Daniel Bryan's 10 Best Moments so Far in His WWE Career

There are a lot of wrestling fans who thought that Daniel Bryan might never succeed in the WWE.

They said he was too small, he couldn't work the mic and he wasn't charismatic enough.

Well, here we are less than two years into Bryan's WWE career, and I'd say that he's already had a lot of success with the company so far. Maybe not the quick Alberto Del Rio or Sheamus success, but success nonetheless.

Bryan has accomplished plenty of great things in a very short span when many people thought he never would, so let's revisit those accomplishments today.

Here are the 10 best moments of Daniel Bryan's WWE career so far.

10. Bryan Chokes Justin Roberts with a Tie During Nexus' Debut Attack

On June 7, 2010, the cast of NXT Season 1 rookies debuted on Monday Night Raw as the Nexus.

They interrupted the main event of the show between John Cena and CM Punk, laying out both competitors and destroying everything in and around the ring.

It was arguably the most shocking moment of the year, one that was made even more surprising by what was seemingly a heel turn by Daniel Bryan.

Bryan joined in on the assault, and during all the chaos, he choked ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie, which became one of the more memorable moments of Nexus' debut.

Unfortunately, WWE officials deemed that Bryan "went too far" with the tie choking, and he was legitimately fired for his actions.

Of course, his time away from the company didn't last all that long.

9. Protege Beats "Mentor" for the First Time

During his time on NXT, Daniel Bryan was involved in a long-running feud with his pro, The Miz.

The Miz constantly belittled Bryan and talked down to him, but when Bryan was eliminated from the competition, he signed a "one-night contract" on Raw and got his first singles match with The Miz on May 31, 2010.

The bout only lasted about a minute, but it ended when Bryan locked in his Lebell lock and then rolled up The Miz for the pin and the victory.

Post-match, The Miz attacked Bryan, but Bryan was able to get the upper hand and lay out Miz by throwing him into the announcers.

This was one of the first times that Bryan—who was booked like a perennial loser on NXT—was able to both get the victory and one-up his pro.

Huge moment for Bryan. 

8. Bryan Beats the Miz for the US Championship at Night of Champions 2010

Daniel Bryan's beef with The Miz would lead to a feud between the two for the United States Championship, and Bryan got his first shot at Miz's title at Night of Champions in 2010.

In what was one of the better matches of either of their WWE careers up to that point, Bryan defeated The Miz via the Lebell Lock, and the crowd went wild as Bryan captured his first singles title in the WWE.

Bryan's feud with The Miz was a huge catalyst for his career, and his US Title win over The Miz was perhaps the defining moment of their rivalry.

Bryan would go on to defeat both The Miz and John Morrison in a great Submissions Count Anywhere Triple Threat match—a great one at that—at the following Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

But nothing compares to the sheer joy and excitement you could see on Bryan's face as he won his first singles title and did so against his most-hated rival. 

7. Bryan Becomes the New World Heavyweight Champion...or so We Thought

On the Nov. 25 edition of Friday Night Smackdown, The Big Show laid out World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry with a knockout punch while the two exchanged words.

Daniel Bryan saw an opportunity here, and he took it.

Smackdown's Money in the Bank holder ran to the ring, cashed in his briefcase, pinned Henry and became the new World Heavyweight Champion.

Or so we thought.

Smackdown general manager Teddy Long came out and interrupted Bryan's celebration to inform him that Henry was not cleared to compete, and thus, Bryan did not win the World title.

It was a huge buzz kill to see Bryan win the belt and then essentially be stripped of it so quickly, but I'm still of the belief that the WWE did so to see how the fans would react to Bryan becoming World champion.

Guess what? They loved it then, and they'll love it if it happens again.

6. Bryan Becomes No. 1 Contender While Holding Money in the Bank Briefcase

All was not lost with Daniel Bryan's failed cash-in attempt, however.

Later that same night, Bryan faced Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Wade Barrett in a Fatal 4-Way match to determine who would face Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight title on the following edition of Smackdown.

And Bryan made Rhodes tap out to win the match.

It was one very pleasant surprise to see Bryan become the No. 1 contender while simultaneously holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, because it showed the confidence the creative team has in him.

If Bryan is going to win two huge matches to get guaranteed World title shots, then there must be big plans for him in the future.

5. Bryan Challenges Mark Henry for World Heavyweight Title Inside a Steel Cage

After becoming No. 1 contender, Daniel Bryan faced Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship on the following episode of Smackdown, and he did so inside a steel cage.

Of course, we all know by now that Bryan didn't win it.

But there were moments when we believed, at least for a second, that he had a slim chance of defeating Henry and winning the World Heavyweight Championship while still being Mr. Money in the Bank.

What really matters, though, is that Bryan got an enjoyable match out of Henry, and he wasn't squashed by him, either.

Though it would have been a much bigger moment had Bryan won, I'm sure that competing in his first World title match in the WWE is something that he'll never forget.

4. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler at Bragging Rights 2010

Bragging Rights 2010 may have been the first time that Daniel Bryan was given the opportunity to show what he could do on a big stage in the WWE.

And boy, did he deliver.

In a Champion vs. Champion match, United States Champion Bryan faced Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler in what was by far the match of the night and probably the best of Bryan's WWE career up to that point.

Bryan got the victory via Lebell lock, but the result honestly wasn't all that important. The great technical wrestling we saw from both Ziggler and Bryan was what we really cared about.

It was at this point when I thought for sure that the WWE could actually get behind Bryan and build him as one of the company's top stars if they let him have matches like this more often.

3. Bryan Returns to WWE at SummerSlam in 2010

When Team WWE (or Team Cena) was set to face the Nexus in a 7-on-7 elimination tag team match at SummerSlam in 2010, it looked like The Miz would be the final participant for Team WWE.

But Cena had a little surprise for him.

After The Miz waited too long to give Cena an answer about joining his team, Cena found a replacement. And that replacement was Daniel Bryan.

At this point, no one was really sure if Bryan had re-signed with the WWE or if he was going to return the company.

Sure enough, though, Bryan made his triumphant return to the WWE at SummerSlam, and everything that's happened to him since then has happened because this moment came first.

2. Bryan Flips out on Michael Cole

Much of the criticism directed at Daniel Bryan stems from his "poor mic skills" or "inability to cut promos."

Well, after eliminating himself from the first season of NXT, he proved us all wrong when he cut a shoot promo in which he hung with The Miz on the mic and attacked Michael Cole.

The highlight of this may have been CM Punk and William Regal subtly agreeing with Bryan when he said he was better than The Miz, but I loved it simply because Bryan showed some great passion and intensity here.

And, of course, he did what 99 percent of WWE fans would love to do: slap Michael Cole in the face.

Bryan was definitely able to shut up some of his haters here, and if the WWE can script more promos like this for him, then the sky is the limit for the man Booker T likes to call D-Bry. 

1. Bryan Wins Smackdown's Money in the Bank Match

When the Money in the Bank pay-per-view rolled around in July of this year, Daniel Bryan was one of eight Smackdown stars entered into the blue brand's MITB match.

While Bryan had a better shot at winning the bout than guys like Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, he was still deemed a long shot at best.

So much for that way of thinking.

Bryan outlasted seven other competitors and fought off both Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett at the top of the ladder during the match's conclusion to grab the briefcase and win the match.

Given that all MITB winners have successfully cashed in their briefcases, Bryan's fans across the world rejoiced because this moment all but ensured that he would eventually become World champion.

What a great moment for Bryan, and a very surprising one at that.