He is ‘The Yes Man.’
There is not a more popular WWE Superstar today than Daniel Bryan. The man who can get an entire arena to collectively throw their arms up in the air and scream “Yes!,” still holds the hearts of the fans and remains the man of the hour.
It was one year ago that Daniel Bryan overcame the odds to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania before a neck injpury sidelined him for the majority of 2014. Ever since Bryan returned this year, he has been on a roll with his eyes set to grab the brass ring and obtain the gold. However, this time around it’s a different type of gold.
Bryan is in pursuit of the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania in a chaotic ladder match where he hopes to restore the prestige that was once synonymous with carrying the belt.
CraveOnline: When you think of the Intercontinental Championship, who and what are the first things that come to mind?
Daniel Bryan: I traditionally think of Bret Hart and I don’t know why that is… I think of Bret Hart as somebody who held the Intercontinental championship like it was the World Heavyweight championship. Every title match he was in felt important like it was the most important thing on the show. The way he carried himself and the matches he had, it was just everything I thought a champion should be.
CraveOnline: At WrestleMania 31 you’ll be in a six-man ladder match for the IC title. What can we expect? Do you have anything special you’re going to try to do?
Daniel Bryan: With ladder matches, you can’t expect anything other than craziness. We got Dean Ambrose in there who has done his fair share of crazy things in ladder matches. You have Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler that had an absolutely insane ladder match in December against each other. We have a lot of guys who are going to get crazy, especially in front of 65,000-70,000 people in Levis Stadium. You never know what’s going to happen.
CraveOnline: What do you guys do to prepare for the frenzy that is known as WrestleMania? Do you have to kick it up a notch or is it just another show with your busy schedules?
Daniel Bryan: Well, when people say “kick it up a notch” it’s really just increasing your training and being a little stricter on your diet and all that kind of stuff. As far as trying to do anything differently, it’s difficult because our lives are so busy, right? The entire week before WrestleMania we’re doing media throughout the week and trying to get stuff in during the week. This weekend we will have Pre-Show, then do RAW on Monday, we will start doing media stuff on Tuesday. It’s a busy week so a lot of it is trying to just keep yourself healthy. Keep yourself in good shape. Trying, when your busy, to get enough sleep and rest so when Sunday comes, you’re in your best possible shape.
CraveOnline: Your fans never stop cheering for you even when you’re not in the ring or on screen. When you hear your name chanted even when you’re not out there, is it flattering or is it like “Okay, guys, we get it?”
Daniel Bryan: [Laughs] To me it’s always flattering. I’m sure there are other people who are like “Okay, guys. C’mon, we know you like Daniel Bryan but I’m out here performing so save something for me.” [Laughs] Its that kind of crowd reaction that has got me where I’m at now; to the point where I’m one of the most popular guys in WWE. Without that I would have never even had an opportunity to main event WrestleMania last year so I’m incredibly thankful for it.
CraveOnline: With your book coming out in a few months, what is the one thing that you can tell us that your fans don’t already know?
Daniel Bryan: Gosh. I don’t know because I’m not sure what fans are aware of and what fans aren’t aware of, you know? I got deported from England [laughs] in 2013, the first time I went to England. There will be little things like that, that people don’t know about my life. I’m sure there are lots of things but my life is so familiar to me, I don’t know what people know and what they don’t know.
CraveOnline: Help me out with this one. When it comes to wrestlers, what is the rule on names? When a fan meets you, do you all prefer your WWE name or your legal name?
Daniel Bryan: I think most guys prefer that fans call them by their WWE name. But with me, it doesn’t matter cause my real name is Bryan and my last name in WWE is Bryan so I hear people call me “Daniel” and people call me “Bryan.” The only weird thing would be if somebody would be like “Hey Danielson.” [Laughs] “Oh, that’s weird, that he just did that.” To me it doesn’t matter but I think a lot of guys prefer to be called by their WWE names.
CraveOnline: We know you and your wife are big healthy eaters. What is your diet exactly and what foods do we need to stay away from?
Daniel Bryan: The thing that I have to stay away from is sweets. I have a horrible sweet tooth. It’s just the worst. I have to stay away from that a lot but my diet is predominantly plant-based. I used to be a vegan. So for example, on Monday we were in Des Moines, Iowa and I was able to find a vegan restaurant and got a really nice healthy meal. There was quinoa. There were all sorts of vegetables and that sort of thing and a lot of people aren’t necessarily into it. That’s not necessarily good if you want to look like a bodybuilder but that’s what makes me feel the best. I occasionally will eat meat and stuff now and I’ll eat eggs and that kind of stuff but I like to predominantly eat plant-based.
CraveOnline: Connor ‘The Crusher’ Michalek is receiving the first ever Warrior Award. Can you briefly touch on what that means to you?
Daniel Bryan: I think that’s a great award to give out because it’s people that inspire us. What we do is entertainment. We entertain people. Sometimes we inspire people but sometimes we are just a way to fill their time. Connor is somebody who truly inspired me. He’s somebody who throughout all the pain always had a smile on his face. You have to keep in mind too that I wasn’t there for the really hard stuff. His dad was there for the really hard stuff. He would come to our shows and he would be in pain and his dad would be like “Okay, Connor. I think you need to go rest” but he was just so happy and had a smile on his face and somebody being that strong at such a young age is really inspirational to the rest of us. It also, makes you feel bad about yourself in a sense that “Oh man, I’m complaining cause I didn’t get my sandwich or whatever.” [Laughs] He’s got cancer and he’s as happy as can be. That kind of stuff helps you put life in perspective.
Related: WWE’s Tribute To Connor The Crusher Goes Viral
CraveOnline: How much personal involvement did you have with your DVD that is coming out soon?
Daniel Bryan: Very little [laughs]. They sat me down for an interview for about maybe an hour and a half to two hours and I forgot that there was a DVD [laughs]. I’ve been more focused on the book because I spent a huge amount of time writing and all that kind of stuff so I guess sometimes I forget that the DVD is even a thing.
CraveOnline: Jericho recently stated that when he came to WWE he had to learn ‘WWE style’ of wrestling. You’ve been around the block. What exactly is ‘WWE style?’
Daniel Bryan: WWE style is evolving. I think it’s interesting because the WWE style is not the same as it was five years ago when I first got here. I think I’ve changed WWE style. I think a lot of people coming up have changed WWE style like when The Shield came in. They definitely changed WWE style because all of a sudden these three guys were putting on killer matches every single week and if you wanted to get cheered, you couldn’t just go out there and do a slow plotting match. You just couldn’t. WWE style is changing on a continual basis but I think the one thing that is synonymous to me with WWE style is the good guy always having to comeback [laughs]. In the WWE, the good guy always gets a comeback, right? That to me is what is synonymous with WWE style.
CraveOnline: What’s the next big step for Daniel Bryan?
Daniel Bryan: What I hope is, is that I’ll win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania and then really take the Intercontinental Championship to the next level. I roomed with Shinsuke Nakamura who wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan and he did something that I thought was incredible. For years, their Heavyweight Championship was the main title of the promotion and in this past year because of Nakamura the way he held the title and the way he carried himself as champion, the fans got to vote. What would be the main event at their biggest show of the year ‘Tokyo Dome?’ It’s their version of WrestleMania, right? The fans voted and they voted for the Intercontinental Championship to be in the main event and that would be my dream for the Intercontinental Championship with WWE…to win the Intercontinental Championship and for what we are doing with the Intercontinental Championship to be so good that people would rather see that then whatever is going on with the World Heavyweight Championship.
Photos courtesy of WWE
Joshua Caudill is a writer for CraveOnline Sports, a surfing enthusiast, an unhealthy sports fanatic, and an expert on all things Patrick Swayze. You can follow him on Twitter @JoshuaCaudill85 or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
