Daniel Bryan

Daniel Wyatt

In 2002, Bryan, under his real name **Bryan Danielson**, wrestled two matches for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) despite not being a contracted performer for the company. He was quickly defeated by both Sean O'Haire and Little Guido in his two appearances. He went on to make four additional non-contracted appearances for WWE in 2003 on its secondary shows, *Velocity* and *Heat*, initially as enhancement talent before being allowed to compete in longer matches; he wrestled Jamie Noble at a *Velocity* taping in January, Rico at a *Heat* taping in February, John Cena at a *Velocity* taping also in February, and made his final appearance in November in a tag team match against Paul London and Spanky at a *Velocity* taping, in which he was partnered with John Walters. This was his final appearance for the promotion for over five years.

Danielson re-signed with WWE in August 2009. He made his debut on January 4, 2010 in a dark match prior to *Raw*, defeating Chavo Guerrero.

Bryan made his debut on the inaugural episode of *NXT* on February 23, losing by submission to then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and being attacked by his storyline mentor The Miz for disrespecting him earlier in the show. Over the next several weeks, Bryan failed to win a single match, but despite a record of 0–5 he was ranked first in the inaugural Pros' Poll on the March 30 episode of *NXT*. After losing five more matches on *NXT*, Bryan got his first victory on the May 10 episode of *Raw* by pinning Santino Marella in an eight-on-four handicap match. The following night on *NXT*, he was eliminated from the show along with Michael Tarver as neither man had confidence in themselves to win the competition. Despite his elimination, he appeared on the following episodes of *NXT*, being interviewed by Matt Striker and attacking both Michael Cole and The Miz.

On the May 31 episode of *Raw,* Bryan was granted a match against The Miz by guest host Ashton Kutcher, which he won and threw Miz into Cole at ringside after the match. On the June 7 episode of *Raw*, the faction known as The Nexus (NXT rookies from season one) invaded the WWE ring, attacking John Cena and causing destruction around the ringside area. On June 11, Bryan was fired from WWE for being too violent, strangling ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own neck tie. His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of the *NXT* rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared that Bryan would never return to the WWE again.

Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, where he was revealed as the surprise seventh member of Team WWE for the seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus, the other *NXT* season one competitors. At the event on August 15, Bryan was one of the two final members of Team WWE and managed to eliminate two members of The Nexus, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett after The Miz, whose place he took in Team WWE, attacked him. Despite this, Team WWE won the match. The following night, he was revealed as part of the Raw roster. Bryan feuded with The Miz, with both interfering in each other's matches and The Miz being aided by Alex Riley, his rookie from the second season of *NXT*. At Night of Champions on September 19, Bryan defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, his first championship in WWE.

Bryan then successfully defended the title two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell on October 3. On October 24, he went on to challenge then Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler to a champion vs. champion match at Bragging Rights as a special attraction SmackDown vs. Raw match, defeating Ziggler in a highly acclaimed match. On November 21, Bryan went on to successfully defend his title against Ted DiBiase at Survivor Series. Bryan returned to *NXT'*s season four as the Pro to rookie Derrick Bateman.

In late 2010, The Bella Twins began competing for Bryan's affection, leading to them supporting him at ringside and competing in mixed tag team matches together. On the January 24, 2011 episode of *Raw*, it was revealed that Bryan had been secretly dating Gail Kim, who began accompanying him to ringside. On the March 14 episode of *Raw*, Bryan lost the United States Championship to Sheamus, ending his reign at 176 days. Bryan was originally scheduled to have his rematch against Sheamus for the United States Championship on the main card at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, but the match was rescheduled as a dark lumberjack match that ended in a no contest when the lumberjacks fought among themselves to trigger the start of a battle royal, which he lost. Bryan lost his title rematch the next night on *Raw*, after which he was saved from Sheamus by the debuting Sin Cara.

On April 26, Bryan was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2011 supplemental draft. On the May 6 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan made his debut for the brand by losing to Sheamus. Cody Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper bag on his head. Bryan then aligned with Sin Cara to feud with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. On June 28, Bryan returned to NXT to manage Derrick Bateman once again.

On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match which earned him a World Heavyweight Championship match at any point within the following year. On the July 22 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan declared he would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at the following year's WrestleMania. After several months of losing matches, Bryan began a feud with then World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry on the November 4 episode of *SmackDown* after Henry challenged Bryan to a non-title match to prove that Bryan could not become champion. During the match, Big Show knocked out Henry, making Bryan lose by disqualification. As his friend, Big Show then urged a groggy Bryan to cash in his championship match, but Henry recovered and attacked both Bryan and Big Show before the match could start. Bryan suffered attacks from Henry the following two weeks. On the November 25 episode of *SmackDown*, Henry was knocked out again by Big Show, at which point Bryan cashed in his briefcase for a title match and quickly pinned Henry, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long revealed that Henry was not medically cleared to compete and voided the match, so Henry remained champion and the briefcase was returned to Bryan. Bryan later admitted he betrayed his principles by not waiting for WrestleMania, but explained he felt strongly about exacting revenge on Henry and realized he may not make it to WrestleMania due to Henry's continued attacks. Regardless of his briefcase, Bryan won a fatal four-way match on the same episode of *SmackDown* to become the contender for Henry's championship. On the live November 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Henry managed to pin Bryan to retain the title in a steel cage match. Also in November, Bryan started being involved in a romantic storyline with AJ.

Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs against Big Show, who had just defeated Henry and subsequently received a DDT onto a steel chair, which allowed Bryan to secure a pinfall victory and become the World Heavyweight Champion, thus making him also the first ever wrestler from NXT to win a WWE world championship. In the following weeks, tension was teased between Bryan and Big Show, with Big Show unhappy about Bryan taking the World Heavyweight Championship from him and Bryan being displeased about Big Show's lack of appreciation for Bryan's help in matches against Henry. As World Heavyweight Champion, Bryan turned into a villain as he gradually showed signs of overconfidence and arrogance, with Bryan beginning to partake in excessive victory celebrations, even when he won his matches by disqualification or countout. Despite AJ's declaration of love for him, Bryan avoided saying that he loved her in return.

In January 2012, Bryan successfully defended his title three times: the first occasion against Big Show when Bryan goaded Mark Henry into attacking him and causing a disqualification; the second occasion a no disqualification rematch with Big Show which ended abruptly after Big Show accidentally ran into AJ, hospitalizing her within the storyline for which Bryan blamed him; and the third occasion against Henry in a lumberjack match when Bryan provoked the lumberjacks to interfere and cause a no contest. This culminated in a triple threat steel cage match to exclude outside interference at the Royal Rumble on January 29, where Bryan escaped the cage after freeing himself from Big Show's grasp to retain the championship.

At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Bryan defeated Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali, Santino Marella and Wade Barrett in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Royal Rumble match winner Sheamus attacked Bryan and chose him as his WrestleMania opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship. In March, Bryan began to mistreat AJ, publicly demanding her to shut up and claiming that she always got in his way. Despite these actions, AJ continued to stand by Bryan. Bryan's reign as world champion ended at 105 days when Sheamus defeated him in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII due to Bryan being distracted with receiving a good luck kiss from AJ. On the following episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan blamed AJ for his world title loss and ended their relationship. Despite AJ's attempts to mend their relationship, Bryan cruelly rebuffed her multiple times, leaving AJ an emotional wreck. At Extreme Rules on April 29, Bryan failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a two-out-of-three falls match, losing two falls to one.

The next night on *Raw*, Bryan became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three minutes. Bryan received his title shot at Over the Limit on May 20 and suffered a controversial loss—when Bryan rolled back onto his shoulders as he applied the "Yes!" Lock, Punk tapped out immediately after the referee counted a pinfall win for Punk. Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair, leading to a three-way feud. During this time, a jilted AJ turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. On the June 1 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan's interference caused WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane to end in a double disqualification, resulting in a triple threat match being set up on June 17 at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On the June 25 episode of *Raw*, Bryan defeated Punk and Kane in a non-title three-way elimination match to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. At Money in the Bank on July 15, Bryan failed to capture the WWE Championship again from Punk in a no disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee. The following night on *Raw*, AJ accepted Bryan's marriage proposal. On *Raw 1000*, Bryan's storyline wedding ended in failure when AJ left Bryan at the altar and instead accepted Mr. McMahon's offer of the position of permanent Raw General Manager. Bryan's night turned from bad to worse as he was later attacked by The Rock and insulted by celebrity Charlie Sheen.

AJ's rejection of Bryan turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan lashing out at audiences. AJ continued to exact her revenge on Bryan by denying him a WWE Championship shot and instead forcing him to face Kane on August 19 at SummerSlam, where Bryan emerged victorious. As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby and they were later forced to "hug it out". At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant bickering and infighting even during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship on the September 10 episode of *Raw* and then defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the championship on September 16 at Night of Champions.

Bryan and Kane made their first successful title defense the following night on *Raw*, defeating the former champions in a rematch. The following week on *Raw*, "Team Hell No" was chosen as the official team name via a Twitter poll while Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) started a feud with Bryan and Kane, turning Bryan into a fan favorite once again. On October 28 at Hell in a Cell, Team Hell No lost to the Rhodes Scholars via disqualification, but retained their title. This was followed by a rematch on the November 14 *Main Event*, where Team Hell No defeated the Rhodes Scholars to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the November 26 episode of *Raw*, after Kane lost to WWE Champion CM Punk in a non-title match, he was assaulted by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) and Bryan and Ryback, who both attempted to save Kane, suffered a similar fate. This attack had the effect of uniting Bryan and Kane and after The Shield and Team Hell No, along with Ryback, attacked each other on the December 3 episode of *Raw*, all six men were decreed to face each other in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where The Shield was victorious after pinning Bryan. Team Hell No went on to defend the tag team titles through the end of the year, retaining against Team Rhodes Scholars on the following *Main Event* and against 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) on the December 31 episode of *Raw*. Bryan ended 2012 having wrestled the second most televised and pay-per-view matches that year with 90.

On January 27 at the 2013 Royal Rumble, Team Hell No retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars. During the Royal Rumble match, Bryan eliminated Kane and was in turn thrown out of the ring by Antonio Cesaro—Kane caught Bryan before he touched the floor and despite Bryan's begging dropped him to complete his elimination. On the February 4 episode of *Raw*, Bryan was inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender Elimination Chamber match when he defeated Rey Mysterio, after which the returning Mark Henry attacked both men. On February 17 at Elimination Chamber, Bryan was the first man eliminated from the match, courtesy of Henry. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston for another successful title defense. Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield the following night on *Raw* after saving The Undertaker from an ambush by them. On the April 22 episode of *Raw*, Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by The Shield in a six-man tag team match. The Shield went on to take out Undertaker and rack up wins over Bryan and Kane in both singles and tag matches that also included WWE Champion John Cena. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Bryan and Kane lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245 days.

As he being pinned led to the loss of the tag team titles, Bryan became obsessed about proving that he was not the weak link of Team Hell No and as a result became even more aggressive, but his overzealous behavior led to Team Hell No losing their rematch against Rollins and Reigns on the May 27 episode of *Raw*. When Kane tried to reassure Bryan, he replied with harsh rebukes that alienated Kane from him and as a result Bryan was paired with Randy Orton despite their poor relationship to face a common enemy in The Shield.

On the June 14 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan (with Kane and Orton as his tag team partners) ended The Shield's unpinned and unsubmitted streak in a televised six-man tag match by forcing Rollins to submit. On June 16 at Payback, Bryan and Orton's poor teamwork resulted in an unsuccessful challenge for Rollins and Reigns' WWE Tag Team Championship. The following night on *Raw*, while the status of Team Hell No was left up in the air after both members considered individual pursuits, Bryan and Orton faced off in a no disqualification match that Orton won via referee stoppage after Bryan suffered a legit nerve injury, which was a stinger resulting in Bryan being unable to feel both his arms for the rest of the match. On the June 21 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan defeated Orton, but to Bryan's dismay it was via countout. On the following *Raw*, Bryan decisively defeated Orton via submission in a street fight and later continued his hot streak by picking up wins over Sheamus and Christian. On July 14 at Money in the Bank, Bryan competed in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, during which Bryan was attacked by Curtis Axel, a non-participant, which ultimately prevented him from winning the match that was won by Orton.

On the July 15 episode of *Raw*, WWE Champion John Cena picked Bryan to be his opponent for the WWE title match at SummerSlam. This led to Bryan being embroiled (in storyline) in the McMahon family's internal feud, with WWE chairman Vince McMahon against Bryan due to Bryan's image not fitting of McMahon's vision of a typical WWE wrestler, while WWE chief operating officer Triple H was in support of Bryan. On the July 22 episode of *Raw*, Bryan ran a gauntlet match to prove his worth as number one contender, defeating Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro in succession while his third opponent Ryback was disqualified after performing a powerbomb on Bryan through a table. The following week on *Raw*, Bryan was forced to face Kane and emerged victorious, but Kane attacked him after the match. On August 18 at SummerSlam, Bryan defeated Cena to win his first WWE Championship, but after the match special referee Triple H performed his Pedigree finishing move on Bryan, leading to Randy Orton cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title from Bryan.

The next night on *Raw*, Triple H and the McMahons endorsed Orton as "the face of the WWE" while labelling Bryan a "B+ player" and forming The Authority faction, claiming that the company was looking for Orton as champion instead of Bryan, who also assumed the top babyface role (heroic character) in WWE with Cena being out injured. With Triple H threatening to fire anyone who disobeyed him, Bryan was left alone to take on and suffer attacks from Orton and The Shield. On September 15 at Night of Champions, Bryan defeated Orton to regain the WWE Championship, but he was stripped of the title the following night on *Raw* by Triple H after referee Scott Armstrong said he had made a fast count the previous night resulting in Bryan's win while Bryan denied that Armstrong was working for him. Armstrong was then kayfabe fired by The Authority while Bryan and Orton faced off again for the vacant title on October 6 at Battleground in a match that ended in a no contest after Big Show interfered and knocked out both men. Bryan once again challenged Orton for the vacant championship on October 27 at Hell in a Cell, but was unsuccessful after the special guest referee Shawn Michaels hit Bryan with a superkick for attacking his best friend Triple H. The following night on *Raw*, Bryan confronted Michaels, who offered a handshake, but Bryan put Michaels in the "Yes!" Lock.

Later that same night, Bryan was attacked by The Wyatt Family. Bryan then found an ally in former rival CM Punk, as the duo defeated Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family on November 24 at Survivor Series; however, the entire Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in a handicap match on December 15 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, with Bray Wyatt attempting to recruit Bryan in the previous weeks. On the final *Raw* of 2013, Bryan defeated Harper and then Rowan in a gauntlet match so that he could face Wyatt, whereupon Harper and Rowan interfered for a disqualification and beat him down. Bryan then acknowledged that no matter how many times the fans chanted "Yes!" or supported him, it was not enough for "the machine", so he gave up and decided to join The Wyatt Family. On the January 13 episode of *Raw*, after Wyatt and Bryan lost to The Usos in a tag team steel cage match; Wyatt was attempting to "punish" Bryan for their lack of success since he joined the group, but Bryan attacked him and the rest of The Wyatt Family. Afterwards Bryan discarded the blue overalls he had been wearing as a member of The Wyatt Family, scaled the cage and led the live audience in a "Yes!" chant. At the 2014 Royal Rumble on January 26, despite Bryan losing to Wyatt in a singles match and later not participating in the Royal Rumble match, the audience continued to chant for Bryan during the Royal Rumble match and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Cena and Orton.

On the January 27 episode of *Raw*, Bryan qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the eponymous pay-per-view by teaming up with John Cena and Sheamus to defeat The Shield via disqualification. Meanwhile, he also continued his feud with The Authority as Kane attacked him on multiple occasions, attempting to injure Bryan before his Elimination Chamber match on February 23, in which Bryan survived until he was one of the final two participants, but defending champion Randy Orton retained after Kane interfered in the match by attacking Bryan.

On the March 10 episode of *Raw*, Bryan and multiple fans occupied the ring (while WWE road crew members dressed in Bryan T-shirts posed as fans outside the ring) and refused to leave, resulting in an irate Triple H agreeing to Bryan's demand for a match at WrestleMania XXX, with the stipulation that the winner would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the event. At the event on April 6, Bryan defeated Triple H and was inserted into the title match, but Triple H attacked Bryan after their match. Despite a storyline injury and interference from The Authority and a crooked referee, Bryan prevailed over Batista and champion Randy Orton in the WrestleMania main event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

On the *Raw* following WrestleMania XXX, Triple H used his authority to grant himself a title match against Bryan, who was then attacked by Orton, Batista and Kane just before the match which ended in a no contest and Bryan's retention when The Shield interfered to chase away Bryan's adversaries. Stephanie McMahon enticed Kane to return to his masked self which Kane complied and was granted a future title match against Bryan and proceeded to carry out a brutal attack against Bryan which led to a scripted injury to give him time off to mourn his recently deceased father. At Extreme Rules on May 4, Bryan defeated Kane in an Extreme Rules match to retain his title.

At some point in time, Bryan lost all strength in his right arm and required neck surgery. On the May 12 episode of *Raw*, he was attacked by Kane and stretchered away that same night to justify his absence. On May 15, Bryan underwent successful neck surgery, with a cervical foraminotomy to decompress the nerve root having been performed. Two weeks later on *Raw*, when Bryan refused to relinquish his title Stephanie McMahon threatened to fire Bryan's wife Brie Bella, if Bryan did not give up his title on June 1 at Payback. The ultimatum resulted in Bella "quitting" WWE so that Bryan did not have to give up his title. However, when it was revealed that Bryan would not be able to compete at Money in the Bank and defend his title, The Authority stripped him of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the June 9 episode of *Raw*, ending Bryan's third reign at 64 days. Due to his injury, Bryan was largely off WWE TV during this period. Months after the neck surgery, Bryan's strength still had not returned to his arm. Many doctors felt a second surgery was needed, while others told Bryan he would not be able to return to wrestling.

On the November 24 episode of *Raw*, Bryan returned to WWE, taunting the recently deposed Authority. As guest general manager for that episode of *Raw* and the November 28 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan arranged punishments for those allied with The Authority. Apart from scheduling a chairs match between Kane and Ryback for TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Bryan also affirmed that he would return soon.

Bryan returned to the ring on the January 15, 2015 episode of *SmackDown*, with his opponent Kane being disqualified due to The Authority's interference and later that night Bryan won the six-man tag team main event. The next week on *SmackDown*, despite more interference by The Authority, Bryan defeated Kane in a no disqualification main event to keep his Royal Rumble match spot.

Bryan entered the 2015 Royal Rumble match at number 10, managing one elimination before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt in the first half of the match, causing the Philadelphia crowd to repeatedly chant for him during the second half of the match while booing other wrestlers entering the match, including eventual winner and fellow "good guy" Roman Reigns.

On the January 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan ended his feud with Kane by defeating him in a casket match. On the February 2 episode of *Raw*, Bryan defeated Seth Rollins, earning the right to face Roman Reigns at Fastlane, as the winner of the Fastlane match would challenge Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At Fastlane on February 22, Bryan lost to Reigns, failing to make his entry to WrestleMania main event.

After Fastlane, Bryan set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship for WrestleMania 31, where he was one of multiple wrestlers who came to possess champion Bad News Barrett's title belt while defeating Barrett in non-title matches. On the March 12 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan declared his entry into the multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 31.

Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 31 on March 29. This made him one of six wrestlers at the time to achieve WWE's new Grand Slam due to winning every active title in WWE (except for female-exclusive titles), while also making him WWE's 26th Triple Crown Champion  having won the WWE, World Heavyweight, Tag Team, United States and Intercontinental Championships. The next night on *Raw*, Bryan defeated Dolph Ziggler in his first successful title defense, before they were attacked by Barrett only for Sheamus to return and chase off Barrett before attacking Bryan and Ziggler. Bryan lost to Sheamus on the April 2 *SmackDown* by countout when Barrett interfered. During the match, Bryan split his forehead open on the broadcast table, causing him to bleed and later requiring stitches for the wound. On the April 16 episode of *SmackDown*, in his last in-ring match for nearly three years, Bryan teamed up with United States Champion John Cena to defeat WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd by submission.

Following the April 16 episode of *SmackDown*, WWE pulled Bryan from wrestling on the remainder of WWE's touring of Europe as a "precautionary measure". Bryan's scheduled title defense at Extreme Rules on April 26 against Bad News Barrett was later cancelled as Bryan was "medically unable to compete". Less than a week later, WWE stopped advertising Bryan from all future live events or television tapings. After about a month off television, Bryan returned on the May 11 episode of *Raw* to explain that after having undergone an MRI he would be out for an unknown period of time and could possibly have to retire (though the nature of his injuries were not revealed), therefore he relinquished the Intercontinental Championship. On the Elimination Chamber pre-show on May 31, Bryan stated that he would eventually wrestle again. In July, Bryan revealed that his injury was concussion-related and claimed that he had been cleared to return to the ring by external medical professionals and was waiting for WWE to clear him. During his time away, he trimmed his signature beard and cut his hair short.

On February 8, 2016, Bryan retired due to medical reasons. Later on that day's episode of *Raw*, broadcast from Bryan's home state of Washington, Bryan gave a retirement speech expressing his gratefulness for the happiness wrestling had brought him. During this period, WWE confirmed that Bryan would continue to appear for the company in a non in-ring role alongside his wife Brie Bella, who served as a WWE Ambassador following her retirement from in-ring competition on April 3 at WrestleMania 32. Recognized as a WWE Legend, Bryan co-hosted the WWE Network tournament Cruiserweight Classic alongside SmackDown commentator Mauro Ranallo in mid-2016.

With the inception of WWE's second brand split, Bryan was appointed by SmackDown General Manager on the July 18 episode of *Raw*. Along with SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon, Bryan played a vital role in the WWE draft. After SummerSlam on August 21, Bryan unveiled two new championships exclusive to the SmackDown brand: the SmackDown Women's Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. As part of his General Manager duties, Bryan co-hosted *Talking Smack* with Renee Young, a post-show interview segment on the WWE Network. The segment frequently became the site for heated altercations between Bryan and The Miz; Bryan openly expressed his disdain while Miz complained about being mistreated. The two continued to feud for the rest of the year, with Miz often running away from Bryan when a physical altercation was teased. These altercations were intertwined with Miz feuding over the Intercontinental championship with Dolph Ziggler. Following another verbal clash on *Miz TV* at the November 1 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan decided to trade Miz to Raw if he failed to regain the championship from Ziggler. Miz defeated Ziggler on the 900th episode of *SmackDown Live* on November 15 to become a six-time Intercontinental Champion.

On the October 11 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan and Shane challenged the Raw brand to three 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team matches at the event of the same name as a means to determine which brand was superior. On the October 17 episode of *Raw*, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and Raw General Manager Mick Foley accepted Bryan's challenge.

On the April 10 and April 11, 2017 episodes of *Raw* and *SmackDown*, Bryan was involved in the 2017 Superstar Shake-up in which brand's former champions Alexa Bliss, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Heath Slater and Rhyno were traded to Raw. Bryan later took time off from WWE television for paternity leave and returned on the June 20 episode, during which he stripped Carmella of her Money in the Bank briefcase and suspended James Ellsworth due to his interference in the match. On the August 1 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan appointed Shane McMahon as a guest referee for United States Champion AJ Styles's title defense against Kevin Owens at SummerSlam, thereby triggering a long-term feud between Owens and Shane that would ultimately also involve Bryan himself.

Bryan was again absent from television after being attacked by Kane on the October 30 episode of *Raw*. He returned on the November 14 episode of *SmackDown*.

After Survivor Series, Bryan became deeply involved in Shane McMahon's feud against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, favoring the latter two. On the November 21 episode of SmackDown, Shane was about to fire the two for attacking him during their Survivor Series interbrand elimination match against Team Raw, which SmackDown ultimately lost. To settle the dispute whether Owens and Zayn should be fired, the two were scheduled to wrestle Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at Clash of Champions with Owens's and Zayn's jobs on the line. During the match Shane and Bryan acted as guest referees and come to blows: after Shane intentionally stopped a count at two during a pinfall attempt by Zayn, while Bryan made a fast count to give Owens and Zayn the win. Over the following weeks, Bryan kept on favoring Owens and Zayn by giving them multiple opportunities at AJ Styles's WWE Championship, first in a handicap title match at the Royal Rumble and then by including Owens and Zayn among the five challengers at Fastlane. During the latter match, Shane broke up pinfall attempts by Owens and Zayn, resulting in a brutal attack by Owens and Zayn on the following SmackDown.

At that time, after more than two years of evaluations, reviews of his medical history and neurological and physical evaluations, Bryan was cleared by three external independent neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts to return to WWE in-ring competition on March 20. On that day's *SmackDown*, Bryan thanked fans for their constant support and vowed to wrestle again. In his role as General Manager, he (kayfabe) fired Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for attacking Shane McMahon the week before, resulting in Owens and Zayn attacking Bryan. In response, Bryan expressed regret over favoring them and scheduled a tag team match at WrestleMania 34 pitting himself and Shane against Owens and Zayn, with the latter being rehired if they win. At the event on April 8, Bryan and McMahon won after Bryan made Zayn submit in his first match since April 2015. As a result of being medically cleared, Bryan resigned as general manager.

Bryan participated in the Greatest Royal Rumble match at the namesake event as the first entrant, lasting for 76 minutes—the record for longest time in a Royal Rumble match—before being eliminated by Big Cass in the final three. Bryan defeated Big Cass at Backlash on May 6 and Money in the Bank on June 17. On the June 26 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan was aided by Kane in a post-match attack from The Bludgeon Brothers, thus reuniting Team Hell No. At Extreme Rules on July 15, Team Hell No lost a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match against The Bludgeon Brothers after Kane was attacked pre-match with Bryan having to compete in a handicap tag team match.

After months of goading and later avoiding Bryan—as well as getting involved in Team Hell No's feud with the Bludgeon Brothers—Bryan competed against long-time rival The Miz at SummerSlam on August 19, but lost due to an undetected use of brass knuckles. Following SummerSlam, Miz mocked Bryan by delivering a fake retirement speech and Bryan's wife Brie Bella returned as his partner. At Hell in a Cell on September 16, Bryan and Bella lost to Miz and Maryse after Maryse pinned Bella. At Super Show-Down on October 6, Bryan defeated Miz to earn a WWE Championship opportunity against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel on November 2. However, Bryan refused to work the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia and the storyline was altered so that their match took place on the October 30 episode of *SmackDown*, which Bryan lost. On the November 6 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan was named team captain of SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 18, but later had to share this role with The Miz.

On the November 13 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship for the fourth time following a low blow. After the match, he attacked Styles, turning heel in the process for the first time since October 2012. As a result of his title win, Bryan was removed from Team SmackDown at Survivor Series with Jeff Hardy taking his place on the team and he faced Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost. Two days later on *SmackDown*, Bryan explained his actions, stating that he was following his dreams and that the fans were not with him during his recovery to return to the ring. He then christened himself as "The New Daniel Bryan" and a rematch between Bryan and AJ Styles for the title was scheduled for TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where he successfully defended the title. At the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Bryan successfully retained his title against Styles once again, this time following interference from the returning Rowan. On the January 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan threw the standard title belt in a garbage can (bemoaning the fact it was made from leather) and introduced a new belt, made from "entirely sustainable materials".

Bryan was scheduled to defend his championship in an Elimination Chamber match. On the February 12 episode of *SmackDown*, the contestants competed in a gauntlet match to determine who would enter the match last, Bryan was eliminated by Kofi Kingston. At Elimination Chamber, Bryan successfully retained the title, last eliminating Kingston. At Fastlane, Bryan was originally scheduled to defend his championship against Kingston, but Mr. McMahon replaced Kingston; at the event Bryan successfully retained the title in a triple-threat match against Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali. After winning two back-to-back gauntlet matches, Kingston was finally granted the title match at WrestleMania 35. At the event on April 7, Bryan lost the title to Kingston ending his reign at 145 days. After WrestleMania, Bryan was briefly sidelined by an undisclosed injury, but was cleared to return to action on April 30. On May 6, Bryan competed on his first match on *Raw* since March 2015, where he lost to Kingston in a WrestleMania rematch, ending their feud.

On the May 7 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan and Rowan defeated The Usos for the vacant SmackDown Tag Team Championship, marking their first reign as a team and Rowan's second reign individually. At Money in the Bank, Bryan and Rowan faced off against the Usos in a non title match in a losing effort. At Stomping Grounds, Bryan and Rowan defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) to retain the tag titles. On July 14 at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Bryan and Rowan dropped the titles to The New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E) in a triple threat tag-team match, which also involved Heavy Machinery.

In August, Bryan and Rowan became involved in a storyline with Roman Reigns, as Reigns was being targeted for attacks by a mystery conspirator. Reigns suspected Rowan as his attacker due to seemingly incriminating video footage, but Bryan instead revealed that the attacker was merely a man who resembled Rowan. However, Rowan later turned on Bryan and revealed that he was the attacker the entire time, ending the alliance between the two. On the final episode of *SmackDown* on the USA Network on September 24, 2019, Bryan lost to Rowan in an impromptu match after a distraction by Luke Harper, before being saved by Reigns. Bryan then joined with Reigns to take down Harper and Rowan, thus setting up a tag team match at Hell in a Cell. At the event, Bryan and Reigns were victorious.

During the 2019 WWE Draft, Bryan was drafted to *Friday Night SmackDown*. On October 18 episode of *Friday Night SmackDown*, Bryan came to the aid of Reigns following an attack from King Corbin during his match with Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura hit Bryan with a running knee following a distraction by his accomplice Sami Zayn. This lead to a tag team match between the team of Reigns and Bryan and the team of Corbin and Nakamura; Reigns and Bryan proceeded to defeat Corbin and Nakamura in the match. On October 25 episode of *Friday Night SmackDown* Brian was interviewed by Michael Cole in which he was asked whether the *Yes! Movement* was back. Before Brian could answer, he was interrupted by Nakamura and Zayn who offered him to join their cause in saving the world rather than caring for the WWE Universe; Rather than say anything, Brian left the ring. On the 1 November edition of *SmackDown*, Bryan faced Adam Cole for the NXT Championship, but came up short when he lost cleanly to Cole. Backstage during the November 8 episode of *SmackDown*, as Zayn was trying to convince Bryan to join his faction, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared and attacked Bryan with the Mandible Claw. During a "Miz TV" segment the following week, Wyatt taunted Bryan by mocking the latter's former "Yes Movement" persona. In response, Bryan challenged Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series, which Bryan lost. On the following *SmackDown*, Wyatt challenged Bryan to another match that Bryan accepted. During Bryan's promo, Wyatt initially appeared on-screen via the *Firefly Fun House*, but after the lights went out, The Fiend appeared in the ring to attack Bryan, and ripped out his hair and beard. Bryan, sporting a clean shave and hair cut short, returned at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs to attack Wyatt. On the December 20 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan proclaimed that Wyatt had changed him and made him the man who clawed his way on to the top. Upon inviting Wyatt to the ring to change him, he was interrupted by The Miz, who emphasized that he'd take the thing that matters to Wyatt for terrorizing his family, and that's the Universal Championship. They were both interrupted by King Corbin and, subsequently, Dolph Ziggler, who attacked them. A main event match was then scheduled between both tag teams. The Miz and Bryan defeated Corbin and Ziggler in their tag team match. After the match, the maniacal laughter of the Fiend surrounded the arena. On the December 27 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan won a triple threat match (scheduled between him, The Miz and King Corbin) to determine the number one contender for Wyatt's Universal Championship via submission after multiple attempts to restart the match.

Following the Royal Rumble, Bryan began a feud with Drew Gulak, after Gulak claimed to have "found holes in Bryan's game". This led to a match between the two at Elimination Chamber, with Bryan emerging victorious. Later that week on *SmackDown*, Bryan showed respect to Gulak, and suggested teaming together. On the March 27 episode of *SmackDown*, after Gulak defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Bryan earned an Intercontinental Championship match against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 36. At the event, Bryan was unsuccessful as Zayn retained. On the April 17 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan defeated Cesaro to qualify for the 2020 Men's Money in the Bank Ladder match. At the Money in the Bank event on May 10, Bryan was unsuccessful as the match was won by Otis. On the May 15 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan defeated Drew Gulak in the quarter finals of a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. On the May 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan then defeated Sheamus in the semifinals, who replaced Bryan's scheduled opponent Jeff Hardy, who was arrested for crashing his car into Elias and who had won a battle royal to face Bryan. Bryan ultimately lost to AJ Styles in the finals on the June 12 episode of *SmackDown*. Bryan returned on the October 23 episode of *SmackDown*, as a guest on the *Kevin Owens Show*. Later in the night, Bryan teamed with Owens and The Street Profits in winning fashion against Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The following week, Bryan lost to Jey Uso in a Survivor Series qualifier match and was later attacked by Roman Reigns and the latter after the contest. This led to a rematch on the November 20 episode, which Bryan won. At TLC, Bryan teamed with Big E, Chad Gable and Otis in winning fashion when the team beat King Corbin, Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. On the following *SmackDown*, after defeating Jey Uso, Bryan declared himself for the 2021 Royal Rumble match. At the event, Bryan lasted nearly thirty minutes before getting eliminated by Seth Rollins. On the February 12 episode of *SmackDown*, Bryan saved Cesaro from an attack at the hands of Rollins. The duo later defeated the team of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to qualify for the men’s Elimination Chamber match with the winner facing WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. At Elimination Chamber, Bryan outlasted all five competitors to win the Elimination Chamber match. He would have his Universal Championship match immediately after against Roman Reigns, which he lost via submission. Bryan would subsequently request a rematch from Reigns, which he would receive at Fastlane on March 21, in a match where Edge was the special guest enforcer. In the main event of Fastlane, Bryan was defeated by Reigns after Edge attacked both men with a steel chair. Afterwards, it was announced that Bryan would again challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37, in a triple threat match also including Edge. At WrestleMania 37, Bryan failed to win the title after Reigns pinned both him and Edge. On April 30, he lost to Reigns in a championship versus career match, meaning that he became banished from *SmackDown*. On May 4, it was reported that his contract with WWE had expired.