20 Most Iconic WWE Wrestlers Of All Time

18. Daniel Bryan

Whether Daniel Bryan ever wrestles again, we'll have to wait and see. Either way, his impact on the WWE has been absolutely phenomenal. If Bryan's in-ring career is indeed over (which hopefully it's not), his 6-year stay in Vince McMahon's organisation saw him become one of the hottest performers of the past 15 years. What makes Daniel Bryan's story even more iconic is that it was never supposed to happen. With WWE management seemingly against pulling the trigger and giving Bryan the ball to run with, it was the connection with the fans that caused D-Bry to soar to the heights of a WrestleMania main event WWE Championship win, going through Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton on the same night in a move that was the biggest WWE underdog story of all time. Yes, Bryan is a master craftsman inside the ring, but it's his unique and magnetic connection to the fans that truly give the former American Dragon iconic status. Here's hoping there's plenty more years of Bryan's in-ring career to come.
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 dayjob, 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.