5 things you might not know about Daniel Bryan's WWE career

Before he became the General Manager of SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan was one of the most universally popular WWE Superstars of his generation.

Formerly known as “The American Dragon”, Bryan built up a cult following during his time on the independent scene and it didn’t take long for him to earn a new set of loyal supporters when he joined WWE in 2010.

He became a Grand Slam Champion during his time with the company, with his most memorable moment coming at WrestleMania XXX when he overcame The Authority to win the WWE Championship.

In this article, we take a look at five things you might not know about “The Leader of the Yes Movement” and his WWE career.

---

#5 His first televised WWE match was in 2003

Daniel Bryan fought Jamie Noble on Velocity

It’s been mentioned multiple times throughout the years on WWE programming, most notably during their rivalry in 2013, that Daniel Bryan lost a match to John Cena on an episode of Velocity in February 2003.

That match is often wrongly assumed to be Bryan’s first one on WWE television. However, his first televised match actually came a month earlier, also on Velocity, in a losing effort against Jamie Noble.

D-Bry, then going by the names American Dragon and Bryan Danielson, also appeared in multiple dark matches for WWE early on in his career, including one against Sean O’Haire before an episode of Sunday Night Heat in December 2002.

#4 He used to ‘bury’ people on YouTube

Daniel Bryan showed during his appearances on Talking Smack that he is one of the most entertaining talkers in WWE when he is given the freedom to say whatever he wants.

Back in 2011, shortly after Zack Ryder’s YouTube phenomenon had taken off and way before WWE was as up-to-speed with social media as it is now, Bryan created his own YouTube channel with the sole intention of “burying” people.

He joked during a two-minute introduction video (embedded above) on how he was going to bury the likes of William Regal, John Cena, and Roderick Strong, and he even encouraged fans to email him with suggestions of who he should bury next.

His YouTube channel still exists but it only has two other videos, both showing how to execute technical wrestling moves.

#3 He has never had a 5-star match

Daniel Bryan won the WWE title at WrestleMania XXX

Dave Meltzer’s star ratings in the Wrestling Observer often cause debate among wrestling fans, with some people taking the ratings a little too seriously and others appreciating that they are only the opinion of one person.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to note that Meltzer didn’t award a 5-star rating to a single match involving Daniel Bryan (even taking his pre-WWE days into account).

When you consider that Bryan won the newsletter’s Best Technical Wrestler award every year between 2005 and 2013, plus the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Decade award between 2000 and 2009, we find that a little surprising.

#2 He almost faced Sheamus at three WrestleManias

Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII

With the greatest of respect for Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, the rivalries that the two men had between 2011 and 2014 were hardly worthy of being featured at two WrestleManias, never mind three.

Only the biggest and best WWE feuds should be settled at multiple ‘Mania events, like Steve Austin vs The Rock and Triple H vs The Undertaker, and it’s fair to say that Bryan vs Sheamus was never going to reach those lofty heights.

However, had CM Punk not walked out in 2014 and fans not have turned against babyface Batista, Vince McMahon originally planned to have Bryan face Sheamus at WrestleMania XXX, meaning they would have gone one-on-one for the third time at ‘Mania (after WM27 and WM28).

Fortunately, Punk’s exit meant Triple H was without an opponent, while the fan reaction towards Batista forced WWE to alter the original WrestleMania XXX main event, so Bryan was called upon to fill both of those roles in New Orleans.

#1 He was disrespected by Ezekiel Jackson

William Regal was there to stand up for Daniel Bryan

Back in 2010, Daniel Bryan was still an NXT ‘rookie’ when he was getting ready to board a flight from San Jose to Phoenix for his first WrestleMania with WWE.

As he revealed in his 2015 autobiography "Yes! My Improbable Journey to the main event of WrestleMania", it was before this journey that Bryan felt “disrespected” for the one and only time in his WWE career.

Former Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson demanded an aisle seat on the plane from any of the NXT rookies. When Bryan said he was a rookie and had a seat by an aisle, Jackson said: “Not anymore you don’t… I’m taking it.”

When D-Bry refused, William Regal got involved and told an infuriated Jackson that Bryan “has more talent in his little finger than you do in your entire body”. Jackson then left and Bryan gave his aisle seat to somebody else.