20 Greatest Moments Of Daniel Bryan's Career

From the small halls all the way to the main event of WrestleMania, relive the best moments in Bryan's incredible career.

by Andrew Pollard

So, what really is there left to say? Daniel Bryan has retired... and it absolutely sucks. It sucked on Monday night and it still sucks, a few days removed. And sadly, it's going to keep sucking for a long, long time to come. Now whilst Bryan's retirement speech will have brought a tear to the eye of even the most cold hearted of wrestling fans, the American Dragon has certainly left his mark on the business, helped change it for the better, and has given us one hell of a career to reflect back on. Granted, it's pretty impossible to nail down just 20 of D-Bry's greatest career moments, and there's plenty of moments that could easily have made the cut here but ultimately didn't, but this article is aimed at highlighting the greatest part of the career of a man who transitioned from wrestling in parking lots to ultimately headlining WrestleMania. It's a remarkable, heartwarming journey, and it's one that we should all feel privileged to have been a part of. Whether you knew him as Bryan Danielson or Daniel Bryan, the Washington native is somebody who regularly reminded us why we're a wrestling fan in the first place. It's been a tough task, and I'm sure there'll be plenty of debate, but here, in this humble writer's opinion, are the 20 greatest moments of the career of Daniel Bryan.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.