WWE Royal Rumble 2020: Top 5 performers from the event

#4 Daniel Bryan/the Fiend

Let them both in!

Before I get into analysis, one thing from this match that was said by Michael Cole stuck with me. As Bryan kept making comebacks, Cole said that "I don't think anyone expected this kind of performance from Daniel Bryan." Corey Graves added "No one except maybe Bryan." Have they not seen the bearded wonder rise to the occasion in big-time matches before?

Heading into the actual PPV, not every match had a great build. The men's Royal Rumble match and the RAW Women's Championship match were done wonderfully with several layers. Battling it out for the best build at the Royal Rumble was the ongoing mental gymnastics between the Fiend Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan.

CM Punk and the panelists on WWE Backstage have routinely stated that people like Becky Lynch and the Fiend have only been as good as their opponents. It's why Lynch's feuds with Flair, Ronda Rousey and Asuka have been great while her others have been underwhelming. The Fiend can torment anyone he wants, but its how that person he chooses decides to fight back that matters.

The Miz and Seth Rollins were just flabbergasted by this new incarnation of Wyatt. They tried their best to vanquish the psychological juggernaut but to no avail. But Bryan, despite losing to Wyatt yet again, gave the Universal Champion his stiffest competition to date. A lot of that is due to Wyatt's fantastic character work, Bryan's amazing ability to both tell a story in ring and get his opponents over.

Throughout the strap match at the Royal Rumble, Bryan would be down but not out. Multiple times he rose from the ashes to dish out punishment to The Fiend. It might not have netted the Planet's Champion a win but it was a great back-and-forth showdown between two stars with great chemistry. It was a great match by both men and The Fiend will be doing even better character work if he can get a better performance out of someone else than he got out of Bryan.