7 Moments That Will Define Daniel Bryan's WWE Career
Daniel Bryan's WWE career hangs in the balance, and here are the moments that define will define it.
Another week, another Daniel Bryan interview, another pang of hope mixed with despair and disappointment. Ever since winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania XXX, Bryan's career has hit something of a brick wall, as injury after injury after concussion after injury have put him out of action.
Bryan is one of the most recognisable current WWE performers, and as such tends to be at the front of any call for press and interviews, all of which inevitably lead to questions about his future. His responses have grown more and more optimistic over time. He says he is completely fine, and his doctors have echoed such thoughts.
WWE doctors are a little more apprehensive, however, and it seems more and more unlikely that we'll be seeing Goatface back on TV wrestling any time soon. The sad reality is that if he does return, the chances are that management won't have enough faith in his health to give him the big ball to run with once more.
Even so, Daniel Bryan's career in WWE is the stuff of legend, the story of someone who could but shouldn't but did nonetheless. Here are the seven moments that will define his career.
7. NXT And The Miz
Daniel Bryan's arrival on WWE TV didn't set the alarm bells of optimism ringing for fans of the 'American Dragon', Bryan Danielson. He made his debut on the new show called NXT, which was equal parts wrestling parts and reality show.
The best professional wrestler in the world going to be subject to challenges and tasks instead of wrestling, but his assigned pro continued the pessimism.
The Miz.
If Daniel Bryan has a polar opposite in modern professional wrestling, it is The Miz. Both individuals grew up wanting nothing more than to be wrestlers, but their paths to that life couldn't have been more different. Bryan went all over the world, wrestling in front of small crowds in gyms, only to get into a car and drive for hours to do much the same. This journey took a long time to say the least.
The Miz went on reality TV and espoused his love for the sport. He was a contestant on Tough Enough (runner up nonetheless), gaining a contract in the process. From here he went from host of SmackDown to nothing wrestler to tag team specialist to a quality singles run to the main event of WrestleMania.
The Miz took the modern WWE route, Bryan took the arduous one.
Yet here they were, stuck together in a new show, with the real life roles reversed. The talented veteran now the rookie, the cocky inexperienced performer the pro.
Not the most auspicious of starts.