Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Adelaide Now out of Australia to promote WrestleMania 31. Below are highlights from the interview.
On being in the I-C title ladder match instead of the main event: “For a year, I had this vision of me wrestling (former UFC champion) Brock Lesnar in the main event for the WWE Championship. But sometimes, when you don’t get what you want, you end up getting something better — like this ladder match. I think with the guys we have in that match and the excitement we can generate, we have a real chance of stealing the show.”
On Connor “The Crusher” Michalek: “This is really, really difficult for me. You talk about us inspiring people with what we do, and what we do really is a selfish job. Actors, musicians, artists, wrestlers — we all entertain people but really we are doing it for ourselves, for our art. It wasn’t until I got to the WWE, that I really felt what I do could make a positive difference in other people’s lives — and the first time I really felt like that was when I met Connor. You know how some people have a bright light shining out when you meet them? I don’t know if people understand this sometimes, but while we’re performers who inspire people we, too, are people — and we can be inspired as well.”
On wanting to make the I-C title and SmackDown important again: “One of the things that frustrates me — both as a performer and as a person who thinks the current crop of superstars is really, really good — is the way people don’t get opportunities. It’s well known that the people who are perceived to be ‘the bigger Superstars’ don’t show up often on SmackDown, they mostly feature on (the main show), Monday Night Raw. One of the things I’d like to do, as a kind of near-main event guy, is to do things that provide opportunities for guys to really stand out.”
On Vince McMahon’s “millennial” comments and his claims that Cesaro is “missing something”: “I think that’s only one man’s opinion, and I don’t think Cesaro has had a chance to show Vince that there’s nothing missing. You let Cesaro and I have a match on SmackDown and I guarantee that, by the end of it, people will either love him or hate him … he will get a very strong reaction.”
Check out the complete interview at AdelaideNow.com.