WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown. With that win, Roman has ‘banished’ Bryan from the blue brand of WWE.

Following the win Reigns posted a video online, saying that the former WWE Champion Bryan should ‘thank him’ for giving him the ability to go home and ‘be a dad.’

“Already putting in the work, just a few hours removed on Saturday morning” Reigns began during the mid workout video. “Last night, I achieved greatness once again. As I’m hitting this cardio, I’m sitting here thinking, the whole world should be thanking me.”

Roman Reigns on Daniel Bryan

“Daniel Bryan, you should be thanking me” Reigns added. “I’m a man of my word, I did what I said I was going to do. Not only did I give the audience what they need, I got rid of you and I’m driving us forward, taking care of the future, getting rid of the old.”

“I gave you what you wanted. You made it clear; you were looking for a new door” Roman Reigns continued, alluding to Daniel Bryan saying that he potentially wants to wrestle elsewhere. “What better way to go through the new one when the old one hits you in the ass? That’s what I did, I closed this door on you.”

“We’re going to live the ‘Show up and Win’ mantra and keep putting work in” Reigns added. “Next Friday on SmackDown, not only do I expect you to acknowledge me — we’re not talking about you Daniel Bryan, we’re done with you. Go have fun, be a dad, save the world, hug a tree, whatever you want to do — To the WWE Universe.”

“Some of them call you that, but to me you’re mine. You’re my audience and my people” Reigns concluded. “Not only are you going to acknowledge me on Friday, you’re going to thank me.”

Do you want to see Daniel Bryan leave WWE and look for a ‘new door?’ Let us know in the comments

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently appeared on My Mom’s Basement. The former WWE Champion discussed a number of topics during the interview, including his favorite ever WWE match.

“My favorite match in my WWE career is my match with Kofi at WrestleMania 35,” Bryan stated on the podcast. “It’s so special and such a cool moment. One of the things that I love is it’s Kofi winning at the end.”

“WrestleMania 30, my shoulder is horrible, I hurt my neck, I have this horrible pain down my arm and I have to get up and do media the next morning” Bryan continued. “Everyone comes up to you and are like ‘congratulations.’ There’s a lot of responsibility.”

“When I wrestled Kofi, everyone goes to Kofi and says congratulations to him. I get to have my moment with him and be like ‘Hey man, thanks. That was awesome’” Bryan noted. “Then, I get to hug my wife and daughter and go home the next day. Kofi is the one who has to do media and deal with people congratulating him.”

Daniel Bryan on Brock Match

Bryan also brought up his match against Brock Lesnar from Survivor Series 2018, after he had just turned heel. “I love my match with Brock Lesnar. It’s cool because I just turned heel and I was like, ‘I finally get to wrestle Brock Lesnar and it’s as a bad guy.’”

“One of the things I’m very proud of is I went out to boos, got them to cheer me by the end, and when I left they still boo’d me. Wrestling Brock gave me a deep-seated appreciation for how great Brock is. The other stuff, it’s hard to narrow down” Bryan concluded.

Do you think that Daniel Bryan will be moving on to RAW or NXT following his ‘banishment’ from SmackDown? Let us know in the comments

Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown. The stipulation to go along with this match was if Bryan lost then he would be banished from SmackDown.

The match saw Bryan work over the right arm of Reigns. It was a battle between the supreme bigger champion against the hungry underdog. The back and forth match saw Reigns lock in the guillotine choke for the win to retain the title. Bryan’s SmackDown career is over, but he never tapped. Instead, he passed out. 

WWE did a show-long storyline last week that was about Reigns responding to Cesaro’s challenge for a Universal Championship match, which Bryan advocated for Cesaro to get the title shot. It turned out that Bryan teamed with Cesaro to defeat Seth Rollins & Jey Uso.

Paul Heyman later promised that at the end of the show Reigns would give an answer to Cesaro’s challenge. Fast forward to the main event segment, Reigns told Cesaro that his answer is no and will always be no because he doesn’t think Cesaro deserves it and isn’t on his level.

Reigns said the Universal Champion issues the challenges around here before turning his attention to Bryan. Reigns gave Bryan one more shot at the title, which Cesaro sided with Bryan. Reigns said he doesn’t want to see Bryan on his show again after Bryan loses and thus the match was made official. 

WWE superstar Daniel Bryan is going to be fighting for his career this week on Smackdown. Yet, it wasn’t Roman Reigns he was heaping praise on during his recent podcast interview for My Mom’s Basement.

During their 30-minute chat Daniel Bryan covered a range of topics, including lauding praise on current AEW and IMPACT world champion Kenny Omega.

“He looks at wrestling differently than anybody else.” Bryan started. “With Kenny Omega, there’s no previous evolution point. It’s just these completely new things that have entered his head that he’s daring to try.”

The Best Bout Machine caught wind of Daniel Bryan’s complimentary remarks. Naturally, he agreed and said Bryan “gets it.”

Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega?

Kenny Omega and Daniel Bryan are wrestling fans to their core. Both have held multiple titles around the world, and years ago, just as their careers were getting started, they locked up in the ring. During stints with Ring of Honor the pair fought three times. There can be no denying that a fourth match-up between them would be a main event match without a doubt.

Daniel Bryan’s comments have interesting timing. When you think he could be kayfabe retired after Friday night and has mentioned in recent interviews how he might step back from full-time competition.

It is also interesting to note that in the same interview, Bryan went on to champion the notion that WWE should open their minds and allow wrestlers to fight for other promotions while under contract.

These are separate points made by a man who has earned the right to share his opinions. However, the thought of seeing Brian Danielson vs Kenny Omega in an AEW ring at some point down the line is enough to excite any wrestling fan.

Daniel Bryan recently took part in an interview with Barstool Sports. During the discussion, Bryan said he doesn’t feel wrestling fans understand how talented many WWE Superstars are.

“I don’t think people truly understand how great a lot of the WWE Superstars are because we don’t necessarily put on a pure wrestling product,” Bryan said. “We put on a sports entertainment product.”

Bryan would continue to say that if some WWE Superstars performed for a more wrestling-based company, fans would better appreciate their talent.

“If all of a sudden you saw Cesaro in New Japan for example like people would be like, ‘oh my god, this guy is the greatest!'”

He continued to use Otis as an example of someone else who would be perceived differently if they wrestled in NJPW.

“I think you put Otis in New Japan and people would be like ‘Holy cow! This guy is amazing!’ Like Vader from the 90s type of vibe. People think of him as the worm guy but it’s just a different presentation.”

Daniel Bryan on the Forbidden Door

Bryan was also asked about recently having expressed a desire to wrestle outside of WWE while still working for the company.

“I’ve brought it up to a lot of people and now is more than ever is a time when people are open to new ideas,” Bryan said during the interview. “I think I have made some headway whether any of it actually happens, who knows?”

He would continue to say that he feels WWE Superstars performing for other companies would be good for WWE and wrestling in general.

“I also think it would just be good for WWE and just wrestling in general. For people that are in the developmental system right now, for them to be able to go and learn in other places. I wouldn’t be the performer I am today if I hadn’t wrestled in Japan and not just like Japan where it’s like sports stuff but also like Butlins in the UK where it’s all comedy.”

The full interview can be viewed in the player below:

The ‘Special Council To The Tribal Chief’ Paul Heyman recently sent a warning to Daniel Bryan ahead of next week’s episode of WWE SmackDown. Daniel Bryan will be facing Roman Reigns in the main event of the show for the Universal Championship.

Should Bryan lose, he will be ‘banished’ from SmackDown.

“If Roman Reigns wins, and I assure you he will win, that’s it for Daniel Bryan” Paul Heyman began on Talking Smack. “He’s out of here, he’s not coming back, like the Midnight Rider. He’s out. O-U-T. Gone! Banished from SmackDown.”

Paul Heyman on Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns

“No more Daniel Bryan. No more Bryan Danielson, no more ‘American Dragon,’ no more Brie Bella’s baby daddy around here” Heyman added. “Gone! Finished! Kaput! Out the damn window!”

“If you’re a fan of Daniel Bryan, I encourage you, I implore you to watch next Friday night, live on SmackDown” Paul Heyman continued. “It’s the last chance you’re going to get to see Daniel Bryan in action.”

“You [Daniel Bryan] pushed the Tribal Chief too far. Now, as you should have learned at WrestleMania, now come the consequences” Heyman concluded.

Do you think that we’ll see Daniel Bryan end up on RAW, or maybe even NXT? Let us know in the comments

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription

WWE superstar Daniel Bryan has shocked fans in a recent BT Sport interview. Talking about the match and his future, Bryan opened up and admitted he is considering stepping back from fulltime wrestling.

Daniel Bryan, who won the hearts of the wrestling world during his underdog run that culminated in a huge win at Wrestlemania 30, has had a storied career. From earning his stripes on the indie scene to conquering the top of the mountain in WWE, and returning from a career-ending injury. He is a man who has done it all.

Yet now, it would seem, that the near-guaranteed hall of famer is considering calling it a day on his glittering career.

Thoughts of Retirement

When discussing his experience at WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan reflected on feeling disconnected from the moment. As a veteran of the industry, that was an unfamiliar feeling and something Bryan found a bit scary.

“It was really bizarre. I don’t know why or how it happened, but it was unlike anything I’ve felt while wrestling before.”

“Maybe it was a sign that it’s time to let go of being a full-time wrestler, which is something that I have been thinking for a while.”

They say that when it’s your time to stop, you just know. Maybe now is the right time for Daniel Bryan to step away. Doing so on his own terms as opposed to when it was previously forced upon him.

With his words hinting at retirement, could it be that his late inclusion at WrestleMania was his goodbye swan song?

2021 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Edge recently took part in a WWE media call. The Rated R Superstar discussed a number of topics during the call, including his ‘tweener’ character he portrayed heading into WrestleMania 37.

Main eventing Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, Edge and Daniel Bryan both lost in a Triple Threat match with Roman Reigns defending his Universal Championship.

“When you find out it’s a triple threat, you go, okay, we both can’t play the underdog hero” Edge began during the call, discussing how Daniel Bryan was added to the match. “[You can’t have] that Rocky vibe and both pull that off. If you look at the both of us, well, that’s Bryan. That’s his thing. No one does that better than him.”

“I’d like to think if I could come at it with that little ‘Rated R’ vibe back, that gives me an edge that I think our audience was ready to see” The ‘Ultimate Opportunist’ continued.

Edge on Character Development

“I think we’re past, and here’s what’s difficult because we don’t have the audience to really know, but I think they were past this veteran who’s coming back” Edge added.

“Can he do it? He’s questioning” Edge continued. “They saw that with Randy [Orton], and that worked there. I thought it could continue to work, but I saw that it wasn’t, and then you throw Bryan into the mix, okay, he’s going to corner that market. Roman [Reigns] is cornering his market.”

“I have to find a direction to come from here, and to me, it’s neither heel nor babyface” The Rated R Superstar stated. “It’s not hero. It’s not a villain it’s Edge. And he wants back what he never lost, and the character of Edge was always driven by the championship. Nothing else.”

“It was so simple. Edge wants the title” the former World Champion concluded. “That’s it. Doesn’t matter who has it. It could have been Batista. It could have been JBL. That’s what Edge wants.”

Do you think that Edge should keep this character going forward in WWE? Let us know in the comments

Not many WWE superstars can lay claim to as many accolades as Kurt Angle. From his Olympic medal to his plethora of championships and victories in the squared circle, he has done it all. He was a powerful, technically adept wrestler who made the transition from one side of the sport to the other almost seamlessly.

He is a man who knows talent and can call a good wrestler when he sees one. That’s exactly what he did this week when talking about Wrestlemania 37 on his own podcast, The Kurt Angle Show.

When asked who the best wrestler was in WWE today, Angle wasted no time in giving his answer. Danial Bryan.

“Daniel Bryan without a doubt,” Angle responded.

Kurt Angle Believes Daniel Bryan is a Technical Master

That answer should not really come as a shock, Bryan is a tremendous athlete, and his career has seen him fight for the top promotions across the world. Whether he was Bryan Danielson, American Dragon or Daniel Bryan, his list of accomplishments is nearly endless. From the Wrestlemania moment of moments back in 2014 to his comeback from a career-ending injury. He has held numerous championships and been both heel and face.

Often the underdog, he has never been one to back down from a fight, and the praise he received from Kurt was both understandable and well-deserved.

“That guy is a technical master. I love his work; I wish I would’ve wrestled him. He is one of the best in-ring performers today and I think of all time. Even though he is a little undersized, he makes up for it in work ethic. What he can do in the ring, he is just incredible.”

Beneath it all, one common theme always shone through. His technical abilities. There is no wrestler on the roster who is more technically sound than Daniel Bryan. Not just in WWE but across the globe.

As expected, Edge, Daniel Bryan, and Roman Reigns battled in the main event of WrestleMania 37 – Night 2 for the Universal Title.

The match was a fight as they brawled around ringside. Reigns powerbombed Bryan through the announce table. Bryan and Edge did a double submission hold on Edge. Edge hit a spear to Reigns only for Bryan to pull out the referee to break it up. Edge hit a conchairto to Bryan then Reigns hit a spear to Edge and did a conchairto to Edge for the win and to retain the title.  

The WWE Hall of Famer worked the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event by entering the Men’s Royal Rumble Match at number one and lasted more than 58 minutes to eliminate Randy Orton to win the match.

At the time of his return, Edge had been sidelined since last year when he suffered an injury during a match with Randy Orton at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view event.

WWE decided to change plans when they had Bryan feud with Reigns for the title as “The Big Dog” first beat the fan favorite star at the Elimination Champion pay-per-view event only for them to do a rematch at Fastlane the following month.

Edge was the special guest enforcer for the contest. The finish of that match led to Bryan being added to the Mania headliner as he actually tapped out Reigns after the referee was knocked out. However, Edge hit a spear to both Reigns and Bryan, which led to Reigns pinning Bryan. 

Daniel Bryan has started taking some interest in the behind the scene creative process in recent times and fans have credited him for helping underrated talents such as Cesaro and Drew Gulak.

During a recent interview with Talk Sport, the former world champion discussed a number of things and also cleared the air on his creative influence.

Bryan mentioned how he gets credit for good storylines. However, according to him, he doesn’t have as big of a say in things as fans believe:

“It’s interesting because, one, I don’t have that big of a say [Laughs]. Sometimes something really great will happen on SmackDown and somebody will say ‘Oh, that’s Daniel Bryan!’ Like, that’s not me!

One part is our performers — we have incredible superstars. Cesaro is a no-brainer. When you say ‘Daniel Bryan helped Cesaro’ — no. All I did was ‘hey this guy is really good. We should put him on TV and use him!’ [Laughs].”

• Daniel Bryan On When He Plans To Retire

Later in the interview, the SmackDown star revealed that his own mentor William Regal once told him that being mentor of young talents can sometimes be more rewarding than the actual wrestling.

Apart from this, Daniel Bryan said that he wants to face William Regal’s son Bailey Matthews at WrestleMania and opened up about his mental struggles with the big looming decision about his future.

Daniel Bryan is currently enjoying his WWE run since his return to pro wrestling in 2018 but he will soon have to make a decision that can alter the course of not only his career but his life as well.

When his current WWE deal expires the former world champion will have to decide whether he wants to continue missing out on important moments with his young children while wrestling across the world or hang his boots at a relatively young age to be with his family.

Bryan opened up on his mental struggles about the looming decision during a recent interview with Talk Sport and he explained that he has to decide what is more important to him:

“For me, my contract is up soon and that sort of thing so it’s really just an evaluation of what’s more important to me. Going out and doing this thing that I love every week, but being away from my family, being away from my wife and kids three days a week, and they’re at this stage that you don’t ever get back.

I think it’s a little bit different when they get to be in school and time isn’t as slow as it is now. But we’re not having any more kids and our boy is seven months. Our daughter is going to turn four in May and it’s going by so fast. You don’t want to lose that time, as a human. There are certain things you can’t ever get back.”

• Daniel Bryan Wants To Face Bailey Matthews At WrestleMania

Daniel Bryan then discussed how he finds himself being exhausted when he returns home every Saturday. He revealed that he has started drinking coffee after coming back because he wants to be energetic and show up for his kids.

He mentioned how he is struggling with these thoughts right now and trying to decide what’s more important. Daniel also discussed how the financial side of things could be a factor in his decision saying that he could financially set up his kids for the rest of their lives if he decides to continue wrestling:

“What do you love personally, but also what’s the most important thing. That’s the struggle that I’m dealing with right now – what’s more important?

“Because one of the other things is hey, from a financial perspective, you can set your kids up for the rest of our lives, right? You can do that. But the trade off is, you don’t get to be there for them every day.”

Though later in the interview, Daniel Bryan acknowledged that while it’s a hard question to have, it’s a really blessed hard question to have. Daniel Bryan was added to the Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Edge at WrestleMania during this week’s episode of SmackDown and this match is likely to main event the Show of Shows this year.

WWE has officially confirmed a major change to the WrestleMania main event and announced that the Universal Championship bout will now be a triple threat match involving Roman Reigns, Edge, and Daniel Bryan.

The opening segment of this week’s episode of SmackDown followed up from the events of Fastlane and it saw Daniel Bryan demanding another shot at the Universal title before being taken out by Edge.

After building towards the big announcement throughout the episode, Adam Pearce finally confirmed Bryan’s addition to the match in the main event segment featuring all three of the match participants.

The segment ended in chaos as all three tried to take out each other after the big announcement. The show ended with Edge standing tall in the ring.

The reports of this change have been a point of discussion recently and it has been said that Edge’s appearance played a part in Vince McMahon’s decision to make the big title match a triple threat.

WWE has now announced 11 matches for both nights of WrestleMania and the company has assigned the nights for most of these bouts except for the match between Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman.

The company is expected to announce a stipulation for the match and it’s likely that they will confirm the date for the fight then. You can check out the updated match card for the show here.

• WWE SmackDown Results (3/26): Universal Title Match Set For WrestleMania, Edge Attacks

Daniel Bryan has said that he wants to face William Regal’s son, Bailey Matthews, ten years from now at WrestleMania. Regal has been Bryan’s friend and mentor in the wrestling business for a long time. Regal’s son Matthews made his debut on NXT UK in February 2021. Bryan spoke with talkSPORT where he was asked about his future dream WrestleMania scenarios, and that’s when he named Matthews.

“It’s hard to say one, Daniel Bryan said. “If I could do a match ten years from now, and this is assuming that I’m still capable of doing it and that he progresses to a level like that, one of the things that I think would be really cool… William Regal’s son, Bailey Matthews. He just recently started on NXT UK. For his experience level, he’s doing really well. I loved being able to wrestle William Regal the times that I did in WWE, but I’m not sure people know how much he has affected my career. He has affected it so much. What he’s given to me and he’s never asked for anything from me.”

Daniel Bryan added that he has “an infinite amount of respect” for William Regal. He thinks it would be cool if he is able to wrestle with his son at a huge stage like WrestleMania. Bryan attributed his place in the wrestling world to Regal and said that he wouldn’t be where he is right now without Regal. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at without William Regal. To me, I think that’s a really cool one,” he added.

Bailey Matthews was announced as part of three other signings for its NXT UK brand in January. Matthews wrestled under the ring name Joe Bailey and trained in the NJPW dojo at one point. He has only wrestled one match for the UK brand so far, by making his debut against Tyler Bate on the February 25 episode of NXT UK.

WWE is reportedly planning to make a major change to the announced WrestleMania 37 main event between the Universal Champion Roman Reigns and the 2021 Royal Rumble winner Edge.

The Universal Championship match at tonight’s Fastlane saw a chaotic ending. Daniel Bryan accidently hit the special guest enforcer Edge with a chair while trying to take out Roman Reigns.

Edge replied to this attack by taking out Bryan with a chair. He then put Reigns out with a chair shot as well. The Rated R Superstar hit Bryan once again after this and yelled that it was all his fault.

The Hall Of Famer then exited the ring. The chaos allowed Reigns to cover his opponent and retain the Universal Championship to end the show.

While the company showed a Roman Reigns vs. Edge graphic for WrestleMania 37 before the ending, latest report suggests that this match will be altered.

According to reports from F4wonline, the company has decided to make the Universal Championship match a triple threat involving Daniel Bryan and the Fastlane finish was a setup for the same.

There is no word yet on when WWE will officially announce the changes in the bout but they are likely to follow up on the situation on SmackDown this Friday and it’s possible that the triple threat will be made official then.

• WWE Fastlane Results: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan, The Fiend Returns

Check out our reaction to the news on the SEScoops YouTube channel:

WWE recently removed Batista from the Hall Of Fame listings on their site, making fans wonder about his status for the ceremony after being announced as the headliner for the 2020 class last year.

Now Fightful has provided an update on the situation and latest report from the site confirms that the animal is indeed not going to be inducted during the ceremony this WrestleMania weekend.

Though the report suggests that this change is not a result of any heat between the two parties and Batista will be inducted “when a full crowd can enjoy it.”

Another star which has surprisingly been rumored for a Hall Of Fame spot recently is Daniel Bryan but he is also not going to be inducted this year.

The rumors of Bryan going into the HOF started when a WWE Network listing showed the former world champion’s name as a “2021 Hall of Fame Inductee.”

• Paul Heyman Reacts To Eric Bischoff’s Hall of Fame Induction

Though it has been confirmed now that the listing was a just a mistake on the company’s part and currently there are no plans for the former champion to be inducted this year.

The Hall Of Fame ceremony is expected to include both 2020 and 2021 class and Eric Bischoff, Molly Holly, the Bella Twins, JBL, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, the British Bulldog, and the nWo are the confirmed names for the show so far.

Daniel Bryan has got to wrestle in a number of dream matches since his return to in-ring action in 2018 which many thought were not possible when he was forced to retire from active competition in 2016.

During his recent interview with Bleacher Report, the former world champion talked about his dream matches outside of his current brand and his dream opponents from other companies as well.

Bryan first mentioned the name of Kazuchika Okada as someone he would like to face before revealing the other names he would want to compete against from both NXT and AEW rosters:

“When you look at the AEWs or whatever it is, somebody like Jungle Boy or MJF or Darby Allin,” Bryan stated. “Those guys are really interesting to me. When you look at NXT, he’s not young, but I’ve always wanted to wrestle Kushida. That guy’s great.

Kyle O’Reilly and I, I don’t know if we’ve ever wrestled.” said Daniel Bryan, “I’ve always wanted to do a singles match with him because he’s gotten so, so good. Finn Balor and I have wrestled on the independents once or twice, and I’d love to do a match with him in WWE. There are just so many guys.”

• Daniel Bryan Cuts Promo On Part-Time Wrestlers, Namedrops CM Punk

The former champion also gave a shout-out to some lesser-known guys and in the spree, he took the name of ROH star Jonathan Gresham and William Regal’s son Bailey Matthews as guys he wants to face.

Daniel Bryan will be challenging Roman Reigns for his Universal Championship at the Fastlane PPV this Sunday with Edge as the special guest enforcer.

Daniel Bryan and Cesaro have a long history together. Their first official match against each other took place in 2005 at IWA’s Ted Petty invitational. Bryan beat Cesaro to advance in the tournament that night. Fast forward 16 years and now both of them are on Smackdown. Cesaro recently took part in an interview with Talk Sport and spoke about Bryan’s influence in WWE.

“Daniel Bryan is incredible to have around the locker room. I think I speak for everyone when I say he’s one of those guys that you want to have around,” Cesaro said during the interview.

“He’s so smart and so good that he makes everybody better because they have to step up their game. And that’s what I would like to be. He’s been around – I mean, I’ve known him forever, almost 15 years – his ability to create momentum is second to none.”

Cesaro continued to talk about Daniel Bryan’s current program with Roman Reigns. Bryan and Reigns will face each other at Fastlane on Sunday.

“We were heading into WrestleMania and people were like ‘oh, he’s losing, he’s losing momentum’ – no he didn’t. He just turns it around like that [clicks his fingers]. He switches momentum and now he’s facing Roman Reigns – as he should – at Fastlane.”

Cesaro also spoke about the confidence Bryan has in working with him.

“So it’s great to have him around and to me, having the support of somebody like Daniel Bryan, you don’t just get it overnight,” Cesaro continued. “You have to prove yourself night after night after night. So it may take a while to get there with Bryan, but it’s well worth it.”

Daniel Bryan will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Title at the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view event. 

Last week’s episode of SmackDown saw Bryan do an opening segment with Reigns, which led to Bryan wanting a rematch against Reigns. However, a singles match between Bryan and Jey Uso was booked later in the night with both of them getting counted out. 

Last Saturday’s Talking Smack featured a segment with Paul Heyman and Bryan in which set up a Steel Cage Match between Bryan and Jey on this week’s episode of SmackDown. 

The stipulation along with the match was if Bryan won then he would get a title match with Reigns at Fastlane. However, if he lost then Bryan had to acknowledge Reigns as the Tribal Chief as well as say that Reigns is the very best wrestler on the face of the planet.

Bryan won the Steel Cage Match and will now be in the Universal Title match against “The Big Dog” at the Fastlane pay-per-view event on Sunday, March 21, 2021 from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida that will air on the WWE Network.

The match served as the main event of SmackDown with Reigns and Heyman watching on from ringside. Bryan won with the Yes Lock. 

Roman Reigns would go against Daniel Bryan to defend his WWE Universal Championship at Fastlane, on a condition. As it was revealed on Talking Smack this weekend, the condition that Bryan is given is that he has to first beat Jey Uso in a Steel Cage Match at this week’s Friday Night SmackDown. Daniel Bryan had to go through five other competitors in an Elimination Chamber match for an immediate WWE Universal Championship match at the same night. Reigns was able to quickly defeat Bryan by technical submission and retain the title.

On last week’s SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso faced off each other to decide if Bryan would get a title shot against Roman Reigns at Fastlane. However, the match ended in a double count out, so there was no clear outcome on if Bryan would get the title opportunity or not. However, with this new development, Bryan has another chance at Reigns.

Daniel Bryan Cuts Promo On Part-Time Wrestlers, Namedrops CM Punk

Roman Reigns took to Instagram on Saturday where he ridiculed Daniel Bryan’s attempts at getting a rematch. According to Reigns, Bryan’s efforts are wasted as he would end up in the same spot, anyway. He wrote, “Putting yourself through a whole bunch of a trouble just to end up in the same place. On the ground. Knocked out.”

On Talking Smack, Paul Heyman said that he had been authorised by Roman Reigns to offer Daniel Bryan a rematch against Jey Uso. If Bryan wins, he would get the title shot at Fastlane but if Uso wins, then Bryan has to admit that Reigns is the tribal chief, the head of the table, the best wrestler on the planet, the undisputed Universal Champion, and the main eventer of WrestleMania. It would be interesting to see how things go into Fastlane, a month away from WrestleMania.

Fastlane will take place on Sunday, March 21 from the WWE ThunderDome hosted at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Stay tuned to SEScoops for all updates and results.

Former world champion Daniel Bryan appeared on the latest Talking Smack and the former champion cut an interesting promo on the show, targeting the part-time wrestlers from the SmackDown brand.

Bryan, who has endured two big losses in the past week including his loss at the Elimination Chamber and a double count-out in his match against Jey Uso on SmackDown, said that he feels like he has failed himself.

The former NXT star then targeted the part time stars and he mentioned how he has wrestled more matches in the last few days compared to the two men who are going to main event WrestleMania this year in Edge and Roman Reigns:

“You have two guys in the main event of WrestleMania who have wrestled a total of three matches this year,” said Daniel Bryan, “In the last eight days, I have wrestled more matches than the two of those men combined.

On Sunday, I sat on the ground while two men — who’ve wrestled only three matches this year – are going to main event WrestleMania. I failed myself. So, if you wanna ask how it felt to win the Elimination Chamber for the third time, it didn’t feel good.”

• Daniel Bryan On When He Plans To Retire

Daniel Bryan also namedropped CM Punk and claimed that he is going to take back his reign as the best wrestler in the world:

“I have a message for you to give to Roman Reigns. I am no longer putting myself on the back burner. I am no longer putting other people first; I am going to take what’s mine. And that’s the reign that I’ve had — before CM Punk — and that’s the best damn wrestler in the world.”

Daniel Bryan is currently set to face Jey Uso in a steel cage match at next week’s episode of SmackDown. He will get a shot at Roman Reigns’ Universal title if he wins the bout.

Daniel Bryan stated in an interview back in October that he doesn’t plan on being a full-time wrestler much longer. During a recent interview with Solo Wrestling, however, Bryan clarified that he has no plans to retire. In fact, Bryan says he’s inspired by the likes of Jerry Lawler, Terry Funk, and Johnny Saint who continued to wrestle in their 60s and 70s.

“I’m still a full-time wrestler today but I don’t think I’ll be a full-time wrestler for much longer, but it’s weird because I’ve never considered the option of retirement,” Bryan said.

“I want to fight until I’m old, and when I say old, I mean very old. I love wrestling and have always been inspired by people like Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk, and even some European wrestlers like Jonny Saint, who was still fighting in his 60s and maybe 70s, and not because they needed the money or because of this or because of the other, they did it because they loved to do it.”

Bryan noted that as pro wrestlers get older, their in-ring styles inevitably change. He acknowledges, “I’m 50 I won’t be able to fight like I do now, and right now I can’t fight like I did when I was 25. You have to adapt and evolve.”

Daniel Bryan: “The Planet’s Champion”

Bryan also spoke to the BroBible recently and mentioned that his run as “The Planet’s Champion” was his favorite.

“Being ‘The Planet’s Champion’ was by far my favourite. It’s interesting because in WWE, my championship runs haven’t always gone very well! I won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30 and then had to vacate with a neck injury.”

“I won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 and lost it in eight seconds at WrestleMania 28. Those didn’t feel as special as when I was ‘The Planet’s Champion’ and a bad guy. I love the way it started.”

Daniel Bryan believes it’s time for WWE to consider creating a new developmental system to cultivate the next generation of Superstars.

NXT served as WWE’s ‘minor league’ for many years. The “black and gold” brand has evolved into a third brand, alongside Raw and SmackDown. NXT has a weekly television show on the USA Network. It also hosts quarterly pay-per-view specials on the WWE Network. The NXT roster and product rival those of Raw and SmackDown. This presents some advantages, but also some disadvantages.

Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Lucha Libre Online about the WWE developmental conundrum. Bryan tells Michael Morales Torres that WWE needs to address the void left by NXT.

“I definitely don’t think NXT is considered as a developmental territory anymore,” said Bryan. “Which leaves a question: Do we have a developmental territory? Those guys are awesome and I do consider NXT a third brand for our company.”

Daniel Bryan has been an influential force behind the scenes in recent months. As a member of the SmackDown brand, he’s been a vocal about the need to develop new talent.

You can listen to Daniel Bryan’s comments in the Youtube player embedded below:

WWE Developmental

Prior to the launch of NXT, WWE worked with various independent promotions to groom talent. The two most notable developmental territories were Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. The biggest names of the past twenty years came up through OVW and FCW.

Ohio Valley Wrestling produced talent such as Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Kurt Angle, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, John Morrison, Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Kelly Kelly and many more.

Florida Championship Wrestling alumni includes Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, The Bella Twins, Paige, Big E, Kofi Kingston and AJ Lee.

The Performance Center is a world class facility, but Daniel Bryan thinks WWE needs a place for green talent to perform “under the radar” without the spotlight that NXT now brings.

Chad Gable has been helping Otis in training under his Alpha Academy and former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan has also seemingly joined this storyline to train for the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV.

The former American Alpha member recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump where he talked about things like being friends with Otis since 2010 and more.

During the interview, he also talked about how he has watched Daniel Bryan wrestle since 2002 and Gable said that competing against the former world champion is a dream match for him.

“That’s a dream of mine. That’s the dream match of mine, I haven’t gotten to the point yet in WWE where I’ve had a chance at singles championships. I want stakes to be there when I finally get that chance to wrestle Daniel.

I want something to be at stake. I want a championship to be at stake.” said Chad Gable, “I want time and to make this a technical classic. If we get that chance, I, without a shadow of a doubt, it’s going to be a legendary classic that you look back on.”

The former NXT star mentioned how many people have talked about this match and he claimed it will live up to the expectations when it finally happens because he will make sure of it.

Apart from this, Chad Gable also provided some interesting update on his former partner Jason Jordan and revealed that Jordan is actually working towards an in ring return. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.

• Hall Of Famer Alundra Blayze Asks For Retirement Match From WWE

Despite having faced some of WWE‘s top Superstars, there’s still plenty of wrestlers SmackDown’s Daniel Bryan is interested in competing against. Speaking with WWE on BT Sport, Bryan shared which Superstars he’d love to share the ring with.

“One person that I’d like—just because he can do so many incredible things that I’d like to wrestle [him]—is Ricochet. Same thing with, like, Apollo Crews…I think Apollo Crews is infinitely talented.”

He continued, “One of the guys who’d I’d really like to have a like real like…something where we can stuck in with, that I’ve never had the opportunity to do, is Shinsuke Nakamura.”

Bryan added how, alongside more established Superstars, he’s excited to embrace the challenge of competing against new, young talent.

He then turned his attention to Seth Rollins. Bryan discussed how, although they have competed in WWE, they haven’t had a long-running feud that’s “built into a big match.”

Bryan concluded by sharing his interest in also competing against Rey Mysterio, noting how Rey is a personal hero of his. He also added he would be open to wrestling against Dominik Mysterio if the opportunity presented itself.

Daniel Bryan has reportedly been pushing for younger talent to be brought up from NXT to SmackDown. His attempts were apparently met with some opposition, however.

He recently faced off against Shinsuke Nakamura as part of a Gauntlet match on SmackDown. Nakamura eliminated him from the match.

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