He Was Better Than Bryan Danielson... And Now He's Long Forgotten

Eli Cottonwood and Michael McGillicutty were the most infamous meme-fodder disasters. Cottonwood was asked to talk about moustaches. He said that a moustache was just a little bit of hair on the upper lip - that's just bum fluff, surely - before marvelling at his own moustache. He then said that one day he will have a moustache. Do you have a moustache or not, mate?

It didn't matter if he had a moustache or not. It didn't matter if he had Brock Lesnar's physique, Tully Blanchard's promo skills and Kenny Omega's athleticism after that. He was cooked. He had less chance of getting over than Austin Theory.

McGillicutty might have fared worse, somehow. In his career-ending moment, he didn't have to suffer 30 seconds of talking about a unicycle. He just had to say something generic about one day conquering WWE or something. Repeating the word "genesis" over and over again, he found himself in a phenomenally awkward loop.

Bryan wasn't much better, in truth. Thrown into some verbal spars with the Miz, Bryan was asked - told - to be a sports entertainer. He was told to be charismatic. In an absolutely incredible dose of justice and catharsis, he eventually got over as the best sports entertainer in the company. He married Brie Bella after they said he was too much of a geek to bed her in their wretched storyline.

He had to have a catchphrase in 2010, and his first effort wasn't great. He said to the Miz that, were they to meet in the ring, he'd either have to "tap or snap". Bryan looked timid and unsure of himself. As you would.

A more accurate and less SEO-tastic way to put the title is that, in one specific area, Alex Riley outclassed Bryan Danielson. Riley was unfathomably good at a challenge designed to humiliate him.

He debuted on the second season of the show, playing an obnoxious jock type - a gimmick that captured his athletic skill and brash personality. He had something immediately. He was a natural.

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