After months of speculation the wrestling world got the news that it was not wanting to hear. Daniel Bryan made his retirement from in ring competition official around 1pm on Monday. The leader of the “YES” movement has wrestled his last match.
Daniel wrestled all around the globe and proved to be one of if not the best wrestler in the world. It took him 10 years to reach the WWE but once he got there he set it on fire. If John Cena is the most polarizing performer on the WWE roster, then Bryan might be the most unifying character that this era has ever seen. He was able to captivate all the little kids around the world and his work rate and style impressed the usually jaded hardcore internet fan base.
Being smaller than the average wrestler that is pushed by Vince McMahon, he helped breakdown some of the size barriers that maybe on a Shawn Michaels had done before. He was willing to slug it out with big guys, fly with cruiserweights and get on the mat with any technician you can name. With 16 years in the business his two main stops of Ring of Honor and WWE have left fans with some of the greatest matches the sport has ever seen.
The magic of Daniel Bryan is that he got over with the fans organically. Just being himself was good enough to make the WWE Universe gravitate towards him. He didn’t have the machine behind him and despite their best plans to keep him down his star kept rising. While some stars got successfully buried by the powers that be Bryan able to garner an unreal level of fan support that the company couldn’t ignore.
Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of Bryan in the company. He would be good on commentary or maybe just as an ambassador for the company. The NXT crew would definitely benefit from his knowledge and ring psychology. Although we only had him for a short career I am sure most fans are just happy for the opportunity to see him perform.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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