Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan)

Bryan Danielson, or Daniel Bryan as he was known in WWE, is an American professional wrestler. He's currently competing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name. Danielson's career highlights include multiple WWE Championships reigns and becoming a Grand Slam Champion within the company. He's known for his exceptional technical wrestling skills, captivating character performances, and immense popularity with fans. Widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers of his generation, Danielson continues to entertain audiences worldwide.

Early Life

Bryan Danielson was born on the 22nd of May, 1981 in Aberdeen, Washington. His mother is Darlene Danielson, a therapist, and his father is Donald "Buddy" Danielson, dean at a school. Born in Aberdeen, Danielson and his family moved to Vernal, Utah, Albany, and Oregon before finally shifting back to Aberdeen owing to his father's job. His parents divorced when he was young. To help his mother, Danielson and his sister Billie Sue distributed newspapers as teenagers and also worked at McDonald's.

Professional Wrestling Career

Early Years (1999-2003)

In 1999, Danielson began training as a professional wrestler. Danielson enrolled in Shawn Michaels wrestling school and was trained by William Regal. Regal has been a tremendous influence on Danielson's career and is often mentioned by Danielson or during his matches. Danielson had two short stints in WWF/E in his early years. Later, Danielson won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in Japan.

Also Read: Bryan Danielson's Age

Independent Circuit and ROH (2002-2009)

In 2002, Danielson joined ROH and was one of the company's founding fathers. Danielson had several great rivalries, with wrestlers such as Austin Aries, CM Punk, Homicide, Nigel McGuinness, and Samoa Joe. In 2005, Danielson defeated James Gibson to become the ROH World Champion. In 2006, he feuded with Chris Hero during a promotion war with CZW. Later, he feuded with Nigel McGuinness for the ROH Pure Championship and won. After winning the title, he retired from the championship.

Danielson lost the ROH World Championship to Homicide and took some time off. After his return, Danielson spent his time across several independent promotions and ROH, where he won several championships and had acclaimed matches. In 2009, Danielson had a farewell tour where he faced his old rivals such as Austin Aries and Nigel McGuinness before leaving the company. After finishing his remaining dates, Danielson joined WWE.

WWE (2009-2021)

Early Years, World Champion, and Team Hell No (2009-2013)

In 2009, Danielson joined WWE and began working for FCW and they changed his name to Daniel Bryan. After a few months, they moved Bryan to NXT season 1 where he was mentored by The Miz. On the debut episode, Bryan lost to Chris Jericho. During the Nexus attack, they fired Bryan from the company. Bryan spent the next few months back on the independent circuit before re-signing with WWE.

At SummerSlam, Bryan joined Team WWE to fight against The Nexus and won. At Night of Champions, Bryan defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship. At WrestleMania XXVII, Bryan lost the title to Sheamus. In 2011, he won the Money in the Bank ladder match. He spent the year feuding with Wade Barrett and was involved in a storyline with AJ Lee.

At TLC, Bryan cashed in and became the World Heavyweight Champion. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Bryan lost the title to Sheamus in less than 20 seconds. Bryan spent the first half of the year feuding with Sheamus and CM Punk for the World Championships. Later, he performed comedy skits with Kane and formed a tag team called Team Hell No.

Team Hell No became instantly popular and defeated Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Later, they began feuding with The Shield. At TLC, The Shield defeated Team Hell No and Ryback. At WrestleMania XXIX, Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E. At Extreme Rules, they lost the titles to The Shield.

The Yes Movement and Retirement (2013-2016)

After Team Hell No, Bryan began his solo journey to the top. Cena gave Bryan a championship match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, Bryan defeated Cena to become the new WWE Champion. However, Triple H and Randy Orton turned on Bryan. Randy Orton cashed in and won the WWE Championship and formed The Authority. Bryan also feuded with The Wyatt Family, where he joined the stable for a while.

The Authority feuded with Bryan for a year, where Bryan won the championship on two occasions. At Royal Rumble, Bryan was defeated by Bray Wyatt. After Royal Rumble, Bryan began his Yes Movement and demanded a championship match. At WrestleMania XXX, Bryan defeated Triple in the opening match. In the main event, Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

The movement didn't last long as Bryan was severely injured during a match with Kane. At Money in the Bank, Bryan vacated the championship and took some time off. In 2015, Bryan failed to win the Royal Rumble match and challenged Roman Reigns for his spot at WrestleMania 31. At Fastlane, Bryan was defeated by Roman Reigns.

At WrestleMania 31, Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match. After a few months, Bryan was unable to continue due to his prior injuries and retired from wrestling. Bryan vacated the Intercontinental Championship.

Also Read: Bryan Danielson Height

SmackDown General Manager and Return (2016-2021)

In 106, Bryan returned and became the SmackDown General Manager. Bryan was heavily involved in an angle with The Miz, which continued in 2018. After two years, Bryan made a comeback at WrestleMania 34, where he and Shane McMahon defeated Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.

Before feuding with The Miz, Bryan feuded with Big Cass and won. At SummerSlam, Bryan was defeated by The Miz. After feuding with The Miz, Bryan turned heel and won the WWE Championship from AJ Styles. In 2019, he began feuding with Kofi Kingston after Kingston's acclaimed performance in a gauntlet match.

At WrestleMania 35, Kingston defeated Bryan to win the WWE Championship. Later, Bryan won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Rowan. In the summer, Bryan began teaming up with Roman Reigns and feuded with Harper and Rowan. In 2020, Bryan turned faced and feuded with The Fiend and lost. At WrestleMania 36, Sami Zayn defeated Bryan to keep his Intercontinental Championship.

Bryan spent the year in the mid-card division before feuding with Roman Reigns. In 2021, Bryan began feuding with Edge and Roman Reigns for the Universal championship. At WrestleMania 37, Bryan and Edge lost to Reigns. In April, Bryan lost another championship match to Reigns and left the company.

AEW (2021-Present)

At All Out, Danielson made his AEW debut. In the following months, Danielson began feuding with Kenny Omega, and the match ended in a draw. The match received 5 stars from Dave Meltzer. Later, Bryan turned heel and began feuding with Hangman Page. At Full Gear, Bryan won the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament.

In 2022, Danielson received his first loss by Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship. At Revolution, Moxley defeated Danielson and formed a team. The duo was last seen on Dynamite along with William Regal.

Also Read: Bryan Danielson Net Worth

On the 31st August 2022 edition of Dynamite, Bryan defeated Jake Hager. On the 2022 All Out PPV, Daniel Bryan lost to Chris Jericho in a hard-hitting match. He would then go on to compete for the AEW World Championship in a tournament where he was eliminated by Moxley. The following months saw Danielson's challenge for the ROH World Championship and AEW World Championship against Chris Jericho and MJF respectively, to no avail.

He then shifted his focus from titles to his Blackpool Combat Club. Danielson, alongside Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and Jon Moxley defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega, Adam Page, and The Young Bucks in Anarchy in Arena match at Double or Nothing 2023. The following week, he appeared on NJPW to challenge Kazuchika Okada for a match at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door, and the latter accepted the match.

At the event, Danielson suffered a legitimate broken arm. However, he still went on to beat Okada by submission. After a brief hiatus due to the injury, he made his return to All Elite Wrestling at AEW All Out in September 2023 and defeated Ricky Starks in a No DQ Strap Match. At AEW WrestleDream in October, he faced Zack Sabre Jr, who is hailed as the greatest technical wrestler besides Danielson himself.

In November 2023, Danielson and the AEW Chairman Tony Khan announced a tournament to crown the AEW Continental Champion, who would in turn be called the AEW Triple Crown Champion as he will also hold the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship. The American Dragon was also one of the 12 entrants in the tournament. He advanced to the semi-finals where he was beaten by the eventual winner Eddie Kingston. At AEW Revolution, he faced Kingston in a rematch but lost again.

On April 21 at AEW Dynasty, Danielson lost to Will Ospreay in an exceptionally acclaimed match that got a 6.5-star rating from Dave Meltzer, making it the second-most elevated evaluated match by Meltzer. This was Danielson's tenth match to get a rating of 5 stars or higher. Danielson returned on the May 8 episode of Dynamite, joining Eddie Kingston and FTR ( Wheeler and Harwood) as the last individual from Team AEW to confront The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.

Return to NJPW, ROH, and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2023-Present)

On June 6, 2023, at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Danielson got back to NJPW after almost twenty years. In a pre-taped vignette, he provoked Kazuchika Okada to a match at Forbidden Door, which Okada acknowledged. Danielson beat Okada at Forbidden Door on June 25, after experiencing a real broken arm during the match. Afterward, on November 4 at Power Struggle, Danielson showed up in another vignette and challenged Okada to a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Okada acknowledged, and on January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Danielson lost to Okada, with the two men extending mutual respect after the match.

At The New Beginning in Osaka, Danielson was defeated by Zack Saber Jr. in a rematch from AEW WrestleDream. On December 15, Danielson got back to ROH on HonorClub television and challenged FTR and Mark Briscoe to a match at Final Battle against the Blackpool Combat Club, to pay tribute to Jay Briscoe. The BCC (Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli) were beaten on the occasion.

On March 29, 2024, Danielson made his CMLL debut at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, teaming up with Castagnoli, Moxley, and Matt Sydal in a losing effort against Volador Jr., Blue Panther, Místico, and Último Guerrero. After the match, Blue Panther moved Danielson to a singles match. They went head to head in a submission match on April 5 at CMLL Super Viernes, where Danielson emerged victorious.

Bryan Danielson's Championships and Accomplishments

Bryan Danielson's Net Worth

As per various sources, former Bryan Danielson is worth around USD 12 Million as of May 2024. Do click here to know everything about the net worth of The American Dragon.

Bryan Danielson's Wife

Bryan Danielson is married to fellow wrestler and former co-worker Brie Bella. Brie Bella is one-half of the Bella Twins, which is a Hall of Fame team in WWE. Bella and Danielson shared screens quite a few times on the WWE programming while dating each other in real life. After dating for about three years, the two finally tied the knot on April 11, 2014, and have been together ever since.

The pair has two children - a girl named Birdie, born in 2017, and a boy named Buddy, born in 2020. The couple currently resides in Napa County, California, United States.

Also Read: How did Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan meet?

Bryan Danielson Family

Daniel Bryan Mother

Bryan Danielson's mother is Darlene Jean Danielson. She is reportedly a therapist and an educator where she teaches language expression. Not much is known of her including her birthdate and place. However, it is known that Danielson and her mother share mutual love and respect for each other.

Daniel Bryan Father

Bryan Danielson's father is Donald Orrin “Buddy” Danielson. He was born in Minot, North Dakota, US on July 18, 1956. He reportedly works as a dean at a neighborhood school. Before becoming a teacher, Danielson worked as a lumberjack.

Daniel Bryan Siblings

Hailing from Aberdeen, Bryan shared his childhood with his older sister, Billie Sue Deck. Details about his siblings, Kelly Marlene Sutera, Jason Brown, and Jeri Ann Nagala, remain elusive online.