WWE SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated while at the Play Fair toy convention in New York City. Here are the highlights.
Who he would face in his first match back:
“It depends on whether WWE clears me to wrestle,” said Bryan. “That will change my opponent.”
AJ Styles:
“One of my favorite guys to watch at WWE is AJ Styles,” said Bryan. “So, on the WWE stage, I would like to wrestle AJ Styles, only because I wrestled John Cena before.”
One person he never was able to wrestle:
“I was really disappointed I never got to wrestle Shawn Michaels,” said Bryan. “He trained me and that was the one match I never got to have.”
Winning the WWE Title:
“I spent ten years honing my craft all around the world, then WWE hired me, they fired me, and hired me again,” said Bryan. “The climb to the top of being champion for me was very long, but it was rewarding. I loved being champion, I thought it was the coolest thing. “The only thing that wasn’t cool was traveling with the championship title through TSA. Once they see the belt, it’s the same kind of thing as before when they’ll say, ‘You’re a wrestling champion?’ At least I had the title to prove it, that part was very validating.”
