Bryan Danielson's historical importance

[yesdanielbryan]

Considering that is full time career is ended, how would you judge Bryan Danielson's historical importance? If he never existed how pro wrestling history would have been different? Without Kind of Indies Tournament in 2001, would have ROH ever existed? And without ROH, would have AEW ever existed? What is his role in that?

I'm not asking you about his quality, but about historical importance

[Laz]

Hmmm...just some brief spitfire ideas here.

-King of the Indies 2001 leads to ROH in the same way that ECW's demise and JAPW's roster leads to ROH. It's a trifecta thing. RF needed a new cash cow with ECW gone, Gabe still wanted to be in, and they saw in Bryan (and others) what was a direct opposite to the majority of the industry at that time. He wasn't a deathmatch guy like you'd find in CZW or XPW, he wasn't cut out to be a Monday night player, and he had credibility with the who's who of available talent.

-ROH changes how matches operate throughout the entire western scene, for better and worse. Bryan was a key player early on but wasn't clicking like Gabe probably wanted him to, so I can't say Bryan offered an insane amount of influence here. The lion's share has to be with LowKi, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, and CM Punk. Bryan has an all-time run from late 2005 to 2008, with just so many amazing matches in that timeframe, but he's not THE REASON to watch. Instrumental in cementing ROH as an alternative and elevating its credibility, but it took him a little while to make it work for him.

-It's the WWE run that makes Bryan matter. As much as I love the matches with Nigel and Joe and KENTA and Morishima, it's the prime time portrayal of a nerd, that "B+ player," that makes him matter. He capitalized on the public fallout between Punk and WWE in a big way, where the shoddy booking actually did elevate him. It's through this that the indies go into overdrive, IMO, and that's how we get AEW today.

Is Bryan the most influential talent of his generation? I wouldn't necessarily say so. Is he the overall best when it comes to in-ring performance? Yes. Maybe that's also a tally in his favor, because he was a major figurehead for an industry shift toward talent being able to work high quality matches on a regular basis instead of relying solely on the angles and big moments to carry them.