Bryan Lloyd Danielson, known to the wrestling world as Daniel Bryan, has had an illustrious career. Born on May 22, 1981, in Aberdeen, Washington, Danielson has left an indelible mark on professional wrestling. He is currently 44 years old.
Currently, Bryan Danielson serves as a commentator and producer for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), while also performing part-time in the ring. His journey includes significant tenures in WWE and the independent circuit, making him one of the most respected figures in the industry.
Early Career and Independent Circuit
Danielson began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit. He signed an 18-month contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2000. During his sophomore year at Aberdeen High School, Danielson decided to pursue a professional wrestling career and attempted to train at Dean Malenko's wrestling school in Florida. However, by the time he graduated in 1999, the school had closed down.
While touring the country's independent circuit, Danielson was signed to a developmental deal by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to work in their developmental system and was assigned to Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW), where he gained exposure and was trained by WWF competitor William Regal, whom he credited as being instrumental in the development of his career. During this time, he adopted his moniker of the "American Dragon".
WWF severed its ties with MCW in 2001, but not before Danielson won the MCW Light Heavyweight Championship and the MCW Tag Team Championship with Spanky. After 18 months with the company, he was released from his WWF contract in July 2001.
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Return to WWE and Championship Success
Danielson again signed with WWE in 2009, but was fired after an incident in 2010. Upon his return three months later, he went on to win the WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship once, and the WWE United States Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship once each. He also won the WWE Tag Team Championship (as part of Team Hell No with Kane) and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Erick Rowan), becoming the 26th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the 15th WWE Grand Slam Champion.
Championships and Accomplishments in WWE
- 4-time WWE Champion
- 1-time World Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time WWE United States Champion
- 1-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- 1-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Kane)
- 1-time SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Erick Rowan)
- 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner
- 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner
- WWE Triple Crown Champion
- WWE Grand Slam Champion
Ring of Honor (ROH) Career
He joined Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, wrestling in the main event of the promotion's first event; considered a mainstay of ROH, he stayed with the company until 2009, winning the ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship once each. He unified the championships at one point and was also the inaugural winner of the annual ROH Survival of the Fittest tournament. In 2022, he was named as part of the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame.
Despite winning the company's inaugural Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2004, Bryan did not win a ROH title. In 2005, Danielson explained in the company's newsletter, The ROH Newswire, that he had quit ROH after being frustrated by his inability to defeat Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship.
At the beginning of 2006, Chris Hero, a representative from Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), invaded ROH and targeted Danielson-the two exchanged words over the internet before having a match together, with nearly the entire roster of both companies embarking on an interpromotional feud. Danielson became personally invested in this feud and invaded CZW himself, which led to him having physical altercations with a number of CZW wrestlers.
As the interpromotional hostility with CZW heightened, Danielson also defended against challengers from the rival company, who had signed an open contract for any CZW wrestler willing to challenge for the ROH World Championship. While having the ROH World Championship, ROH faced the issue of having another title with seemingly equal value, the ROH Pure Championship. Danielson and the ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness had a match to unify the titles.
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On May 11, 2007, Danielson returned to ROH at Reborn Again and defeated Shane Hagadorn and Adam Pearce in separate matches. On May 12, ROH filmed its first pay-per-view, Respect is Earned, which had Danielson team with ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima against Nigel McGuinness and Kenta. Danielson's team won after Danielson made Kenta tap out to his signature submission hold, the Cattle Mutilation.
As part of ROH's agreement with Pro Wrestling Noah, the company held a show in Japan named Tokyo Summit on September 14, where Danielson wrestled GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru and won the championship.
Other Promotions
Aside from competing primarily in ROH, Danielson has also competed in a multitude of other independent promotions, both in the United States and abroad. In 2003, he toured the United Kingdom for the British promotion All Star Wrestling (ASW), where he sometimes used the name Dynamic Dragon. While there, he won the World Heavy Middleweight Championship on May 6 in an eight-man one-night tournament in Croydon, defeating James Mason. He spent the next six months in the United Kingdom, working for ASW, Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA), the World Association of Wrestling (WAW), and Premier Promotions.
Danielson also wrestled in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) promotion. He made his debut in November 2003 at An Inch Longer Than Average in a losing effort to PWG Champion Frankie Kazarian. He continued to appear in PWG over the next couple of years, winning the PWG World Championship in 2007 and holding it for six months before taking an eleven-month hiatus from the company. He made his return to PWG at the 2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. In April 2009, at PWG: One Hundred, Danielson defeated Kenny Omega. The match was notable for its opening, which included Omega and Danielson performing variable tests of strength, including arm wrestling and a thumb war, before singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" along with the crowd.
In 2009, Danielson also signed a short-term contract with German wrestling promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw).
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Brief WWE Release and Independent Circuit Return
On the May 31 episode of Raw, Bryan was granted a match against The Miz by guest host Ashton Kutcher, which he won and threw Miz into Cole at ringside after the match. On the June 7 episode of Raw, the faction known as The Nexus (NXT rookies from season one) invaded the WWE ring, attacking John Cena and causing destruction around the ringside area.
After being released, Danielson received several offers to sign with other wrestling companies, being contacted by TNA, albeit indirectly and some Japanese promotions. Two weeks after his departure from WWE, Danielson made his return to the independent circuit on June 26, defeating Eddie Kingston at the CHIKARA event We Must Eat Michigan's Brain. Rather than receiving streamers, the fans instead threw neck ties in light of the Justin Roberts incident in WWE.
On July 3, Danielson returned to wXw, defeating Wade Fitzgerald and TJP in the round robin stage of the Ambition 1 tournament. The following day, he defeated TJP in a rematch and finally Johnny Moss in the finals of the tournament to win Ambition 1. On July 17, Danielson debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), being booked to defeat Q.T.
Return to WWE (2010-2021)
Bryan then successfully defended the title two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell on October 3. At Bragging Rights on October 24, he went on to challenge then Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler to a champion vs. champion match as a special attraction SmackDown vs. Raw match, defeating Ziggler. On April 26, Bryan was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.
On the May 6 episode of SmackDown, Bryan made his debut for the brand by losing to Sheamus. Cody Rhodes then started a feud with Bryan by attacking him after losing their match and placing a paper bag on his head. At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Bryan defeated Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali, Santino Marella, and Wade Barrett in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The next night on Raw SuperShow, Bryan became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three minutes.
Bryan received his title match at Over the Limit on May 20 and suffered a controversial loss-when Bryan rolled back onto his shoulders as he applied the "Yes!" Lock, Punk tapped out immediately after the referee counted a pinfall win for Punk. Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan interfered in a match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk attacking Kane with a steel chair, leading to a three-way feud. During this time, a jilted AJ Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane.
On the June 1 episode of SmackDown, Bryan's interference caused WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane to end in a double disqualification, resulting in a triple threat match being set up on June 17 at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On the June 25 episode of Raw SuperShow, Bryan defeated Punk and Kane in a non-title three-way elimination match to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. At Money in the Bank on July 15, Bryan failed to capture the WWE Championship again from Punk in a no disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee. The following night on Raw SuperShow, AJ accepted Bryan's marriage proposal.
On Raw 1000, Bryan's storyline wedding ended in failure when AJ left Bryan at the altar and instead accepted Mr. McMahon's offer of the position of permanent Raw General Manager. AJ's rejection of Bryan turned him into an angry and bitter individual and resulted in Bryan lashing out at audiences. AJ continued to exact her revenge on Bryan by denying him a WWE Championship match and instead forcing him to face Kane on August 19 at SummerSlam, where Bryan emerged victorious. As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby and they were later forced to "hug it out".
At some point in time, Bryan lost all strength in his right arm and required neck surgery. ... His workrate in the ring and what he gives through the match just means so much more to the wrestling fans than anything else... His run [as champion] was cut short and I think fans wanted to see him get that [WrestleMania] moment that he deserves... WWE's storylines for Bryan since his return were widely criticized.
On February 8, 2016, Bryan retired for medical reasons. Later on that day's episode of Raw, broadcast from Bryan's home state of Washington, Bryan gave a retirement speech expressing his gratefulness for the happiness wrestling had brought him. The following day on ESPN, Bryan revealed that he suffered ten documented.
Move to AEW
Bryan Danielson's decision to leave WWE for AEW in 2021 sent shockwaves through the wrestling world. In recent interviews, the "American Dragon" has provided insight into the emotional catalyst for that move, the highs of his AEW run, and the physical toll that ultimately led to the end of his full-time career.
Danielson revealed to TalkSPORT that AEW's handling of the tribute show for his late friend Jon Huber (Brodie Lee/Luke Harper) profoundly influenced his choice while he was still under WWE contract. This heartfelt presentation shifted his perspective on the upstart promotion. He recalled thinking: "I was thinking like, 'Oh, these are the good guys of professional wrestling'."
Joining AEW later that year, Danielson embarked on a run filled with acclaimed matches and character work, eventually forming the Blackpool Combat Club. His AEW career perhaps peaked at the historic All In event at Wembley Stadium in London during August 2024. There, Danielson defeated Swerve Strickland to capture the AEW World Championship, a moment he later described as his favorite career highlight, largely due to celebrating in the ring with his wife and children afterward.
However, Danielson's time in AEW was also marked by significant injuries. He suffered a broken forearm in a match against Kazuchika Okada in 2023 and later a broken orbital bone. Throughout 2024, increasingly severe neck issues plagued his final months as a full-time competitor, notably aggravated after his match with Will Ospreay in April 2024.
These cumulative injuries, particularly the neck condition he now describes as "wrecked," led Danielson to designate his AEW World Championship defense against Jon Moxley at WrestleDream in October 2024 as his final match as a full-time performer. He lost the title to Moxley in that bout and has been inactive in the ring since.
As of April 2025, Danielson remains focused on rehabilitation, reportedly exploring stem cell treatments as he actively tries to avoid potentially career-ending neck surgery.
While not completely ruling out sporadic future appearances under specific circumstances, he has stated he currently has no desire to wrestle and is "at peace" with stepping back to prioritize his long-term health and family.
Tag Teams and Stables
Throughout his career, Daniel Bryan has been part of several notable tag teams and stables:
- The Blackpool Combat Club (with Cesaro, Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, William Regal)
- Daniel Bryan & Drew Gulak
- Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan
- Team Hell No (with Kane)
- The Wyatt Family (with Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper)
- The Nexus (with Darren Young, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Michael Tarver, Ryback, Wade Barrett)
