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If you haven't seen the Daniel Bryan "My Journey to Wrestlemania 30" documentary on the Network, go out of your way to watch it. It's actually the rare WWE production that feels like an independent documentary.
The special focuses on Daniel Bryan's Wrestlemania week as well as his entire life and career, dating back to breaking in at Shawn Michaels' Wrestling Academy in Texas (leaving his home in Aberdeen, Washington the day of his High School graduation to drive to San Antonio, where he knew no one), Ring of Honor (with lots of clips provided by ROH) and all through his WWE runs.
Interviewed in the special are Bryan (who as you can imagine, comes off extremely likable), Brie Bella (equally as likable), Pat Patterson, Seth Rollins (who provides insight into Bryan in ROH and the indies), John Cena, Sheamus and more.
In the special, John Cena actually criticizes WWE for firing Daniel Bryan after the original Nexus angle, noting there should have been some sort of other punishment. Cena also takes a swipe at the "indy" stamp some WWE guys give independent talents when they come in, noting it's stupid and, "You are either good or not good."
Seth Rollins did a nice job covering the ROH era of Bryan's career, but the appearance of a Cary Silkin or a Brian Kendrick or a Gabe Sapolsky - someone who worked with Bryan during that era, would have been a nice addition here.
Pat Patterson noted that at one point, he mentioned bringing Bryan back after he was fired and Vince McMahon shot it down, saying he had "made a mistake". They actually show the incident, which WWE had previously decided "never happened". When Bryan is finally brought back for that year's Summerslam, Bryan noted that the crowd going nuts for his time in the match probably opened up WWE's eyes that maybe there was something to him.
They also go into the pair of Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania matches with Sheamus noting that they didn't find out their match at Wrestlemania 27 was a dark match until the production meeting before the show and it was the lowest moment of his career. Bryan noted that he and Sheamus decided together to use their anger over that to drive themselves harder. The 18 second Wrestlemania 28 match was also mentioned with each of them noting that they wanted to finally go and tear the house down but they did what was asked of them. There's no mention that the original plan for this past Mania was Sheamus vs. Bryan though.
Brie Bella astutely noted that all the hardships Bryan went through actually made him a bigger star because the audience wanted to see him break through and it made him a big underdog. Bella came off great on the special, really painting Bryan as a good guy and noting that the idea that he's become something within pop culture is crazy. She goes on to break down the look and attributes of your atypical WWE star and how Bryan breaks that mold - it's pretty crazy to see this on anything WWE-related, much less something they themselves produced.
They go into the craziness of the "Yes Movement" showing for the first time some of the chants that have broken out elsewhere in sports using the chant. I always thought WWE missed out on an opportunity to paint Bryan as a bigger star by not using that footage on Raw, so it's good to see it used here.
Bryan's humble personality really shines out here, as he notes that he wanted to be a wrestler but not really a Superstar and feels very out of place when someone comes up to him because he's Daniel Bryan. He notes that he's just another dude but he's someone who wrestlers. That's a vast difference in how WWE usually wants their top stars - much less the current WWE World Heavyweight champion - portrayed but if Bryan wasn't that way, he wouldn't be as special and unique a person and talent as he is.
In the middle of all this is Bryan talking about how nutty his life has become as he prepares for the two biggest matches of his career, getting married the same week and buying a house - each a circumstance with their own unique, stressful series of events, yet here's Bryan doing all three and not showing any signs of pressure. But, that's what makes him Daniel Bryan.
Truly a great personality profile on the former "American Dragon", one of the hardest working guys in the wrestling business today and dare I say it, the most deserving WWE champion of all time.
Check it out if and when you can. The special itself is well worth the $10 WWE Network price tag. If this is going to be the norm for original productions on the Network, they are setting a really high level for themselves and we are in for a lot of great material.
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com and can be followed at @MikePWInsider.
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