20 Greatest Moments Of Daniel Bryan's Career

by Andrew Pollard

1. WrestleMania XXX

Does it really get any better than this? A man dubbed too small to make it in the big leagues, a man deemed a B+ player by €˜the machine€™, an internet darling who had scratched and clawed for every ounce of success he€™d achieved all over the globe, a man not even meant to be anywhere near the WWE title picture. That man famously walked into WrestleMania XXX and got through WWE institutions Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton before ending the night as the WWE Champion. In terms of WrestleMania moments, Bryan€™s €˜Mania XXX win is right up there with the best of them. Seeing him finally being acknowledged as €˜the man€™, as the man standing tall as the Showcase of the Immortals came to a close, was a special moment. It was the culmination of a long journey, the realisation of a dream, and a middle finger to those who said that the American Dragon could never do it. After years of battling, this was Daniel Bryan€™s WrestleMania moment and the biggest and best moment of his illustrious, game-changing career. Whilst we can all dream of one such moment happening again for Bryan, that€™s sadly never going to happen. What we do have, though, is an iconic, legendary career from a man who never failed to deliver and who just simply wanted the chance to wrestle and to entertain, and for that we all salute Bryan Lloyd Danielson and the memories that he gave to so many of us. Agree with these moments as Daniel Bryan's best ones or do you have some others that stand out to you? Take to the comments to let us know.
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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.