Daniel Bryan

[ProWrestlingFan]

"Why a lethal grappler, why a serious submission specialist like Daniel Bryan, puts a smile on his face and saddles himself, belittles himself, with catchphrases?" - CM Punk's quote from RAW about Daniel Bryan

Here's the full promo :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZgEmNors_c


CM Punk was right. Why does WWE gives every good wrestler a stupid gimmick? Daniel Bryan was way better before his comedy gimmick in my opinion.

In your opinion which version of Daniel Bryan is better? Do you think Daniel Bryan's comedy gimmick is holding him back?

 

[Nate DaMac]

I think you're a fucking idiot. Daniel Bryan was just another cog in the wheel in WWE before he started running with this new persona. This gimmick has made him a commodity for the WWE, he's more than just a good hand in the ring now. Instead of being the Indy darling who comes out to smatters of cheers from the crowd, he comes out to an overwhelming pop. He's one of the top merch movers and he's featured on every episode of Raw and Smackdown as well as every PPV.

His gimmick is the best thing that has happened to him.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Daniel Bryan's so called "stupid gimmick" helped him to reach a level in his career he'd never been close to before.

What Bryan has shown over the course of the past 15 months or so is that he not only has the ability inside the ring, something that's been known since long before he came to WWE, but he also has the charisma & passion to make fans care about him as a character. Before beginning his slow heel turn late in 2011, Daniel Bryan was a bland, generic babyface. He went from being a bland, generally uninteresting wrestler to being one of the most over wrestlers on the WWE roster within the span of about a month.

Daniel Bryan had an amazing year in 2012. Not only did he win the World Heavyweight Championship, but he has a meaningful & significant run with it. His feud with CM Punk for the WWE Championship, after his feud with Sheamus over the WHC ended, also resulted in some of the best wrestling matches of 2012 in any company. He goes from there to form an unlikely tag team with Kane and they became, arguably, the most entertaining tag team in wrestling in 2012. They were certainly among the biggest & most pleasant surprises in 2012 and were part of some of the legitimately funniest moments seen on WWE television in years. On top of all that, Kane & Bryan helped to revitalize tag team wrestling in WWE. It's not perfect, but tag wrestling & the tag team titles mean more in WWE now than they have in many years. The tag team scene has taken a backseat during the WM build, so I'm hoping WWE gets back on track in the post WM season.

As I alluded to earlier, Bryan's comedy character has helped to get him to another level in his career, one where he's a pretty significant draw & money maker for WWE. It's one that's shown he has a good deal of personality & charisma. Because Bryan has shown that he has the stuff not only in the ring but as a character & personality as well, he has the potential to be a long term player in WWE.

So yeah, Bryan's "stupid gimmick" is one that's made him a big, marketable star in WWE. I guess 10,000+ people cheering & chanting for him every night and being invested in whatever he's doing isn't as good as being personality challenged milk toast indy wrestler.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Above image is evidence that Bryan has always been a silly character.

When he was ROH World Champion he tried playing the hated heel but it never worked, so he found the middle-ground which was being a bad guy but being silly, he'd do little things like the "I have till five" or asking the ring announcer to reiterate the rules to something as simplistic as a singles match just to insult the fans intelligence, so before coming into WWE he always had the traits of a lighthearted character so it's not just WWE who chooses to have him this way, it could possibly be him knowing what works and doesn't work.

The "Yes! No!" thing took Bryan to a near mainstream audience, there were sports games being held in America following WrestleMania and his chant which people recognized as his echoed throughout the arenas. It gave him marketability other than being a submission expert, it brought him to a whole other level of popularity too. The "comedy" gimmick isn't holding him back, when it was what brought him to the level hes at.

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

This comedy gimmick is what helped DB make the transition between a wrestler and an entertainer. When he first started he was everything Punk said he was, but as we all know to succeed in the WWE you have to be an entertainer. So they gave him that gimmick. And I bet that nobody in creative imagined that Bryan will do so well and will be one of the most over guys in the WWE. I mean just look at him. DB has turned into one of the most entertaining people both on Raw and Smackdown and his partnership with Kane is awesome to watch.

 

[dman1373]

Instead of being the Indy darling who comes out to smatters of cheers from the crowd, he comes out to an overwhelming pop.

People seem to forget how over daniel bryan was before yes. Sure he wasn't as over, but he always got a great reception. Find me one example where he didn't. Its like people thinking punk wasn't over before the famous promo. Which is not true at all because he would get cm punk chants during raw when he was a heel, or he would get more heat then anyone else on the card.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Holding him back? No. Because he's as popular as anyone in the WWE. Sure the submission specialists are more renowned and appreciated, it takes skill to be that good AND to have a personality to boot, and Bryan has that.

And considering he's had a world title run and is a current Tag Team champion, I don't believe it's holding him back. It's made him what he is today... a bonafide superstar. I won't rip your head off like others here have done, but to say he's better off as the monotone submission wrestler with no t-shirts and no catchphrase is a little absurd.

 

[Matisyahu]

I think Daniel Bryan is a hell of a lot happier now in WWE than before because he can be himself and just have fun. Plus like someone mentioned before he is on literally every show now and gets more of a reaction than anyone else.

The best part is he still is playing his asshole heel character and getting cheered more than any face on the card just by saying no and motioning "no" with his hands.

Even at the pinnacle of his heel run last year, he still came off as comedic in a way. Its just his personality and part of the character

There is no way he is being held back

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

CM Punk was right. Why does WWE gives every good wrestler a stupid gimmick? Daniel Bryan was way better before his comedy gimmick in my opinion.

Are you serious? The man is gold in comedy.

[youtube]cnA8aylWRrI#t=174s[/youtube]

3:00 and after...

Btw its just Punks promo shoot. Why did Punk did it? Oh thats right, to boost his heelish persona and to get people to hate him...

Point: Its just promo. And you missed the point, he was not talking about stupid gimick, he talked about what wrestlers do to get people to like them or hate them. Punk himself is part of that.

 

[The Deadly Viper]

This "stupid" gimmick you speak of, is the one that really elevated him to a position of "relevancy" in the WWE hierarchy. Team Hell No has been one of the highlights of WWE recently for me. They are just brilliant. Alongside this his popularity went up a lot due to this "stupid" gimmick, and so I feel it was a brilliant move to have him play this through, as he's done a terrific job to say the least.

 

[Pedigree1]

That stupid Gimmick you allude to has helped DB in so many ways. DB is one of the few guys in wrestling that is so vast he can do anything the company sticks him in,and make it shine. This comedy gimmick is pure and i mean pure G O L D! DB is featured on every Raw Smackdown,PPV etc. The man is pure genius to make it work.

Sure DB is one hell of a performer probably one of the top three guys in the company very easily athletic wise. His feuds with Punk in 2012 were just amazing matches probably the best we have seen in awhile. The Man comes out to massive Pops people cheer this man with YES chants. I for one,would want DB to shout NO in my face while i shout YES just to have that feeling! This gimmick has helped out his career more so than if he was just a submission specialist!

Plus he formed an unlikely alliance with Kane of all people and arguably they are the best Tag Team we have seen in awhile. DB again pure genius more so than an indy darling most people thought he was..

 

[The Butcher]

I'm legitimately surprised there would be a debate about this. He's more entertaining, more over, more utilized, more accomplished, more everything since he started the "YES!" routine. It's a shame that this isn't a spam forum because the first line of the first response would have sufficed in replying to such an asinine premise. To each their own and there's no accounting for good taste, but platitudes aside, this is ******ed.

 

[CM Steel]

I think you're a fucking idiot. Daniel Bryan was just another cog in the wheel in WWE before he started running with this new persona. This gimmick has made him a commodity for the WWE, he's more than just a good hand in the ring now. Instead of being the Indy darling who comes out to smatters of cheers from the crowd, he comes out to an overwhelming pop. He's one of the top merch movers and he's featured on every episode of Raw and Smackdown as well as every PPV.

His gimmick is the best thing that has happened to him.

I don't mean to get off the subject here, I've read the post. But Nate why are all of your comments so asshole-like? I mean it's just a YES or No question. And to answer the poll question. I think Daniel Bryan the character is what the WWE wanted all along. We all know that if the E let Bryan Danielson loose he wouldn't be as successful in the WWE as in ROH.

That's just reality talking.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I don't mean to get off the subject here, I've read the post. But Nate why are all of your comments so asshole-like?

Well said sir.

Like the great one Steve Austin said, 'The best characters are extensions of their own personalities'. I don't think the WWE writers or creative staff said to Daniel Bryan when he won the WHC to run down the ramp chanting 'YES', it was just an extention of his natural character and it evolved from there. Similarly, there is probably an element of CM Punk who is bitter about the Rock, etc.

 

[Nate DaMac]

People seem to forget how over daniel bryan was before yes. Sure he wasn't as over, but he always got a great reception. Find me one example where he didn't. Its like people thinking punk wasn't over before the famous promo. Which is not true at all because he would get cm punk chants during raw when he was a heel, or he would get more heat then anyone else on the card.

He got decent reactions in certain areas on the east coast, but most midwestern cities had no idea who he was until the Yes! gimmick came into play. He was over in the same way that Kofi Kingston is over. People liked him because he was a good guy who didn't suck, but he wasn't drawing a crowd or selling any merchandise. To be over doesn't just mean the crowd reacts to you, it means they care about you.

I don't mean to get off the subject here, I've read the post. But Nate why are all of your comments so asshole-like? I mean it's just a YES or No question.

I'm not always an asshole. Just to people like you and ProWrestlingFan because you're both really, really stupid. You'd probably understand that if you werent so... you know, stupid.

 

[MCMG]

"Why a lethal grappler, why a serious submission specialist like Daniel Bryan, puts a smile on his face and saddles himself, belittles himself, with catchphrases?" - CM Punk's quote from RAW about Daniel Bryan

Here's the full promo :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZgEmNors_c


CM Punk was right. Why does WWE gives every good wrestler a stupid gimmick? Daniel Bryan was way better before his comedy gimmick in my opinion.

In your opinion which version of Daniel Bryan is better? Do you think Daniel Bryan's comedy gimmick is holding him back?

Let me guess, you are the kinda guy who thinks Tyson Kidd and William Regal should face of in a 60 minute Iron-man match at WM rather than Cena/Rock and Brock/HHH. Or that Hulk Hogan is not worthy of being in the same room as AJ styles.

Daniel Bryan has benefited massively from this gimmick. I'm not saying he was good without but it helped him. He is now popular with the crowd and can use that as a platform for when Team Hell No ends.

 

[Uncle Sam]

It's a popular myth that Daniel Bryan wasn't over before the "Yes!" gimmick. He was. Very over. He was by and far the most significant thing to come out of the first season of NXT and was very over with the fans - as a 'serious wrestler'. You remember: he ran down Michael Cole, sparking that whole heel turn, then got fired, and "Daniel Bry-an!" chants closed out a pay-per-view.

What happened? Writing happened. The two pronged fork of shitty writing and The Bella Twins to be exact. Two problems - The Bella Twins (who I'm sure are great sex, Messrs. Bryan and Cena, just not great television) and vanilla face syndrome. If you've read Chris Jericho's book (the good first one, not the boring second one) then you'll have read how your heart drops when you're handed "vanilla babyface" and tasked with getting over. In short, it's like being handed a bucket of ice and asked to start a house fire. Daniel Bryan became infamous for sportsmanship, competitiveness and, um, smiling. Essentially, he was given exposure without being given an outlet for his personality, and so his heat died out in such a way that you could put the blame on him.

Then, oh, he's given the world title, given an outlet for his personality and this bizarre thing happens - he gets over again. This was before he was a goatface, before he had yelling matches with Kane and before he had a best-selling t-shirt. He was still a 'serious wrestler', he just had a personality. He got so over that he was more popular than the actual babyface he was facing at WrestleMania, and it was his chant which interrupted The fucking Rock. "Yes!" chants were systematically removed from SmackDown for weeks on end - because no getting over without permission, damn it! Bryan, as a 'serious wrestler', had one of the best matches - and biggest crowd reactions - of the year against Sheamus at Extreme Rules.

Bryan didn't get over as a comedy wrestler. He got over, then became a comedy wrestler, and has remained over. Because it's a good gimmick. But it shouldn't be forever. It's already worn out its welcome for me, fond as I was of it for the first few, well, months. There's a future for Daniel Bryan, and it shouldn't be as a Santino 2.0 who always takes the pin so fucking Kane doesn't have to look bad. He's better than that; he's proved he's better than that. Let's not pretend that becoming a 'serious wrestler' (yes, those inverted commas are staying put) is a death sentence.

 

[dman1373]

He got decent reactions in certain areas on the east coast, but most midwestern cities had no idea who he was until the Yes! gimmick came into play. He was over in the same way that Kofi Kingston is over. People liked him because he was a good guy who didn't suck, but he wasn't drawing a crowd or selling any merchandise. To be over doesn't just mean the crowd reacts to you, it means they care about you.

First of all is hes always gotten loud reactions since hes been in the wwe. And i mean since hes been on the main roster. Show me other wise. You can't. But i do agree with you that there is a difference between being over and drawing. And i also agree the yes has helped him become a draw. So there you have it, i agree and disagree with your statement.

 

[Nate DaMac]

First of all is hes always gotten loud reactions since hes been in the wwe. And i mean since hes been on the main roster. Show me other wise.

I see what you mean, that was certainly DEAFENING.


How can the announcers even talk over all that ruckus?


John Cena, eat your heart out.

You can't.

I did.

But i do agree with you that there is a difference between being over and drawing. And i also agree the yes has helped him become a draw. So there you have it, i agree and disagree with your statement.

That's pretty redundant. If you're not drawing, you're not really over.

 

[BigThunder]

Daniel didn't really break the ceiling until his Mark Henry feud: "yes" was the icing on the cake, but he was already over -- I'll cite his match with Dolph Ziggler at Bragging Rights as proof that he wasn't bathroom break material early in his WWE career: good pop, good crowd chants -- and look at the pop he got when he cashed in Money in the Bank. That was one of the loudest pops I've heard in recent years, and that was before "yes" took off.

I think Daniel's stalled in the last two to three months. Hell No isn't as over as they were at the beginning, Daniel's jobbed an awful lot in the last while, and they've positioned Kane as the star and face of Hell No. When Hell No comes out, it's usually to Kane's music, not Daniel's. Worse, when there's been dissention between Bryan and Kane, 95% of the time it's Daniel's fault. WWE's dragged out the "will they or won't they" breakup storyline for so long that fans have ceased to care; he's been in so many meaningless matches lately -- with the exception of his match with Jericho -- that he's cooled down a lot.

Not everyone can be on the main event roster, but I hope Daniel gets another crack at it soon. If they go for making him a face after THN's breakup, give him a feud with Dolph; if heel, a long feud with Cena would be good for both men.

 

[lowandmighty]

One of the things I like about wrestling is that it's funny. It's lightheartedness mixed in with the drama is what keeps me interested so Daniel Bryan's comedy gimmick (and his beard which is pure gold) has helped me to endure him.

Quite frankly before he became funny and was trying to be serious, I didn't like him and I even wrote some pretty slanderous things about him that were gross exaggerations about him having no character.

Now that he's shown that he can actually pull off a genius gimmick, I love him.

 

[ThePrawnCurry]

the Yes run was the best thing in wwe for a lot of 2012

his program with AJ was certainly note worthy

the matches with Henry and Big Slow were awesome

pity creativ were so quick to kill off this phase of his character

 

[boywithbluehanger]

I agree with the OP in that the comedy schtick with Kane has not been the route that they should have gone with Daniel Bryan. Just because he's been successful with it doesn't mean it's the best way it could have been done. If we want to pinpoint the modern influx of DB's success, you have to look no further than the "YES!" chants that became popularized at 2012's WM. I think that while the "YES!" chants were hot, he should have remained in the WHC scene feuding with Sheamus and eventually winning it back. ADR, Jack Swagger, and Big Show are not as over as Daniel Bryan and Sheamus was starting to benefit from Bryan's very-over arrogance. Sheamus could have become a heel once again after the frustration and DB could have stayed this selfish asshole character that only cares about himself. The fans were fine with it as long as he continued to use his popular battlecry. Not to mention, the Question & Answer Time with Daniel Bryan parts were a nice little crowd-participating promo segment.

Sticking him with Kane and making him chant "NO!" for months was not the best way to utilize DB. Also as a minor complaint, they shouldn't have had AJ and ADR mooch off of the catchphrase to build them. The fans were perfectly fine chanting "SI!" whenever they decided to. ADR invoking the chant came across as too desperate and had a (small) hand in also making it less fun. Overall with the process of Team Hell No and the "NO!" chants, the company suits are pretty much killing a very fun portion of the crowd involvement within their own shows. And without this to fall back on, DB is still excellent in the ring but he'll lose what made him relevant to the majority of viewers.

 

[Captain Saladin]

The second he did the "YES!" chant after winning the WHC I knew it was the right way to go for him. His slow burn heel turn was really well done, actually. Bryan is great as a comedy character because he's still going to put on great matches so he what has he got to lose?