Bryan Danielson

**Bryan Lloyd Danielson** (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Vegas Wrestling Roulette (VWR).

Danielson began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit, and signed an 18-month contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), in 2000; his contract was eventually bought out by Vegas Wrestling Roulette in May of 2001.

## 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

### VWR (2001 - Current)

Danielson was one of the first signings to VWR. In his debut with the company at The Big Bang, Danielson would face CM Punk in a losing effort. Quickly however Danielson would become a prominent fixture early on in VWR due to a rivalry in which Danielson challenged Sting to go 15 minutes with him in the ring, he would also wind up facing Lex Luger and forming a tag team with Curt Hennig. Together Hennig and Danielson would defeat Luger and Sting on Dynamite, and at Double or Nothing Danielson would last 20 minutes with Sting in an Iron Man match in which he managed to pick up two falls back-to-back against Sting despite ultimately losing. Danielson would quickly set his sights upon AJ Styles and his newly won VWR Television Championship. Danielson and Hennig would also become involved with Air Raid's other member Air Paris. Danielson would defeat Styles at HighNoon, going on to defend the title a total of 6 times. Danielson would tie with and then lose a subsequent rematch to Rey Misterio Jr. for the VWR Television Championship in October, marking the end of a near four month stretch of winning every week for Danielson. Despite being a heel, the crowd began to connect with Danielson thanks in part to his use of Europe's "The Final Countdown" as well as his tremendous in-ring abilities. Due to this on VWR Xplosion IX Danielson was awarded a title match against AJ Styles for the VWR National Championship, which he would go on to win. The event was held in his home state of Washington. Danielson has since defended the title once, and is currently in a rivalry with Ultimo Dragon.

## 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. At the beginning of his matches, the crowd chants "you're gonna get your f\*\*\*ing head kicked in" at his opponents.

## Personal Life

Danielson originally began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2002 under Wallid Ismail. In 2009.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ **As Bryan Danielson/American Dragon**
		- Bridging dragon suplex
		- *Busaiku Knee* (Running single leg high knee strike) – adopted from KENTA
		- *Cattle Mutilation* (Bridging double chickenwing)
		- Crossface chickenwing, sometimes with bodyscissors
		- Crucifix position followed by multiple elbow strikes to the side of the opponent's head
		- Double wristlock to a grounded opponent followed by multiple stomps to the opponent's chest, face, and head
		- Guillotine choke
		- Heel hook
		- *LeBell Lock* (Omoplata crossface)
		- Omoplata stepover hammerlock scissored armbar
		- *Regal-Plex* (Bridging leg hook belly-to-back suplex) – adopted from William Regal
		- Triangle choke, sometimes followed by multiple elbow strikes or stomps to the opponent's head
* **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

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Vegas Wrestling Roulette**
	+ VWR Television Championship (1 time)
	+ VWR National Championship (1 time)