In which the best wrestler of the year is permitted to leave the company midway through assembling the CV that earned him the honour.
Daniel Bryan's latter half of 2021 is perhaps likely to be pored over in greater detail by fans of the industry at large, but those exclusive to WWE were left with so many amazing memories from one of the best to ever do it. Airlifted in to save the WrestleMania main event (when it felt certain he was going to win the Royal Rumble in the first place) Bryan engaged in a ripper of a singles feud with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline either side of a triple threat main event at the 'Show Of Shows' that found him back where most thought he'd never be. Quality offerings against AJ Styles, Cesaro and Jey Uso didn't stray from the norm, but they didn't have to for a wrestler that established his "norm" as f*cking fantastic".
Typical of Bryan's wholly unique career and life, his last WWE match had a loser leaves stipulation that actually stuck. All logic pointed to him moving to Monday Night Raw, but the not-even-that-old dog had a brand spanking new trick left to play and brought Bryan Danielson back to pro wrestling in a roaring return.
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
