Over the course of his career Daniel Bryan has shared the ring with some of the best wrestlers in the world. Appearing in some of the most talked-about matches of the last 20 years.
Since signing with WWE in 2009, Daniel Bryan has enjoyed a what can only be described as a Hall of Fame worthy run. He has headlined WrestleManias, won numerous world titles and rose to become one of the most beloved WWE Superstars in recent memory.
Reflecting on his career, Bryan has now named his favourite match from that title-laden run. Although, the match he remembers most fondly might not be the one that fans immediately think of. It’s not even a match that he won. Instead, Bryan favours the special moment of Kofi Kingston pinning him for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.
Speaking to Robbie Fox on My Mom’s Basement, Bryan described the match as a cool moment.
“My favourite match in my WWE career is my match with Kofi at WrestleMania 35… “It’s so special and such a cool moment. One of the things that I love is it’s Kofi winning at the end. WrestleMania 30, my shoulder is horrible, I hurt my neck, I have this horrible pain down my arm and I have to get up and do media the next morning. Everyone comes up to you and are like ‘congratulations.’ There’s a lot of responsibility. When I wrestled Kofi, everyone goes to Kofi and says congratulations to him. I get to have my moment with him and be like ‘Hey man, thanks. That was awesome.’ Then, I get to hug my wife and daughter and go home the next day. Kofi is the one who has to do media and deal with people congratulating him.”
While being defeated by Kingston may take top spot, Bryan also revealed that he has a fondness for his clash with Brock Lesnar. The American Dragon added that being in the ring with Lesnar gave him a greater appreciation of just how good The Beast is.
“I love my match with Brock Lesnar. It’s cool because I just turned heel and I was like, ‘I finally get to wrestle Brock Lesnar and it’s as a bad guy.’ One of the things I’m very proud of is I went out to boos, got them to cheer me by the end, and when I left they still booed me. Wrestling Brock gave me a deep-seated appreciation for how great Brock is. The other stuff, it’s hard to narrow down. One thing that means the most to me is the Championship unification when the Seattle crowd chanted for ‘Daniel Bryan.’ That was the last time my dad got to see me wrestle,”
While Kofi Kingston’s WWE Title win tops Daniel Bryan’s personal list, it also recently topped WWE’s own list of ‘The 20 greatest WWE Title changes in the last decade.’
In more recent times Daniel Bryan has been embroiled in a heated feud with Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The pair had been butting heads since WWE Elimination Chamber and things came to a head on the most recent episode of SmackDown. The show’s main event saw Bryan challenge Reigns for the Universal Title. However, if Bryan lost he would be banished from SmackDown.
At the end of the brutal half-hour long contest, Reigns forced the challenger to pass out in his Guillotine chock hold. Reigns finished the job after the bell, hitting a vicious Conchairto on Bryan as the show faded to black.
There is no word on what the result could mean for Bryan’s WWE career. Although it should perhaps be noted that the star has recently spoken about stepping back from a full-time role.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.