10 Worst First Days For WWE Champions

6. Daniel Bryan

Batista Injury
WWE.com

Only Daniel Bryan could make something so surprising to outsiders seem so completely logical when explained in context, and that's what happened when he revealed how little affection he had for memories of his iconic WrestleMania 30 victory compared to an evocative defeat five years later.

Comparing his contrasting emotions between New Orleans and New Jersey whilst speaking on My Mom's Basement, Bryan said;

“My favorite match in my WWE career is my match with Kofi at WrestleMania 35. It’s so special and such a cool moment. One of the things that I love is it’s Kofi winning at the end. WrestleMania 30, my shoulder is horrible, I hurt my neck, I have this horrible pain down my arm and I have to get up and do media the next morning. Everyone comes up to you and are like ‘congratulations.’ There’s a lot of responsibility. When I wrestled Kofi, everyone goes to Kofi and says congratulations to him. I get to have my moment with him and be like ‘Hey man, thanks. That was awesome.’ Then, I get to hug my wife and daughter and go home the next day. Kofi is the one who has to do media and deal with people congratulating him.”

Like one of his exceptional matches, this was sweet, smart and served as a reminder of just how demanding the industry can be.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett