8. Shawn Michaels Encourages Daniel Bryan To Embrace 'Small' Size
Being considered a 'small' man in the professional wrestling can be tough, even more so if one hopes to make a splash in what is typically referred to as the land of the giants, World Wrestling Entertainment. A lot of this mind-set stems from Vince McMahon's fascination with muscle bound stars in the 1980's, feeling his 'WWF Superstars' had to be larger than life, and could never look like every day people. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were the kind of wrestlers who started to change the way the then-WWF presented wrestling in the early-to-mid-90's. Suddenly, faster-paced action became the norm, and that was all because McMahon realised guys like Michaels and Hart were the way forward, despite their smaller size compared to stars such as Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior. Training Daniel Bryan during his formative entry into the wrestling business, HBK told Bryan he had to embrace his stature if he ever hoped to be successful. This is certainly something Bryan has done, using his superior in-ring skills and natural charisma to connect with the audience, but realising that he has to package himself differently to larger performers like John Cena or The Big Show.