Daniel Bryan is a miracle.
Even before his forced retirement in 2016, Bryan had a pretty solid case to being the greatest wrestler of all time. He did this despite WWE’s best efforts to bury him into the dirt with piss poor booking and creative. Any other talent would have faded into the background–dulled the shine that made them great like Bayley or wallow in midcard mediocrity like Dolph Ziggler. Daniel Bryan rose above.
But ever since his return in 2018, Daniel Bryan has continued to add to his endless resume by having two all time great performances with talents far beneath his own skill level. First, in 2019, Daniel Bryan elevated lifelong midcarder Kofi Kingston to a five star classic on the grandest stage in all of pro wrestling. Now in 2020, he takes a no selling lug of cheap character tricks like The Fiend and elevates him to a great match.
While their encounter at Survivor Series last year was just on the right side of good, it was still marred by the WWE’s insistence on making things as hard as possible for their workers. The hellish red light that failed Kane, failed Sin Cara, went on to fail The Fiend. Surprise surprise.
Here at the Royal Rumble, the lights are on. And when you can see Daniel Bryan work, it becomes apparent that you are watching the greatest to ever do this.
For this strap match, the WWE dispenses of the tedious four corners rules and simply makes it a pinfalls or submissions match. Good. Bryan and The Fiend make the most of this stipulation, whipping each other raw on multiple occasions. You watch in real time as the welts form on their bodies.
Structurally, there’s a lot to love here to. Bryan is a master of compelling transitions and him repeatedly kicking The Fiend in the nuts atop the announce table was just as thrilling as him doing the same to Brock Lesnar in 2018. From that point forward, the match never fails to retain my attention.
Bryan’s bursts of offense are so thrilling even under normal rules. But anyone who’s seen his Fight Without Honor against Takeshi Morishima knows that Bryan is able to organically incorporate gimmicks and weapons into his matches without sacrificing urgency and brutality. He alternates between YES Kicks to The Fiend’s chest and strap shots to the top of The Fiend’s head for example.
But more than that, there is Bryan’s impeccable connection to the crowd. Watch the way he emotes at the finishing stretch. He draws his energy, his strength, from the love of the crowd. It fuels him physically, his body shaking and buzzing with the thrill of their cheers. And when The Fiend stands over him, unbreakable despite Bryan’s best efforts, Bryan does not cringe or weep like Seth Rollins. Bryan understands his fate. He knows all is lost.
But he keeps fighting.
The greatest wrestler of all time keeps working miracles in 2020. After the hellmonth for the world that January has been, this small fact provides me some comfort. Confined as it is to the niche silliness that is wrestling, it brings joy nonetheless. I choose to cherish it, to celebrate it. Give this match a watch and see what the best can do.
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