Daniel Bryan Blu-Ray Review: 14 Interesting Observations
6. He Was Actually Signed To A WWE Developmental Deal In 2000
As mentioned earlier, Bryan's initial encounters with WWE came much earlier than his debut on NXT in 2010, and the interview segments on the Blu-ray detail this. He wrestled the try-out match with Shooter Schultz, Lance Cade, and Brian Kendrick in 2000, despite only having four months of wrestling training under his belt.
Initially they were told they would have 12 minutes for the match, but that was then cut to 6 minutes, including entrances. Bryan says that Shawn Michaels was livid about this and laughs about how, during the match, Cade chokeslammed him, which he now realises could have been seen as disrespectful given that it is one of The Undertaker's signature moves
Apparently Michaels was so adamant that 'his guys' should be signed to developmental deals at WWE that he only gave them two days before calling to threaten that he was going to take them to WCW developmental instead! The very next week, they all had WWE deals signed, sealed and delivered.
Bryan was sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling but was only there for about a year before it closed its doors. He then ended up wrestling a series of matches on Velocity in 2003 against the likes of Jamie Noble, Rico and...John Cena, wearing some fetching yellow trousers.