Last night on WWEs Monday Night Raw the company suffered a huge loss as Daniel Bryan retires from Wrestling.
At LWOS Wrestlig HQ in the build up to yesterday’s Monday night RAW we first heard that Daniel Bryan had been announced making an appearance. Then his Twitter feed soon followed with:
Due to medical reasons, effective immediately, I am announcing my retirement. Tonight on Raw, I’ll have a chance to elaborate. #gratitude
— Daniel Bryan (@WWEDanielBryan) February 8, 2016
Daniel Bryan Retires: A Huge Loss to WWE
We all thought there was a possibility of this being a ‘work’. We’re WWE planning one more cunning move to build the hype for Wrestlemania. ESPN announced it and due to their relationship with WWE we could only assume they were in on it for that major dramatic effect – it would have been one of the greatest comebacks in history. However we were praying and hoping, clutching at straws, because sadly Daniel Bryan has had to call it a day due to repetitive concussions and brain damage.
My first encounter of Daniel Bryan was when he was a mid-card, spoilt brat who would do anything to win or loose as ungraciously as possible. Of that mid card from about 6-7 years ago Daniel Bryan was probably the last one you would have looked at to go on to achieve what he did. He was in the mix with people like Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and R-Truth. Back then, of that group I would have backed Dolph Ziggler to go on to achieve great things – but it was Daniel Bryan.
Firstly, any wrestler who comes out to ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ by Wagner is always going to be someone I want to watch wrestle. Then he was dubbed as a ‘Submission Specialist’. Match after match Micheal Cole and company would say ‘Daniel Bryan knows over 100 submission moves, and how to get out of them’ despite the fact we only ever saw him apply the LeBell Lock. No one really believed in him until he went to Wrestlemania as the World Heavyweight Champion.
He had struck up an on screen relationship with CM Punk’s now wife AJ Lee and a rather good run with Sheamus had begun. They both kicked off Wrestlemania 28 with a World Heavyweight Championship Match, Daniel Bryan was defending. He kisses AJ Lee, got hit by a Brogue Kick and made history by losing in just 18 seconds. You would have thought that loosing in that fashion would probably keep Daniel Bryan on the mid card and he would perform there much in the way that Dolph Ziggler still does. But then he started Team Hell No.
The series that Kane and Daniel Bryan started is where we all looked up and went, ‘This guy has something’. The Tag Team partnership was both heartbreaking and hilarious. When I looked up and noticed him as a force to be reckoned with was when he introduced his Running Knee Finisher. Bryan had arrived and it was just a matter of time until he went on to achieve what he did.
He played up to the ‘No’ chants, and now a multiple time champion he knew he needed to grab that brass ring. He turned the ‘No’s’ into Yes’ and had created his own universe within the WWE. The whole of the WWE were with Daniel Bryan and against the Authority. This ‘B+ Player’ was on a one man fight and when he came running down that ramp, screaming and jumping his hands in the air he even managed to get people sitting at home screaming ‘YES YES YES’ at their television to will him along on his path to greatness. He whole movement culminated at Wrestlemania 30 as he defeated HHH to enter the main event against Batista and Randy Orton and capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It was probably the most satisfying moment in recent WWE History. We all wanted Daniel to win that belt; we predicted it would happen, but it was still electrifying. It was electrifying for one reason: everyone got the pay off they wanted. Daniel Bryan, the fans and the WWE.
His achievements are rather self explanatory, not to put them down but we know what he achieved was brilliant. But what made Daniel Bryan special is something that you see very rarely in the WWE. He was genuine. He was himself in the ring, out of the ring and everywhere. The topics he discussed with passion you believed in his passion. His desire to win, you believed in him – this is what the Yes movement was. It was a huge audience of people saying to Daniel you are our friend.
That’s what he was to me. I felt like he was my friend. I laughed with him, I cried with him and I celebrated with him. No superstar in history has ever had this effect on me, and it will take someone very special to match it (although Kevin Owens is doing a fine job so far). I feel like I watched Daniel grow, get married, and ultimately achieve his dream and I like to think the WWE Universe all felt the same way and helped him get there.
My lasting memory of Daniel will not be the flying goat, or the psychology classes. It will not be him lifting the World Heavyweight Championship or watching him breakdown on Monday Night Raw last night. My lasting memory of him will be watching the way he hugs everyone with such love and affection. My memory of someone so great is the smile that was bought to his face when he was interviewed about Connor Michalek. It was this humanity that Daniel Bryan bought to all of his work that made him truly one of the greatest ever. I will miss watching you my friend, as will all of us.
Enjoy a healthy life Daniel and please enjoy your retirement the way you truly deserve.
