- Height: 5'10''
- Weight: 210 lbs.
- From: Aberdeen, Wa.
- Signature Move: "No!" Lock
- First WWE Game: WWE '12
- Career Highlights: World Heavyweight Champion; United States Champion; 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner
Daniel Bryan is no up-and-comer. Trained by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Bryan competed on the indie wrestling circuit for more than 10 years. Honing his craft on multiple continents, Bryan became well known for his hybrid of Japanese and American offensive styles that made good use of vicious elbow strikes, precise kicks, spine-jarring suplexes and various torturous submission maneuvers like the "Yes!" Lock, formerly named after martial art specialist Gene LeBell.
First coming to WWE as part of the inaugural season of WWE NXT, Daniel Bryan soon made it clear that he was destined for great things. After shaking the drama of The Nexus—which formed out of WWE NXT season one contestants — Bryan refocused his efforts on a solo career, exciting the WWE Universe with his unique in-ring style and bone-snapping artillery.
Eventually, the determined Superstar's efforts came full circle, when he enjoyed his first (vegan) taste of gold in WWE from then-United States Champion The Miz, his former WWE Pro. In the summer of 2011, Bryan proved he had more tricks up his sleeve when he won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, which propelled the skilled grappler to his greatest achievement: the World Heavyweight Championship.
After Bryan cashed in at WWE TLC 2011, the weightier prize around his waist wasn’t the only difference in the typically humble competitor. The “American Dragon’s” vast accomplishment seemed to change him and even though Bryan’s in-ring performance only got better while holding the World Title, his attitude distanced him from the WWE Universe that once pulled for the indie underdog in his toughest bouts within the sports-entertainment juggernaut, WWE.
