Daniel Bryan

[Johnny Sorrow]

Team Hell No was the best thing to happen to him at the time. They were the best part of every show. It saved Bryan and revitalized Kane of all people.

[W2BTD]

Team Hell No was the best thing to happen to him at the time. They were the best part of every show. It saved Bryan and revitalized Kane of all people.

 

No point even debating this one, as we are miles apart. I have never been less interested in Bryan. He's someone I think might be the best of all time, yet during that period I had no interest in watching anything he was doing.

 

I still have issues with the whole beard thing and how he's presented & booked, but I can usually turn that stuff off in my brain and just enjoy the match (although the commentary makes it hard).

[Johnny Sorrow]

Wait, so you don't dig him exploding as an engaging character where he started out heel and was so great at it that it turned him good guy? AND you don't dig the awesome look? The awesome look that was a major part of him getting atomic over?

 

Wow, that's kooky, man.

[W2BTD]

Wait, so you don't dig him exploding as an engaging character where he started out heel and was so great at it that it turned him good guy? AND you don't dig the awesome look? The awesome look that was a major part of him getting atomic over?

 

Wow, that's kooky, man.

 

There was nothing engaging for me about the Team Hell No silliness. If you liked it, fine. As I said, we are miles apart here. I'm very prickly when it comes to comedy in my wrestling, and WWE style comedy almost never hits the mark for me. The Bryan/Kane stuff didn't work for me.

 

I greatly prefer indie era ass kicker Bryan Danielson to bearded circus freak presented as eternal underdog Daniel Bryan. His performances are good enough to overcome it, but his gimmick & the way he is booked is very unappealing to me.

[Shining Wiz]

 

Wait, so you don't dig him exploding as an engaging character where he started out heel and was so great at it that it turned him good guy? AND you don't dig the awesome look? The awesome look that was a major part of him getting atomic over?

Wow, that's kooky, man.

 

There was nothing engaging for me about the Team Hell No silliness. If you liked it, fine. As I said, we are miles apart here. I'm very prickly when it comes to comedy in my wrestling, and WWE style comedy almost never hits the mark for me. The Bryan/Kane stuff didn't work for me.

 

I greatly prefer indie era ass kicker Bryan Danielson to bearded circus freak presented as eternal underdog Daniel Bryan. His performances are good enough to overcome it, but his gimmick & the way he is booked is very unappealing to me.

The eternal underdog issue is a legit concern. It's what spoiled Mysterio in WWE for me. While I don't think Bryan reached that level of annoyance yet, he seemed on his way before he went out.

 

And while I fins Bryan the most naturally charismatic guy in WWE right now so I can stand watching him in a variety of situations, it is annoying that WWE has a epically, uniquely talented wrestler on their hands and can't figure out to build around him without making him a caricature. They could have broken their mould and tried something new, instead they did the same old thing.

[W2BTD]

 

 

Wait, so you don't dig him exploding as an engaging character where he started out heel and was so great at it that it turned him good guy? AND you don't dig the awesome look? The awesome look that was a major part of him getting atomic over?

Wow, that's kooky, man.

There was nothing engaging for me about the Team Hell No silliness. If you liked it, fine. As I said, we are miles apart here. I'm very prickly when it comes to comedy in my wrestling, and WWE style comedy almost never hits the mark for me. The Bryan/Kane stuff didn't work for me.

 

I greatly prefer indie era ass kicker Bryan Danielson to bearded circus freak presented as eternal underdog Daniel Bryan. His performances are good enough to overcome it, but his gimmick & the way he is booked is very unappealing to me.

The eternal underdog issue is a legit concern. It's what spoiled Mysterio in WWE for me. While I don't think Bryan reached that level of annoyance yet, he seemed on his way before he went out.

 

And while I fins Bryan the most naturally charismatic guy in WWE right now so I can stand watching him in a variety of situations, it is annoying that WWE has a epically, uniquely talented wrestler on their hands and can't figure out to build around him without making him a caricature. They could have broken their mould and tried something new, instead they did the same old thing.

 

 

Exactly.

 

They've also severely limited him and handcuffed him as a performer by presenting him in that manner. He's always fighting from underneath. He's always fighting the odds. The announcers are always telling you he has no chance. The announcers are always *shocked* when he wins. Enough. It's a bore, and he's way too talented to be pigeonholed into such a restrictive role.

 

I'd love to see him have a series of matches with somebody like Sheamus or Cesaro like he had with Morishima (getting MOTY contenders out of that tubby, useless blob should put you in the Top 25 alone). I'd like to see him in long main events that don't involve long periods of selling while JBL goes on and on about how he has no chance, only for the same mundane miracle comeback and "flying goat" remarks.

 

Watching Bryan in WWE is a lot like watching a great actor do Seasame Street. He's using about one one hundredth of his ability, but having a ton of fun and having the time of his life. But they've really dumbed down and marginalizing a great, great performer who they could be getting so much more out of. There is no doubt in my mind he could get over in other ways, but Vince has his mind made up that he's the underdog geek, so that's what he is. It's too bad so much of his prime has been wasted, and now his career could effectively be over (or at the least, he may never be the same, we just don't know).

 

And despite all of those things I hate about WWE Bryan, he was still the best guy on the roster for most of his time. One thing he proved in WWE, is his ability to do well in any situation, especially with his non wrestling stuff, which many thought would sink him. His big league charisma was a shocker. He connects with the live audience as well as anybody.

 

This sort of veered off topic, but to me Bryan's WWE run has just been frustrating in so many ways, despite how well he's performed.

[moazzam23]

He hasn't always been portrayed as an underdog in his WWE run. There's the heel run in 2012 and even in 2013-14 he's had a lot of matches where he goes on long stretches of offense - the Bray Wyatt match at Royal Rumble, TV matches with Randy Orton and at Summerslam where he was just going after Cena's arm and KO'd him decisively. There was a Rollins match on Smackdown in which Bryan just ran through his moveset and demolished Seth in like 7 minutes. Compared to most Cena or Rey matches, Bryan definitely tends to get more offense in.

[Jmare007]

Yeah, when he was doing the whole "weak link" angle he was destroying people, specially in tags. And in his heel run on SD! he was dominating a dude like the Big Show and making it seem believable.

 

He's been the super underdog for what? 6-7 months? (not counting his time off) That ain't that long.

[MJH]

Like Matt above, I feel Bryan's pretty far from Top 10 consideration; a lot of those ROH matches were messy-as-hell in terms of story and structure, etc. The accidental injury transition became almost a running joke, too. What his WWE run makes up for in coherency (in shorter matches, anyway - though I rarely had issue with Bryan's shorter matches to begin with), the predictable paint-by-numbers style obviously hurts. It's something he has no control over, but a weakness of the style is still a weakness.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, Bryan's pretty damn great, his strengths far out-number the positives, etc; and if I had to name a best wrestler post-00 he'd be one of the first names I'd think of (taking longevity into account anyway - I think Kobashi and some others have had runs where they were clearly better than Bryan). But it's like Matt said above, aside from Jerad's breakdown of Bryan/London from 03 (I believe against Bret/Nash KOTR94 and for the SC GOAT poll, incidentally), I can't recall of too many instances where people really cut into his work.

[NintendoLogic]

Team Hell No may have been great from a character standpoint, but it was still a bit disappointing to see Bryan dragged down by Kane and handcuffed by the WWE tag match formula. (Incidentally, Kane is my Exhibit A for why tag wrestling is easier than singles wrestling and warrants less consideration on lists like this.) I maintain that his best WWE match was his 2/3 falls match with Sheamus.

[Timbo Slice]

Bryan wasn't handcuffed by the tag formula. If anything, there was a stretch where he facilitated a change in how tag wrestling should be done in the WWE. Once The Shield got involved, he was the guy in tags in 6-mans that ended up shining, which gave way to Rollins and Goldust and a bunch of other guys having big moments in tag matches that took it out of the WWE norm at the time.

[NintendoLogic]

I haven't noticed any appreciable change in how tag matches are worked in WWE, only in the quality of the wrestlers participating in them.

[BillThompson]

Probably a bottom 100 guy for me. He does everything well, it's just that there are a bunch of guys I think do it better.

[Stiva]

I think I'm still in the afterglow of Bryan's run last year to truly evaluate it but I absolutely loved it. I completely understand the criticisms of his formulaic hot-tag but I look at things like the Cena match, the Extreme Rules match with Orton, the Raw gauntlet as a way that he still managed to show his diversity whilst operating under the WWE style. I'd have to go back and re-watch his matches with guys like DiBiase Jr. and The Miz in his early WWE career but for me, his ROH stuff as champ elevates him highly for me as him going out there with a bunch of guys I found completely uninteresting and his performances really getting me into it suggest he has a lot about him. I think he had a tendency to drift into matches that were too long for his own good and the Kamala match is a good example of him working matches that he shouldn't have. I also think that the Homicide cage match ending with that ridiculous airplane spin was a bad idea for a supposed blood feud. Nevertheless, he's a guy that I've seen work real blood feud type matches with the likes of Morishima and I've been completely amazed by his performances in matches like that. I'd agree with whoever said they'd like to see his FIP performances because I've seen none of them and 2005/06 Bryan working in front of a crowd of kids is something that I think could well put him over on a ton of lists.

[Loss]

Just because I don't think one has ever been done, could we get a mega matchlist of doom for this guy? Preferably divided into the following categories:

 

- American Dragon (matches under the mask)

- Indy run prior to becoming the ROH champ

- Indy run after becoming ROH champ

- International matches

- WWE run through 2012

- WWE run from 2013 to present

 

The guy is going to do well on my list, but I need a better concept of how to rank him in comparison to everyone else.

[Chess Knight]

Not that I should be the guy to attempt the whole thing, but I'm assuming you're asking for a match list that would be a decently complete look at this career, and not *all* matches that the person making the list thinks are full of necessarily good matches? An example of what I mean is that the Roddy Strong hour match from 06 is a pretty big match in Dragon's career, so I'd tell somebody who wants a big look at Danielson to check it out to get the complete picture. But I thought the match itself was total shit. I don't like Danielson from 2004 but I'd recommend people watch his stuff from there to get a look at 2004 Danielson, etc.

[Jimmy Redman]

Yeah, I'd be able to do the WWE part at least without trouble, but it depends if you're looking for just the best performances or an entire overview of his career.

[Loss]

I'm not looking for a full list of every match on tape, but I'm looking for a full list of everything he has ever done that is worth checking out and that was important to his career, even if it wasn't great necessarily. I want to see how he became what he is now, the specific points along the way that he showed the most improvement, that sort of thing. I did something similar for each of Flair's title reigns in his thread.

[stomperspc]

Just because I don't think one has ever been done, could we get a mega matchlist of doom for this guy? Preferably divided into the following categories:

 

- American Dragon (matches under the mask)

- Indy run prior to becoming the ROH champ

- Indy run after becoming ROH champ

- International matches

- WWE run through 2012

- WWE run from 2013 to present

 

The guy is going to do well on my list, but I need a better concept of how to rank him in comparison to everyone else.

 

I started working on something similar (with pretty much those same categories) a while ago. Let me finish it up and I'll post an extensive match lists (with links if they exist) in the next day or so.

[Jmare007]

Just because I don't think one has ever been done, could we get a mega matchlist of doom for this guy? Preferably divided into the following categories:

 

- American Dragon (matches under the mask)

- Indy run prior to becoming the ROH champ

- Indy run after becoming ROH champ

- International matches

- WWE run through 2012

- WWE run from 2013 to present

 

The guy is going to do well on my list, but I need a better concept of how to rank him in comparison to everyone else.

 

Not gonna attempt to do a big list as I'm sure stomperspc is gonna deliver a good one. But if I could add a couple of suggestions that may not be the most heralded heralded matches but they are entertaining as hell.

 

-Indy run after becoming ROH Champ:

 

vs Necro Butcher - Giant Size Annual #4 2007 (PWG)

vs El Generico - Giant Size Annual #4

 

with Roderick Strong vs Motor City Machine Guns - DDT4 2009 (PWG)

with Roderick Strong vs The Young Bucks - DDT4 2009 (if someone wants to see people beating the fuck out of the Bucks, watch this match)

vs Chris Hero - Guerre Sans Frontieres 2009

 

 

Team Uppercut vs Masters of 1000 holds - King Of Trios 2009 (Chikara)

Team Uppercut vs Team F.I.S.T. - King Of Trios 2009

with Claudio Castagnoli vs Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw - Hiding in Plain Sight 2009

 

 

vs Silas Young - Defining Moment 2009 (AAW)

 

 

vs Claudio Castagnoli - Northern Navigation 2008 (ROH)

vs El Generico - Proving Ground 2009

 

vs Munenori Sawa - EVOLVE 5

 

International matches:

 

vs Mike Quackenbush - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008 (wXw)

vs Chris Hero - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008

vs Bad Bones - 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008

 

vs Atsushi Aoki - 5/15/2008 (NOAH)

 

 

The 16 Carat Gold tournament from 08' is a must watch for this project imo. When he was at his peak of his "indy god" persona, Bryan went full heel and delivered amazing performances in front of the obnoxious german crowd.

[TravJ1979]

Here is Dragon/Spanky v. Board of Education from TWA. It's a cage match and I thought Dragon looked like a future star in it, albeit still green in his decisions.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwzUCD_bH4

 

Here is another link from his first Japan tour of FMW.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btpg0RLmSqo

[Loss]

Who was his partner in Team Uppercut?

[Jmare007]

Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor.

[stomperspc]

Here is my overly-comprehensive list. I bolded what I think are the best matches and and if you want to see the best, those are the ones to start with. I will probably write something up on a bunch of these matches because I think there is a good chance Bryan will be in my top 10.

 

*******************

 

The American Dragon: 1999 – 2001 (FMW, TWA, Memphis)

 

1. American Dragon & Lance Cade vs. Hisakatsu Oya & Mammoth Sasaki (FMW – TV – December 12, 1999)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btpg0RLmSqo

**Dragon’s match the day before this might be his first match to make tape, but this one is on YouTube. Good glimpse of how he looked just a little over two months after his in-ring debut.**

2. American Dragon vs. Spanky © for TWA Television Championship (Texas Wrestling Alliance – TV – January, 2000)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjNIpPOqwP0

3. American Dragon vs. Spanky in a 1^st Round MCW Light Heavyweight Tournament Match (Memphis Championship Wrestling – TV – June, 2000)

 

**Two short television matches versus Spanky. Dragon works as a high flying babyface in both.**

4. American Dragon vs. Derrick King (Memphis Championship Wrestling – TV – December, 2000)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWqyJGJIYnI

** Dragon works as a heel. A chance to see him working more Memphis-y rather than an indie showcase type of match early in his career.**

 

5. American Dragon vs. William Regal (Memphis Championship Wrestling – TV – May 5, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_9l8AgA__U

 

Early Indies: 2001 – 2002 (ECWA, JAPW, EPIC)

 

6. American Dragon vs. Spanky (ECWA – Super 8 Tournament, 1^st Round – February 24, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBGJd5nYBAg

7. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (ECWA – Super 8 Tournament, Finals – February 24, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq511_jQn9Y

8. American Dragon & Low Ki vs. Charlie & Russ Haas © for the ECWA Tag Team Championship (ECWA – Live Event – April 7, 2001)

 

**The tag match is too long and the Haas Brothers are not very good, but worthwhile to see Danielson work a long tag match at this stage in his career.**

 

9. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (ECWA – Live Event – July 21, 2001)

** Ricky Steamboat is the special guest referee. This is the first really excellent Danielson match. They work the mat the entire time with really high end stuff especially given the time period and location.**

 

10. American Dragon vs. Spanky (APW – 2001 King of the Indies, 1^st Round – October 26, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQfeNWFk4Y

11. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (APW – 2001 King of the Indies, Finals – October 27, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJVIjUWTdd8

 

12. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (JAPW – Live Event – June 7, 2002)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft3AssT5b60

**This is a submission match. Once again, really high quality mat work particularly when you consider the context.**

 

13. American Dragon & Spanky vs. Samoa Joe & Super Dragon (EPIC – Live Event – July 14, 2002)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FRxJw6kHec

**Not necessarily a good match but worth seeing for the guys involved. Joe is booked strong and looks good, Super Dragon is booked strong and looks bad, and Dragon is somewhere in between.**

 

Early Ring of Honor: 2002 – 2005

 

14. American Dragon vs. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels (ROH – An Era of Honor Begins – February 22, 2002)

 

15. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (ROH – Round Robin Challenge – March 30, 2002)

**Final match in a three person round robin series also involving Christopher Daniels. Ken Shamrock is the special guest referee.**

 

16. American Dragon vs. Paul London (ROH – All-Star Extravaganza – November 9, 2002)

17. American Dragon vs. A.J. Styles (ROH – All-Star Extravaganza – November 9, 2002)

** Final two matches in a gauntlet series to determine a #1 contender. Dragon wrestles more like a heel in both (although particularly the London match) which gives a glimpse into his later heel stuff.**

 

18. American Dragon vs. Paul London (ROH – Night of the Butcher – December 7, 2002)

19. American Dragon vs. Samoa Joe (ROH – Revenge of the Prophecy – January 11, 2003)

 

20. American Dragon vs. Paul London in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match (ROH – Epic Encounter – April 12, 2003)

**Somewhat of an early-career defining match for both London and Danielson. The match runs over 40 minutes and is far from perfect, but still holds up relatively well.**

 

21. Bryan Danielson vs. A.J. Styles (ROH – Main Event Spectacles – November 1, 2003)

22. Bryan Danielson vs. Jay Briscoe (ROH – Final Battle 2003 – December 27, 2003)

 

**Danielson returns to ROH after spending the summer in Europe and parts of the fall in Japan. The first match is a good indie main event type match while the second is an excellent, more basic show opener. Danielson started being billed under his real name while using “American Dragon” as a nickname around this time.**

 

23. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (ROH – Reborn: Stage 2 – April 24, 2004)

 

24. Bryan Danielson vs. Jack Evans (ROH – Survival of the Fittest – June 24, 2004)

25. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Homicide vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana in a Six-Way Elimination Match (ROH – Survival of the Fittest – June 24, 2004)

**Evans match is a qualifier for the six-way main event. It is very one sided with Danielson twisting Jack around and beating him a bunch, which makes it different than almost every other match on this list to this point. The six-way finals is not essential viewing although it eventually turns into a 20-minute singles bout between Aries and Danielson that sets up the next match.**

 

26. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match (ROH – Testing the Limit – August 7, 2004)

**In a rather ambitious undertaking, Aries and Danielson have a near 75-minute match that reportedly was supposed to go even longer. The match was too long for it’s own good but it is sort of fascinating to watch just to see how they attempt to fill the time. There were some good ideas, butit falls short in execution.**

 

27. Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Midnight Express Reunion – October 2, 2004)

 

28. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger (ROH – Weekend of Thunder: Night 1 – November 5, 2004)

29. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson & Low Ki vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger & Samoa Joe (ROH – Weekend of Thunder: Night 2 – November 6, 2004)

 

**Danielson wrestles as a heel in both matches against Liger. The first is a good New Japan juniors style television match. The tag we’ve always felt was a bit better as it has more heat and feels like more of a real match than a Liger showcase.**

 

Early Television Matches: 2003 – 2004 (Portland, WWE, MLW, NJPW USA)

 

**All of these are relatively short. I include them because I think we tend to view Danielson’s indie career as a whole bunch of long, featured main event matches so this gives a look into how he worked shorter, TV-style matches during this period.**

 

30. American Dragon vs. Dustin Snyder (Portland Wrestling – TV – January 11, 2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQeoZBE9kEg

31. Bryan Danielson vs. Jamie Noble (WWE – Velocity – January 12, 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_maEGA_8i2g

32. Bryan Danielson vs. Rico (WWE – Sunday Night Heat – February 3, 2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtsV7TeZLDA

33. Bryan Danielson vs. John Cena (WWE – Velocity – February 4, 2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf-kiUcAdVI

34. Bryan Danielson & John Walters vs. Paul London & Spanky (WWE – Velocity – November 11, 2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzF5bt8AY8E

35. Bryan Danielson vs. Teddy Hart (MLW – TV – January 9, 2004)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x81ey5_teddy-hart-vs-bryan-danielson_sport

36. Bryan Danielson vs. Joey Ryan (NJPW USA – TV – June 26, 2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXv8SzoNH-4

 

American Dragon Abroad: 2003 – 2010

 

37. American Dragon & Stampede Kid (Tyson Kidd) vs. Gedo & Jado (NJPW – TV – March 7, 2003)

** 15-minute time limit draw. Dragon gets beat up a lot.**

38. American Dragon vs. Doug Williams © in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match for the FWA Heavyweight Championship (FWA – Live Event – June 22, 2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLdCy8vG1GU

39. American Dragon vs. Tiger Mask (NJPW – TV – February 1, 2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRz_K9-Ux8

40. American Dragon & Curry Man (Christopher Daniels) vs. Gedo & Jado © for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (NJPW – TV – February 1, 2004)

41. American Dragon vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi © for the NJPW U-30 Championship (NJPW – TV – October 24, 2004)

42. Bryan Danielson© vs. SUWA for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Anarchy in the UK – August 13, 2006)

43. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (NOAH – TV – December 2, 2006)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MlbBwzy67s

44. Bryan Danielson vs. Dean Allmark (ASW – Live Event – February 19, 2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afcuzx9sCt0 (3 Parts)

45. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero (wXw – 16 Carrot Gold Tournament – March 9, 2008)

46. Bryan Danielson vs. Atsushi Aoki (NOAH – TV – May 15, 2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OkifT6NPkA

47. Bryan Danielson vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru © for GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (ROH/NOAH – Live Event – September 14, 2008)

48. Bryan Danielson © vs. KENTA for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (NOAH – TV – October 13, 2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOXflTy9weQ

49. Bryan Danielson vs. Tommy End (wXw – Ambition – July 4, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPs_Y-djBBU

**1^st Round match in a one night, single elimination shoot-style tournament.**

 

ROH World Championship Reign (09/2005 – 12/2006)

 

50. Bryan Danielson vs. James Gibson (Noble) © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Glory by Honor – September 17, 2005)

51. Bryan Danielson © vs. Roderick Strong (ROH – Vendetta – November 5, 2005)

52. Bryan Danielson © vs. Naomichi Marufuji (ROH – Final Battle 2005 – December 17, 2005)

53. Bryan Danielson ©vs. Chris Hero (ROH – Hell Freezes Over – January 14, 2006)

54. Bryan Danielson ©vs. Roderick Strong (ROH – Supercard of Honor – March 30, 2006)

 

**Both Strong title defenses are VERY long and probably not essentially viewing beyond seeing how Danielson handled really long matches during this period. Both matches could have been very good at about half the length.**

 

55. Bryan Danielson © vs. Lance Storm (ROH – Better than Our Best – April 1, 2006)

56. Bryan Danielson © vs. Colt Cabana (ROH – The 100^th Show – April 22, 2006)

**If you are tired of long Danielson title matches, then this is a good one . . . **

 

57. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness in a ROH World/ROH Pure Championship Unification Match contested under “Pure Wrestling” rules (ROH – Weekend of Champions: Night 2 – April 29, 2006)

58. Bryan Danielson © vs. Nigel McGuiness (ROH – Generation Now – July 29, 2006)

59. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness in a ROH World/ROH Pure Championship Unification Match (ROH – Unified – August 12, 2006)

60. Bryan Danielson © vs. Nigel McGuiness in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match (ROH –Epic Encounter II – August 25, 2006)

**Title match series versus Nigel. The third match is the infamous head-butt match. The fourth is a 60 minute draw. I want to go back myself and watch these because I wasn’t too high on them at the time, not only due to the physicality but also because I felt they were generally too long and just not that great.**

 

61. Bryan Danielson © vs. KENTA (ROH – Glory by Honor – September 16, 2006)

62. Bryan Danielson © vs. Samoa Joe in a Steel Cage Match (ROH – The Chicago Spectacular: Night 1 – December 8, 2006)

63. Bryan Danielson © vs. Homicide (ROH – Final Battle – December 23, 2006)

 

Non-ROH US Indies (2003 – 2010)

 

64. American Dragon vs. Bobby Quance (PWG – Taste the Radness – February 22, 2004)

65. American Dragon vs. Samoa Joe (PWG – The Musical – April 17, 2004)

66. Bryan Danielson vs. A.J. Styles (IWA-MS – An IWA Homecoming – September 16, 2004)

67. Bryan Danielson vs. CM Punk in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match (Full-Impact Pro – Bring the Pain – March 26, 2005)

68. Bryan Danielson vs. El Generico (PWG – Giant Sized Annual #4 – July 29, 2007)

**Might want to watch his match vs. Necro Butcher from earlier on the same show since it leads into this one.**

 

69. Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki (PWG – All-Star Weekend Night #1 – January 5, 2008)

70. Team Uppercut (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Dave Taylor) vs. The Masters of a Thousand Holds (Johnny Saints, Skayde & Mike Quackenbush) (CHIKARA – King of Trios – March 28, 2009)

71. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero (PWG - Guerre Sans Frontières – September 4, 2009)

72. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi (Dragon Gate USA – Open the Untouchable Gate – September 6, 2009)

 

73. Team Uppercut (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush (Chikara – Hiding in Plain Sight – September 13, 2009)

74. Bryan Danielson vs. John Moxley (Dean Ambrose) (Dragon Gate USA – Way of the Ronin – September 26, 2010)

 

Final ROH Run (2007 – 2009)

 

75. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness (ROH – Domination – June 9, 2007)

76. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (ROH – Drive – June 23, 2007)

77. Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuiness vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe © for the ROH Tag Team Championship (ROH – Race to the Top Tournament Night 1 – July 23, 2007)

78. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Manhattan Mayhem II – August 25, 2007)

79. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Man Up – September 15, 2007)

80. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (ROH – Glory by Honor – November 3, 2007)

81. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (ROH – Rising Above – December 29, 2007)

82. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima in a Fight Without Honor (ROH – Final Battle 2008 – December 27, 2008)

 

**The really excellent Morishima/Danielson ROH series. A couple of times earlier in his career he worked an extended series of matches against one opponent (Homicide, Joe to an extent) and they were largely disappointing. The feud with Morishima is anything but. Great progression from match to match and each match is quality stuff, as well. They had to wait a year for the blow off because Morishima was the GHC champion during half of 2008 but the last match is still good.**

 

83. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Sixth Anniversary Show – February 23, 2008)

84. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli (ROH – Northern Navigation – July 25, 2008)

85. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black (ROH – New Horizons – July 26, 2008)

86. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness © for the ROH World Championship (ROH – Rising Above – November 22, 2008)

 

WWE (2010 – Present)

 

87. Bryan Danielson vs. Kaval (Low Ki) (Florida Championship Wrestling – TV – January 14, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-Yk6gdJAU

**First match under WWE contract. **

 

88. Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho (WWE – NXT – February 23, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE5uH1I4xbI

**First match in WWE.**

 

89. Daniel Bryan vs. Batista in a “Beat the Clock Challenge” (WWE – RAW – May 3, 2010)

90. WWE vs. Nexus in a 14-man tag team elimination match (WWE – SummerSlam – August 15, 2010)

91. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz © for the WWE United States Championship (WWE – Night of Champions – September 19, 2010)

92. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE – Bragging Rights – October 24, 2010)

93. Daniel Bryan © vs. Sheamus for the WWE United States Championship (WWE – RAW – March 14, 2011)

94. Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Kane vs. Sheamus vs. Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match (WWE – Money in the Bank – July 17, 2011)

95. Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry © for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Steel Cage Match (WWE – Smackdown – November 29, 2011)

96. Daniel Bryan © vs. The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship (WWE – Smackdown – January 10, 2012)

 

97. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk (WWE – RAW – January 30, 2012)

98. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk (WWE – Smackdown – February 21, 2012)

99. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk (WWE – RAW – February 27, 2012)

**All three of the Punk matches above are non-finishes since they were both champions at that point. Each one is solid though and was the first glimpse at the promotion using Bryan in more a featured, in-ring heavy role.**

 

100. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus © in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match for the World Heavyweight Championship (WWE – Extreme Rules – April 29, 2012)

101. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk © for the WWE Championship (WWE – Over the Limit – May 20, 2012)

102. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk © in a No Disqualification match for the WWE Championship (WWE – Money in the Bank – July 15, 2012)

103. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena (WWE – RAW – August 6, 2012)

104. Daniel Bryan vs. Tyson Kidd (WWE – Saturday Morning Slam – September 25, 2012)

105. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE – RAW – October 22, 2012)

106. Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) © vs. The Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) for the WWE Tag Team Championship (WWE – Main Event – November 13, 2012)

107. Daniel Bryan, Kane & Ryback vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – TLC – December 16, 2012)

108. Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton (WWE – Elimination Chamber – February 17, 2013)

 

109. Daniel Bryan, Kane & The Undertaker vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – RAW – April 22, 2013)

110. Daniel Bryan, Kane & John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – RAW – April 29, 2013)

111. Daniel Bryan, Kane & John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns in an Elimination Match (WWE – RAW – May 13, 2013)

112. Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) © vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) in a Tornado Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team championship (WWE – Extreme Rules – May 19, 2013)

113. Daniel Bryan, Kane & Kofi Kingston vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns in an Elimination Match (WWE – RAW – May 20, 2013)

114. Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) © vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) © for the WWE Tag Team championship (WWE – RAW – May 27, 2013)

115. Daniel Bryan, Kane & Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – RAW – June 3, 2013)

 

**A whole lot of Bryan vs. The Shield in tags and trios. This is where he started getting really over as a face doing high energy hot tags. All of the six-man tags are good and the straight up tags are solid.**

 

116. Daniel Bryan vs. Ryback (WWE – RAW – June 3, 2013)

117. Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins (WWE – RAW – June 10, 2013)

118. Daniel Bryan, Kane & Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – Smackdown – June 11, 2013)

119. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton in a Street Fight (WWE – RAW – June 24, 2013)

120. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus (WWE – RAW – July 8, 2013)

 

121. Daniel Bryan vs. Ryback, Jack Swagger & Cesaro in a gauntlet match (WWE – RAW – July 22, 2013)

**The Cesaro portion of the gauntlet is a very good standalone singles match. Bryan has to have more [good] gauntlet matches than your average wrestler.**

 

122. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena © for the WWE Heavyweight Championship (WWE – SummerSlam – August 18, 2013)

123. Daniel Bryan & The Usos vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – Smackdown – September 17, 2013)

124. Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE – RAW – October 21, 2013)

125. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton (WWE – RAW – December 16, 2013)

126. Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt (WWE – Royal Rumble – January 26, 2014)

127. Daniel Bryan, John Cena & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – RAW – January 27, 2014)

128. Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns (WWE – Smackdown – January 28, 2014)

129. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton (WWE – RAW – February 3, 2014)

130. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. Christian vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus in an Elimination Chamber Match (WWE – Elimination Chamber – February 23, 2014)

131. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WWE – WrestleMania – April 6, 2014)

132. Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton © for the WWE World Championship (WWE – WrestleMania – April 6, 2014)

133. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane (WWE – Payback – May 4, 2014)

[Loss]

This is tremendous and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!