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When it was announced that Daniel Bryan had been officially cleared to return to in-ring action, the collective wrestling world was excited about the possibilities that created. Those possibilities include potential matches against such talented men as AJ Styles and Finn Balor, now that Bryan can actively compete once again.
However, what fans may not necessarily know is that Bryan has already had the pleasure of stepping in the ring with a number of these potential 'dream' opponents.
These matches came before he was in WWE and was instead competing for different promotions. Watching these past matches shows that it didn't matter who Bryan was in the ring with, he was able to tell a story with each and every one of them.
For these matches, Bryan went by his real name of Bryan Danielson, while those he faced competed under different names with the exception of a couple. Here are five current WWE Superstars that Daniel Bryan has already stepped into the ring with.
#5 AJ Styles
In 2006, AJ Styles and a clean-cut, clean-shaven Bryan Danielson faced one another for the Ring of Honor world championship. While the match is twelve years removed from their recent matchup on SmackDown Live, it was a tremendous confrontation that told the story of a brash and overly confident Danielson demonstrating how much of a heel he was capable of being.
Also, read: WWE Backlash: 5 potential finishes for Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
For instance, early on in their matchup, Danielson suplexed Styles hard on his head, and when Styles re-entered in the ring he was met with Danielson offering his hand as a sign of respect.
It got the ire of Styles, who knew that 'The American Dragon' was more concerned with making the Phenomenal One look worse than just defeating him. He even went as far as to tie up Styles with head scissors and do push-ups at the same timing, trying to embarrass AJ. One has to wonder what twelve years of seasoning for the two of them would lead to today.
#5 AJ Styles
In 2006, AJ Styles and a clean-cut, clean-shaven Bryan Danielson faced one another for the Ring of Honor world championship. While the match is twelve years removed from their recent matchup on SmackDown Live, it was a tremendous confrontation that told the story of a brash and overly confident Danielson demonstrating how much of a heel he was capable of being.
For instance, early on in their matchup, Danielson suplexed Styles hard on his head, and when Styles re-entered in the ring he was met with Danielson offering his hand as a sign of respect.
It got the ire of Styles, who knew that 'The American Dragon' was more concerned with making the Phenomenal One look worse than just defeating him. He even went as far as to tie up Styles with head scissors and do push-ups at the same timing, trying to embarrass AJ. One has to wonder what twelve years of seasoning for the two of them would lead to today.
Also, read: WWE Backlash: 5 potential finishes for Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
#4 Samoa Joe
Before Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan were achieving acclaim in WWE, they had a rivalry in Ring of Honor. Much like his match against AJ Styles, Danielson displayed a brash and overconfident nature that saw him turn on his Ring of Honor teammates, in particular, Joe, when he was part of a ten-man tag match against rival promotion Combat Zone Wrestling.
To see today how Bryan is among the biggest faces in the promotion while Joe is considered among the greatest heels, it is interesting to see the reversed roles more than a decade earlier.
One match, in particular, took place when Joe was the Ring of Honor world champion. It appeared in that match as though Bryan was getting the better of Joe, but after nearly forty minutes of battle, Joe was able to make the challenger tap. It was certainly a match that showcased the respect that these men had for one another, and one that fans thoroughly enjoyed years ago.
#3 Dean Ambrose
In a match that took place on August 20th, 2010 for Les Thatcher's Heartland Wrestling Association, in front of a crowd of nearly 200 hundred people, two future WWE champions came together to showcase just how good they were becoming.
The match showcased once again the technical prowess of Bryan while demonstrating how fierce Ambrose could be. It also showed just how technical Ambrose could be even though he was largely known for his time in Combat Zone Wrestling.
In this match, he was able to use moves such as triangle chokes and drop down stepover moves that fans wouldn't normally see from the lunatic fringe today. The intense and at times brash Jon Moxley (Ambrose's in-ring name at the time) attempted to rub it in the face of his opponent and wouldn't take any of his retaliation.
Ambrose walked and sometimes crossed the lines to get the advantage over Bryan. The match went over twenty minutes, with Bryan essentially beating Ambrose down to a point where he couldn't defend himself.
#2 Seth Rollins
As part of their time in Ring of Honor, Bryan faced a young Tyler Black on May 9th, 2008. Yes, these two men squared off against one another when Rollins was part of the Shield, but before that, they faced one another in front a crowd of nearly 1000 people.
Their match told the story of the heel Rollins facing the more seasoned and experienced Bryan. Rollins certainly showed how he could use his athleticism to deliver effective moves, while also showing just how brash and arrogant of a character he could be.
Early in the match, Rollins was able to dictate the flow, even when Bryan attempted to get the better of him. However, after about five minutes, Bryan was able to wear down his opponent and used his technical prowess to get the better of the man who is now, the reigning Intercontinental champion.
Bryan's return could mean these two could once again face each other, adding even more depth to their earlier matches.
#1 Finn Balor
While competing for NWA Empire in front of a sparse crowd in New York, Bryan faced a young upstart that would later come to be known as Finn Balor, who at the time was competing under his real name of Fergal Devitt.
The match began with the men showing mutual respect for one another. It started simple enough with a collar and elbow tie-up, and Bryan leaning Devitt into the ropes and turnbuckle on a couple of occasions.
The younger DeVitt was being played up as a heel to the crowd because Bryan had spent time on the New York independents which made him an easy favourite for the fans to cheer. Devitt played heelish-ly to the crowd, and at times looked to get the advantage on the former Ring of Honor champion through questionable means.
At times the men were able to go counter-for-counter with one another. The technically skilled Bryan had Balor tied up on more than one occasion with various manoeuvres including the body scissors.
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