of the promotion's first event, The Era of Honor Begins. Considered a mainstay of ROH, he stayed with the company until 2009 and, during his career, won the ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship once each and was the inaugural winner of the annual Survival of the Fittest tournament. Due to his contributions to ROH, he was part of the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022. Danielson also wrestled extensively in Japan, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (with Curry Man) in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

In 2009, Danielson again signed with WWE, but was fired for three months in 2010. Upon his return, he went onto win the WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship once, and the United States and Intercontinental Championships once each. Danielson also won the WWE Tag Team Championship as part of Team Hell No (with Kane) and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Erick Redbeard), thereby becoming a Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion. He also won the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2011, won Superstar of the Year at the 2013 Slammy Awards, and headlined several major WWE pay-per-view events, including their flagship event, WrestleMania, in 2014 and 2021.

Danielson retired from wrestling in 2016 due to injuries arising from multiple concussions, which led to seizures and a brain lesion. He then began taking on non-wrestling roles until 2018, when he was unexpectedly cleared by doctors to return to in-ring competition. After his WWE contract expired in May 2021, Danielson signed with AEW, debuting in September that year.

## Early life

Danielson was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington, to a father who was a logger and a therapist mother, who divorced when Danielson was young. Danielson has an older sister, named Billie Sue. He competed in various sports at Aberdeen-Weatherwax High School including football.

## Professional wrestling career

### Japan and Dragon Gate USA (2001–2004, 2009–2010)

Danielson first toured Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) with Lance Cade, a fellow trainee from the TWA, competing in several tag team matches. He returned to Japan after his release from the WWF, competing in Japan's premier promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he used his American Dragon persona, and donned a red, white, and blue mask reminiscent of a dragon. As a part of the junior heavyweight division, Danielson had success in both singles and tag team competition in the company, winning (without wearing a mask) the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Curry Man on March 12, 2004.

In September 2009, it was announced Danielson would compete in Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) in their second show, which saw him lose to Open the Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi. While Danielson continued on undefeated in EVOLVE in the following day by returning to Dragon Gate USA, and submitted SHINGO in the dark match main event *Return of the Dragon*. After the match, Danielson joined BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi, and PAC as the fifth member of the stable World–1. On September 25, Danielson returned to Dragon Gate USA (despite being signed with WWE) and defeated YAMATO in the main event of the evening. The following day, Danielson defeated Jon Moxley.

### Return to NJPW (2023–Present)

On June 6, 2023 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Danielson made his return to NJPW for the first time since 2004 in a pre-taped vignette, challenging Kazuchika Okada to a match at Forbidden Door which Okada later accepted at a press conference. At Forbidden Door on June 25, Danielson would defeat Okada via submission, despite suffering a legitimate broken arm following a flying elbow from Okada. On November 4, at Power Struggle, Danielson made another appearance in a pre-taped vignette and challenged Okada to a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom 18 which Okada accepted. On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Danielson was defeated by Okada. After the match both men bowed to one another, showing their mutual respect. The following day, at *New Year Dash*, Danielson, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii faced TMDK in a losing effort. Afterwards, Danielson was challenged by Zack Sabre Jr. to a rematch, after Danielson had previously defeated him at AEW's WrestleDream on October 1, 2023, by knockout blow, leading Sabre to maintain that Danielson was unable to tap him out and he was the best technical wrestler in the world.

## Professional wrestling style, persona and reception

Danielson spent the majority of his career without an overt character in favor of becoming popular with the fans through his monikers, signature mannerisms, and wrestling ability. His attire has varied, as well, with the majority of his tenure wearing a pair of short trunks, but also ventured into wearing a mask for a time in Japan as an extension of his "American Dragon" persona. He has cited a number of international wrestlers as influences to his style, including Japanese wrestlers Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa and English wrestler William Regal. He has also made mention of modeling his wrestling on that of American wrestler Dean Malenko and Canadian wrestler Chris Benoit in his early career, before using Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a platform to develop his own style.

Some notable parts of Danielson's persona are his mannerisms and the reactions he inspires from the crowd during the course of his matches, which include, his theme song begins with the original version of the main theme from "Ride of the Valkyries" before going into a hip-hop variation. At the beginning of his matches, the crowd chants "you're gonna get your f\*\*\*ing head kicked in" at his opponents.

After winning WWE's World Heavyweight Championship in December 2011, he began shouting "Yes!" repeatedly on his way to the ring and after defeating an opponent, crediting mixed martial artist fighter Diego Sanchez with the inspiration. This chant grew in popularity and has become his main catchphrase, being heard outside of WWE at events such as MLB, NHL, and NBA games. After turning into a villainous character at the start of 2012, he slowly turned against the fans; after WrestleMania XXVIII in April, he began chanting "No!" in opposition to"Yes!" instead, claiming that the fans were mocking him by chanting "Yes!" so he chanted "No!" back at them, but this then further encouraged the crowd to chant "Yes!" to annoy him as he was a villain at the time. Shortly after turning back into a heroic character, he began chanting "Yes!" again, but would still shout "No!" when in a negative situation or showing disdain towards a critique, which also involved crowd participation. This led into the chant entering in popular culture in late 2013 and early 2014, in what it was named the *Yes! Movement*, with the chant being replicated by many famous personalities with one of the times used turning into a viral and drewing extensive coverage on ESPN's *SportsCenter*. One contributor to Yahoo! Sports speculated that this event and the associated media coverage led WWE to prematurely end his short-lived villainous run as a member of The Wyatt Family. The chant led on several occasions, fans to successfully hijack segments when a person was either not involved or involved only secondarily, with one of the few notable examples being the audience hijacking a Raw show at the time to help Bryan achieving his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania XXX, in what it was one of the biggest moments of his career.

After leaving WWE in May 2021, Bryan and WWE producer Kevin Dunn had conversion regarding the "Yes!" and "No!" chants and his theme song, with Dunne appealing Bryan to not use them since the both his "Yes!" and "No!" chants and his theme song, were part of WWE's intellectual property. Instead, Bryan to not infringe WWE's intellectual property, Bryan agreed to go back to his ROH/Independent gimmick, *The American Dragon*, with him; despite not being able to use the "Yes!" and "No!" chants, he would instead guide the audience into doing the chants, without him mencioning the chant. Between his AEW debut at AEW's All Out 2021 pay-per-view, Bryan initially pretended to use his ROH/Independent Circuit song "The Final Countdown" by the Sweedish band Europe; however, due to both parts being unable to reach an agreement over the aquirement of the license of the song, Bryan instead asked an old friend of his, Eliott Taylor, who is a music artist and composer, to do his theme song, with the song being based in Bryan's original theme song the "Ride of the Valkyries" with a hip-hop variation, with his song including one of his popular ROH/Independent catchphrase "You're gonna get your f\*\*\*ing head kicked in!" repeatedly (albeit censored), with the song being name "Born for Greatness".

In the end of 2021, after turning heel, Bryan began having a more agressive and viscious attitude inside the ring with winning most matches by either knockout or submission, with him mostly using repeated stomps to a grounded opponent or by winning the matches after his *LeBell Lock* finishing maneuver or by a Triangle choke or a Chickenwing Crossface and sometime often bleeding hard. This agressive and viscious attitude led to the creation of Blackpool Combat Club along with fellow AEW and then-WWE co-worker Jon Moxley and former WWE personality William Regal, with the stable's on-going popularity and the later additions of Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli, leding to Bryan turning into a more heoreic character. Ever since, Danielson has been known to emphasize his technical wrestling ability and his like for gore and violence as part of his gimmick, proclaiming to be the world's best technical wrestler and emphaize a lot on violence and blood. Bryan returned with his old theme music "The Final Countdown" by Europe on June 25, 2023 during his match with Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door, in a highly critically acclaimed match. After the event, in a press conference along with AEW President, Head of Creative and General Manager, Tony Khan, Danielson revealed that having the song for that night costed "zillion of dollars" and being the equivalent of a wrestler's contract, citing to be Tony Khan's idea to have the song for the event, which led to Danielson being happy due to the relation with the song and the crowd reaction. Khan also affirmed the idea, with Khan clarifying that the song would be on AEW's video library in perpetuity, and that he may acquire the rights for the song in another time, if he felt it would be the right occasion.

## Other media

Danielson was prominently featured in the *Wrestling Road Diaries* documentary, which was filmed in 2009 before he signed with WWE. In 2011, Danielson recorded a single with Kimya Dawson that was a tribute to wrestling legend "Captain" Lou Albano.

In 2013, Danielson recorded the voice for the character Daniel Bryrock in the animated film *The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!*, which was released on March 10, 2015.

On July 21, 2015, Danielson published an autobiography entitled *Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania*, was co-written by Craig Tello. Later that year, he was one of the judges on the sixth season of *Tough Enough*. After his relationship with Brie Bella became a regular feature on E! Network reality series *Total Divas*, he became part of the cast of the spin off series *Total Bellas*.

In May 2016, during his first retirement, Danielson competed in an Olympic weightlifting competition in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. He came in first place in his weight division, receiving a *katana* as his prize.

Danielson has been featured in 10 WWE video games under the Daniel Bryan name, starting with *WWE '12* in 2011 and most recently *WWE 2K Battlegrounds* in 2020. He was the alternate cover star of *WWE 2K14*, alongside The Rock. He made his first video game appearance under his real name in *WWE 2K19*, which featured a showcase story mode based on his career in WWE.

## Personal life

On April 11, 2014, Danielson married fellow WWE 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 October 2012, a social media campaign was started in an attempt to help Connor Michalek meet Danielson, his personal hero. Michalek was six years old at the time and suffered from cancer of the brain and spine. The campaign succeeded, with Danielson meeting Michalek in December 2012 and October 2013. After Michalek's death, he was posthumously awarded the Warrior Award by Danielson at the WWE 2015 Hall of Fame ceremony.

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 United State's presidential election.

Danielson described his WrestleMania XXX victories and his marriage shortly after as high points in his professional and personal life, but within two months he then experienced personal low points – the deaths of his father and Connor Michalek – followed by a professional low point of requiring surgery, which led him to retire between 2015 and 2018, when he was cleared to return to in-ring competition.

During a 2014 interview, Danielson stated that he cannot swim or go deep into water due to a ruptured ear drum he suffered in an unspecified 2007 Ring of Honor match against KENTA. Danielson has never had the ruptured ear drum fixed, and he claims he still has problems hearing in his left ear.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Busaiku he no Hizageri / Busaiku Knee* (Running single leg high knee strike) – adopted from KENTA
	+ *Cattle Mutilation* (Bridging double chickenwing)
	+ *Cobra Stretch* (Cobra clutch / crossface combination)
	+ Crossface chickenwing, sometimes with bodyscissors
	+ Crucifix position followed by multiple elbow strikes to the side of the opponent's head
	+ Double wrist-lock to a grounded opponent followed by multiple stomps to the opponent's chest, face, and/or head
	+ Guillotine choke
	+ Heel hook
	+ *LeBell Lock* (Omoplata crossface)
	+ Omoplata stepover hammerlock scissored armbar
	+ Triangle choke, sometimes followed by multiple elbow strikes or stomps to the opponent's head
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Airplane Spin* (Fireman's carry spin)
	+ Ankle lock
	+ Arm trap seated abdominal stretch
	+ Back-clinched double-arm-trap dragon sleeper
	+ Backflip off the top rope over a standing opponent followed by a crooked arm lariat
	+ Belly-to-back lift dropped into a single-leg pendulum backbreaker drop
	+ Cobra clutch to a facedown opponent
	+ Cobra twist – adopted from Antonio Inoki
	+ Diving headbutt
	+ Diving knee strike
	+ Diving pressing arm-breaker
	+ Dragon screw leg whip
	+ Dragon sleeper
	+ Drop toe-hold into the turnbuckles, sometimes followed by kicking the second rope into the opponent's throat
	+ *European Uppercut* (Forearm uppercut, sometimes in a diving variant)
	+ *Finlay Roll / Rolling Hills* (Rolling fireman's carry slam, mostly proceeded after an *Airplane Spin*) – adopted from Dave "Fit" Finlay
	+ High knee from the apron to the outside of the ring
	+ Indian deathlock
	+ Jumping knee drop
	+ *Kitchen Sink* (High-impact knee strike to the abdomen of a standing or running opponent)
	+ Knee strikes from a cravate hold
	+ Multiple elbow strike variations
		- Corner
		- Diving
		- *Rolling* (Discus)
		- Running
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Drop
			* Regular
			* Running corner
			* *Shotgun* (Front missile)
			* Single-leg missile
		- *Inazuma Leg Lariat* (Jumping running leg lariat)
		- Leg-feed enzuigiri
		- Repeated shoot to a kneeling opponent's chest followed by a roundhouse to the opponent's head, with theatrics
		- Roundhouse
		- Running big boot
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- *Backdrop* (High-angle belly-to-back)
		- Belly-to-back, sometimes from the top rope
		- Belly-to-belly
		- Bridging dragon – previously used as a finisher maneuver
		- *Butterfly* (Floating double-underhook front)
		- Capture
		- Cravate
		- *Danielson Special* (Double-underhook front floated over into a cross armbreaker) – innovated
		- Fisherman
		- *Full Hatch* (Snap double-underhook front)
		- German, sometimes with a bridge or deadlift
		- *Half-Hatch* (Snap single-underhook front)
		- Leg-trapped German
		- *Northern Lights* (Bridging over-the-shoulder belly-to-belly, sometimes in an arm-grip variant) – adopted from Hiroshi Hase
		- *Regal* (Bridging leg hook belly-to-back) – adopted from William Regal and previously used as a finisher maneuver
		- Regular
		- Slingshot
		- Snap
		- Super
		- *Tiger* (Bridging double chickenwing German)
	+ *Plancha Suicida* (Springboard crossbody press / plancha)
	+ Single leg Boston crab, sometimes with Danielson's knee wrenched into the opponent's spine or neck
	+ Sleeper hold
	+ Small package
	+ Springboard *Topé con Giro* (Somersault plancha)
	+ Surfboard, sometimes proceeded by a double-leg stomp to the opponent's knees, or while applying a dragon sleeper or a chinlock
	+ *Topé Suicida* / Suicide dive
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"(The) American Dragon"**
	+ **"The Best Wrestler in the World"**
	+ "The Master of the Small Package"
	+ **"The Submission Specialist"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "The Final Countdown" by Europe
	+ **"Born for Greatness"** by Eliott Taylor

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Elite Wrestling**
	+ AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament (2021)
	+ AEW Dynamite Awards (2 times)
		- Biggest Beatdown (2022) – 60 minute match vs. Hangman Page
		- Biggest Surprise (2022) – debut at All Out (shared with Adam Cole)
* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Curry Man
	+ Best of the American Super Juniors (2004)
* **Pro Wrestling Noah**
	+ GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Best Technical Wrestler (2005–2013)
	+ Most Outstanding Wrestler (2006–2010)
	+ Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Decade (2000–2009)

## References

1. ↑ How Daniel Bryan Became Wrestlemania's Hottest Star – Rolling Stone . *Rolling Stone*.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Daniel Bryan profile . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
3. ↑ Bryan Danielson . Gerweck. Retrieved on 2009-07-18.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dragon mask . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2009-06-09.
5. ↑ NJPW Hyper Battle tour results . Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
6. ↑ Dragon Gate USA announces Bryan Danielson and Davey Richards to début with DGUSA .
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Martin, Adam 2010-07-25. 7/24 Dragon Gate USA PPV taping in Philadelphia . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2010-09-11.
8. ↑ Fleeman Martinez, Luke 2010-09-26. 9/25 DGUSA results in Chicago: Bryan Danielson's next-to-last independent match, Street fight, top-notch wrestling matches . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2010-09-26.
9. ↑ Fleeman Martinez, Luke 2010-09-26. 9/26 DGUSA results in Milwaukee: Second detailed report on Bryan Danielson's final indep. match & post-match promo, Ricochet continues 2010 rise, traditional Dragon Gate six-man tag . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2010-09-27.
10. ↑ Murphy, Dan. "Report Cards of the Stars". *Pro Wrestling Illustrated* July 2008. 152.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Wilson, Kevin 2009-07-01. Bryan Danielson . Puroresu Central. Retrieved on 2009-07-06.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Bryan Danielson . Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved on 2009-07-25.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 Vetter, Chris 2007-12-18. DVD Review: ROH "Death Before Dishonor, N2" (8–11–07), w/ 8-man tag, Danielson-Quackenbush . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
14. ↑ Unified . Online World of Wrestling (2006-08-12). Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
15. ↑ Hubbard, Aaron 2009-10-06. What's All The Hubbub: ROH Undeniable . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
16. ↑ Bishop, Matt 2010-02-23. WWE NXT: Jericho, Bryan kick off series in style . *Slam! Sports*. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2010-02-24.
17. ↑ Seven . *Pro Wrestling Guerrilla*. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Caldwell, James 2010-05-03. Caldwell's WWE Raw results 5/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Wayne Brady guest-hosting, Cutting Edge with Randy Orton . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
19. ↑ Cupach, Michael. CUPACH'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 6/4: Alt. perspective review of Friday's episode, Reax to Christian heel turn . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-12-31.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Caldwell, James 2011-02-24. Caldwell's WWE Superstars report 2/24: Complete coverage of U.S. champ Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase, tag champions in action, 2/21/11 reveal replay . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04. “Bryan came back with a signature back flip, clothesline duck, and flying forearm smash to cut off DiBiase.”
21. ↑ Smackdown Results – 10/12/12 . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2012-10-29. “Bryan backflips over him, ducks a clothesline, and hits a running elbow to the chest.”
22. ↑ Trionfo, Richard. WWE RAW REPORT: TOO McMANY McMAHONS?; WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE NO LONG A HEYMAN 'CLIENT'; MARK HENRY GIVES AN EMOTIONAL SPEECH; A SCARE FOR DANIEL BRYAN; IS STEPHANIE MCMAHON THE NEW KAREN JARRETT?; WHAT IF PEOPLE DON'T COME OUT DURING PROMO SEGMENTS, HOW WOULD WE GET MATCHES?; AND MORE . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2013-06-20.
23. ↑ Caldwell, James. CALDWELL'S NXT TV REPORT 2/23: Complete coverage of the NXT début show – Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-09-17.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Trionfo, Richard. WWE RAW REPORT: SHIELD VERSUS BIG RED BEARDED VIPER SERIES; TRIPLE H HAS A STRANGE NIGHT IN AND OUT OF THE RING; NEW MATCHES FOR PAYBACK AND CHANGES TO SOME ALREADY ANNOUNCED; A CHAMPION RETURNS; A SECRET ADMIRER REVEALED; AND MORE . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2013-10-22.
25. ↑ Namako, Jason. Smackdown Results – 10/5/12 . Wrestleview. Retrieved on 2012-10-29. “Bryan catches him with a drop toe hold that Del Rio face first off the middle turnbuckle.”
26. ↑ Cupach, Michael. CUPACH'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 10/26: Alt. perspective review of final HIAC PPV hype, tag champs in singles action . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2012-10-29. “Bryan gets a drop toehold on Sandow in the corner and then kicks the ropes up into his throat.”
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Trionfo, Richard. WWE RAW 1002 REPORT: WHICH MAN IN THE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH WOULD STAND TALL AT THE END?; REMEMBER YOUR KEYS WHEN YOU DRIVE A CONVERTIBLE; SAN ANTONIO APPRECIATES SHAWN MICHAELS, BUT DO LESNAR AND HEYMAN?; JERICHO TOUTS DOLPH ZIGGLER; A DIVA RETURNS TO THE RING . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2012-08-09. “Bryan with a drop toe hold that sends Cena into the turnbuckles and then Bryan kicks the ropes and he gets a near fall.”
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 Parks, Greg 2011-05-27. Parks' WWE SmackDown report 5/27: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including search for a new #1 contender to the World Title . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Vetter, Chris 2007-03-27. DVD Review: New Japan: "Best of Super Juniors," (4–16–04), with Danielson, Kazarian, Samoa Joe, X-Pac . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
30. ↑ Caldwell, James 2010-10-24. Caldwell's WWE Bragging Rights PPV results 10/24: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Orton vs. Barrett, Kane vs. Taker, Raw vs. Smackdown . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Caldwell, James 2011-02-14. Caldwell's WWE Raw results 2/14: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live Raw – big WrestleMania 27 announcement, Cena vs. Punk, final Chamber hype . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
32. ↑ Caldwell, James 2010-04-12. Caldwell's WWE NXT TV report 4/12: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of NXT on Syfy Week 8 . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
33. ↑ Martin, Todd 2011-02-14. Todd Martin's Rock is War TV Report for Feb 14 . *Figure 4 Weekly*. Retrieved on 2011-04-08.
34. ↑ Caldwell, James 2010-12-07. Caldwell's WWE NXT results 12/7: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of NXT Season 4, Week 1 – Season Premiere . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-04.
35. ↑ Ziegler, Jacob 2006-08-25. ROH – Ring of Homicide DVD Review . *411Mania*. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
36. ↑ "Daniel Bryan". *Wrestlingdata.com*. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
37. ↑ Watch the stunning turn of events that took place just moments after Daniel Bryan overcame Dean Ambrose . Youtube.com (2013-09-09). Retrieved on 2013-09-16.
38. ↑ Cupach, Michael. CUPACH'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 8/30: Alt. perspective review of Super Smackdown, Overall Show Reax . PW Torch. Retrieved on 2011-07-03.
39. ↑ Cupach, Michael 2013-05-03. CUPACH'S WWE SMACKDOWN BLOG 5/3: Thoughts on brewing Tag Title feud, The Teddy Long special(s), more! . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2013-09-28.
40. ↑ Clapp, John 2012-01-18. peta2 names Bryan "Most Animal Friendly Athlete" . WWE. Retrieved on 2012-01-18.
41. ↑ Castle, Al. "The Best in the World: Is this more than hype?" *Pro Wrestling Illustrated* February 2009. 50.
42. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `slam`
43. ↑ PuroresuMission R (Reborn, Return, Revolution) . Puroresumission.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-10.
44. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 27, 2014). "Jan 27 2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2013 Annual awards issue, best in the world in numerous categories, plus all the news in pro-wrestling and MMA over the past week and more". *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Campbell, California: 1–37. ISSN 1083-9593.