10 Reasons Why Daniel Bryan Belongs On WWE's Mount Rushmore

10. He Was Allowed To Honor His Independent Bookings After Returning At SummerSlam 2010

June 2010's debut of the Nexus was the peak of the faction, partially because Daniel Bryan choked out ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie. It simply wasn't what we had come to expect of WWE at this time, and thus, he was promptly fired.

So, what next for the former 'American Dragon'?

Back to the indies. His string of matches from June to October encompassed a who's who of top-level names from today's era of professional wrestling; Eddie Kingston, Aleister Black (then-Tommy End), Johnny Gargano, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong, Shingo Takagi, Jon Moxley, and, um, Savio Vega(?) all battled Bryan Danielson through this time.

There was just one problem with this: Daniel Bryan was signed back to a WWE contract, returning at SummerSlam 2010 alongside John Cena's Team WWE to battle the Nexus in that infamous main event. Per WWE's rules, surely this automatically cancelled the remainder of his independent bookings.

Vince McMahon and co. made an exception here, though. They knew how much of an asset Bryan was to them, and didn't want to squander any chances at getting him back. While holding WWE's United States Championship, Daniel Bryan ended his most recent indie run by defeating Shelton Benjamin on 1 October 2010 at a show for the New York-based Northeast Wrestling.