WWE News: Daniel Bryan Talks How He Disliked The GM Position, Who The Best In-Ring Worker Is, And Ring Rust
It was just a little over a month ago when Daniel Bryan made his in-ring return with the WWE at WrestleMania. Before he was recently cleared to perform, Daniel Bryan filled a managerial role for the WWE. In a recent interview with SPORTbible, Bryan spoke about his experience as SmackDown general manager, if he has any ring rust, how he is keeping himself safe from future mishaps, and who he thinks is currently the best in-ring performer for the WWE.
As far as ring rust goes, Bryan said that he felt normal in the ring at WrestleMania, but he did share a little concern regarding singles competition (the ‘Mania contest was a tag team match). During some recent house shows, Bryan said he was “a little bit rusty at this.” He remarked that certain moves will take some work and that it may take a while before he feels completely back to normal, but overall, he’s happy with his in-ring work.
Daniel Bryan also revealed that he wasn’t a huge fan of the general manager position on SmackDown Live. The WWE superstar said that he liked hearing the crowd erupt when his music would hit but missed being a performer in the squared circle. Bryan explained his frustration with the situation.
“It was very difficult. I disliked it, strongly. I would try and leave as soon as I could and if I found out they might not have a segment for me on TV, I would be texting the writers being like, ‘Hey can I just stay home’ – a portion of that is not liking it and portion of that is because now I’m being away from Brie and my baby to do something I’m not passionate about. That was a weird mental thing for me.”
The leader of the “Yes Movement” has suffered 10 concussions during his tenure as a wrestler (this number could actually be more as those were just the ones that were documented). Daniel looked like his old self during his performances at the Greatest Royal Rumble and ‘Mania, but he revealed that he has actually made small modifications to his style to help prevent any further mishaps.
He said the plan was to do things differently in the ring, but in a manner that the WWE universe wouldn’t notice. Rather than focusing on risky moves like he used to often perform, like delivering numerous flying headbutts, he is now utilizing a variety of submission holds.
Now that he’s back in action as a full-time wrestler, Daniel Bryan is very anxious to work with a number of superstars. He said he really enjoyed the recent match he had with Rusev, and that he would like to one day wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, and Andrade Cien Almas. As far as who he thinks is the best in-ring worker currently in the WWE, he said that title belongs to AJ Styles.
