Four Daniel Bryan Matches We All Want to See

It’s for real now. Daniel Bryan is cleared to compete in a WWE ring. What once seemed impossible is now a reality. The Bearded Badass is now a wrestler again.

While there are more than a few people that the Yes Man should lock horns with, some matches need to happen more than others. There are so many people who have never had the chance to wrestle Bryan. Here are four people who I feel should absolutely have the chance to face him.

sami zayn

Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan have crossed paths before in Ring of Honor, but those matches were nearly a decade ago. This was before Bryan became the ultimate Underdog. This was before Zayn became the performer he is today.

While the two may cross paths in the super-duper near future (my money’s on Bryan teaming with Shane against Zayn and Owens), if these two had a singles match, it could absolutely tear the house down. For all the time he spends in the main event, Zayn doesn’t get too many chances to show off just how good he actually is.

I think that Kevin Owens could also put on an absolute clinic with Bryan, but the match that I really want to see would be between Bryan and Zayn.

baron corbin

This is kind of a weird choice. I’m an unabashed Corbin mark, so no need to call me out on it. I feel the need to start off this entry by saying that Corbin does not suck. He’s had great matches with Kalisto, Tye Dillinger, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Jack Swagger, Bobby Roode, and many others.

All that said, I believe that Daniel Bryan and Baron Corbin could have an absolutely great match. Corbin is WWE through and through, and some of his best matches come when he’s against people who have honed their craft elsewhere. Those people don’t carry him, though. Corbin holds his own in his matches.

Bryan could bring out the absolute best in Corbin. Corbin, in turn, can feed off the energy coming from Bryan. Corbin’s moveset is also quite safe, I think. Just think of Bryan spinning around in a Deep Six. It’s pretty cool.

shinsuke nakamura

It’s kind of hard to see why Daniel Bryan would be placed in a match with Shinsuke Nakamura. After all, Nakamura’s whole shtick is that he kicks people in the head. He also knees them in the face. Sometimes he even attacks them from behind. And his reverse powerslam (the one that nearly broke John Cena’s neck) could be hard for Bryan to do.

Still, Bryan is exactly the kind of guy Nakamura could have a great match with. I know it sounds like I’m saying that about everybody, but both men have grown so much since they last fought in 2004.

Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that one of the main reasons that Nakamura came to WWE was so that he could wrestle Bryan. For a while, this seemed like a case of bad timing, but now it could actually happen.

aj styles

AJ Styles is definitely in the conversation for “greatest wrestler of all time.” He made an immediate impact upon debuting for WWE, and it’s been going nowhere but up for him (excluding that short stint as United States Champion, that was just kind of bad, for some reason). Ever since he showed up, people have been comparing him to Daniel Bryan. The way that Styles connected with the audience was one of the reasons why. Another reason was just that good.

People saw Styles as a new Daniel Bryan, in a way. Styles wasn’t supposed to make it far, but then he did. Now that Bryan can wrestle again, it’s time for the two of them to face off.

This match, should it happen, should be saved for a big event. It’s a dream match. While the two have fought before, that was way back in 2006. They’ve both improved their game.

Styles is one of the greatest. Bryan was one of the greatest as well. Let them fight.