Ranking All 9 Former ROH World Champions Who Came To WWE

For well over a decade, Bryan Danielson had the reputation of being among the world's greatest wrestlers, having achieved a great deal of success across the independent scene but most notably in Ring of Honor. He is regarded as one of the "founding fathers" of the promotion when it started up in 2002, though it took him three years to finally win his premiere ROH World Championship.

But once he was in possession of that prestigious prize, it was virtually impossible for anyone to take it from him. For 16 months, Danielson held the title belt hostage and had some of the most exciting championship defences fans had ever seen. By 2009, the time had come for him to pass the torch to the up-and-coming athletes of the promotion and sign with WWE.

There was no telling how they would handle him at first, and the rechristened Daniel Bryan getting paired with The Miz was seen as a slap in the face to everything he had accomplished prior to that point. But Bryan took it in his stride, overcoming every obstacle in his way by winning a multitude of titles and headlining WrestleMania XXX, where he became the WWE World Heavyweight champion by tapping out Batista.

Who knows how much more he would have done had he not been forced to retire from in-ring competition in February 2016. However, his legacy lives on as he currently serves as the general manager on SmackDown Live.