Thank You Bryan Danielson

I am 39-years old, and have been watching wrestling regularly since the age of 5. Through out the years my tastes changed, and many performers had an influence on my fandom. Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels; the list could go on and on really depending on the promotion and the year. I started out as a diehard NWA fan, and from there I watched WWF, Smoky Mountain, GWF, AWA, WCCW, WCW, ECW, CMLL, NJPW, ROH and the list goes on and on. Once I became a diehard fan, I found out that no matter how much I loved the NWA, it wasn’t enough. I consistently added to what I watched, I traded tapes in the 90s (there was no “WWE Network” or “Youtube” back then kids) because I wanted to watch more, I wanted to learn more and I loved it.

While I had watched companies close throughout the years, something happened in 2001 that I never thought would actually happen. WCW and ECW both closed down, and the WWF was the only game in town. For myself, this became a dark time to be a wrestling fan. I wasn’t a big fan of what the WWE product had to offer; I needed more as a fan. It was then that I made the decision that I would never be a slave to one kind of wrestling, hell I wouldn’t only watch comedies as a rule when going to the movies, so I expanded and never stopped. I watch so much wrestling, I add some promotions and take others away, but I always find a lot to love. There were two things that saved my fandom back then; discovering and watching AJ Styles grow as a performer as TNA launched, and discovering ROH as the American Dragon Bryan Danielson.

I will never claim to be a hardcore ROH fan, I have followed the company on and off over the years, but can’t claim to be someone that since day one collected DVDs and followed everything they did from show to show. I reported on ROH over the years; I have certainly watched a lot and always followed the recommendations to see matches made by people like Ari Berenstein who were plugged into the product in a major way. But while I never followed ROH as a promotion from show to show early on, I did follow Bryan Danielson. The Era of Honor begins in 2002 was my first real exposure to Danielson, and after a 20-minute war with Low Ki and Christopher Daniels, I was a fan. I can’t necessarily explain it, it’s similar to TNA and AJ Styles for me, it was never about the promotion, but once I saw Danielson, he was the guy I needed to see.

Throughout his years in Ring of Honor I got to see Danielson against the best that ROH had to offer, and more than that, I got to see him against talents from Japan that made we want to seek out those guys. Basically when you worked Danielson, if you had a good match I gave you a chance, and it was through him that I branched out even more and started to discover even more talent. Danielson was essentially my gateway drug to discovering new talent and promotions on the independent scene. It is one of many things I thank him for.

From 2002 to 2009 Bryan Danielson put together a portfolio of amazing matches that you can stack up against any in ring great. He worked so many different guys, with some many different styles and through the years he continued to grow and evolve as a performer. For as good as WWE fans think Daniel Bryan is, minds would be blown if those fans that never saw his pre-WWE work would take the time to really seek out what made him such a cult ICON during those years.

Bryan Danielson was an amazing in ring performer, and I always had hoped that he would get the chance, a real chance, with WWE. But I thought that would never come, he was too small for them, he wasn’t a “great promo,” he just didn’t feel like a fit. But then he got the chance…

WWE signed Danielson, and after a brief period off after the whole Nexus choking incident, he returned and was part a regular of the show. I was a big fan of the guy, and while he won the US Title and was part of the programming, I never expected much else. He had his great matches, he cemented his legacy to me, and now I was happy that the guy had the chance to make some great money while his body could still hold up. Thankfully he was going to do more than just hang in the midcard and put on good matches.

He got a run with the world title, he had a damn-entertaining run with Kane as a tag team, and Daniel Bryan and Friends vs. The Shield made for some amazing WWE TV matches. Danielson grew in importance within WWE, and while I was still not thinking he’d be “the guy,” I was more than happy to watch his rise and hope for the best. But again, the journey wasn’t over and there were bigger accomplishments to come.

The fact that he got to main event a Summerslam with John Cena was an accomplishment that I felt would be the culmination of his WWE career, and then he beat Cena clean as a sheet. Danielson did something that is a rarity in WWE, and the popularity he had and the fact that the “WWE Universe” did not want to be force fed Randy Orton, Triple H, the Authority or a returning Dave Batista led to one of the coolest stories for this wrestling fan. The man I saw so many times have these great and even classic matches in front of a few hundred people at best became the focus of a WrestleMania. Not only was he the focus and not only did he put on two excellent matches, he beat Triple H, Randy Orton and Dave Batista on that show to walked out as the champion. It was a great moment as a fan of Danielson’s to see the victory, to see the reaction and be part of the rise of someone I had watched for so long. It was something I never thought would happen. But for Danielson, it was a culmination of a journey, one where he wanted to prove that he was not only the best, but that in the land of the giants and a world full of no, he said yes and proved that he could do it.

Unfortunately the journey did not continue, the king did not reign long and there was only uncertainty for Danielson and his fans. After fifteen years of blood, sweat, tears, injuries and a collection of some of the best matches I ever got to see, Danielson’s body finally started to give in. Shortly after his victory he announced he would have to undergo neck surgery as he was losing strength in his arm. I can only imagine the pain and frustration; he finally conquered Everest and was basically having it taken away from him. He had his future to worry about, he had a new wife, and fans had no idea if he would return. While he did return, it was short-lived as a concussion took him out of action.

This led to so many questions being asked; is WWE just protecting themselves? Are they saving him for later because they don’t want to derail anything? Is he really that bad off? Will he ever return? And we have seemingly found our answers today. WWE was protecting themselves (and rightfully so), Danielson did want to return, but after more testing has announced his retirement.

So what do I think? I think that this is a sobering reminder that our guys, our favorites, are just human. For all of the times we are entertained by these people, they constantly punch their bump card and one day that runs of for everyone. If he made the decision after getting all of the answers he needed to do so, then I am happy for him. I have had the pleasure of watching him perform for well over a decade, and I never felt ripped off watching Bryan Danielson perform. He had goals, he accomplished those goals, and if this is it, he should only be proud of what he accomplished and gave to the wrestling business.

Bryan Danielson made wrestling a great in many ways. he made me care because he cared; he made me believe that good things can happen to good people. He added to my fandom, he helped me discover so many great wrestlers over the years, he delivered great matches and moments and as a fan I can’t thank him enough. If he never wrestles again, if he walks away and helps with NXT or does the occasional cameo or hell if he stays in his garden growing kale and making watermelon jellies, I just hope he’s happy. Because at the end of the day, there is more to life than just wrestling, and hopefully he can accept that as he moves on.

Thanks for everything Bryan; Goodbye, Farewell and Amen for everything you gave me as a fan…