He walked out the Heavyweight Champion.ĭaniel Bryan would not be denied. A couple hours later, he had his second match and walked out of WrestleMania 30 having defeated three of the biggest stars on the roster. When he got into the ring (where, of course, the odds were stacked skyscraper-tall against him), that small, kind of odd-looking dude wrestled his ass off and won. He and his story sucked me back into a form of entertainment I hadn't watched in more than a decade.
I knew nothing of his man, and within moments, the story that the WWE told was so powerful that I was rooting for him. Just before he came out, the WWE's talented video department ran a montage of his story arc, a yearslong struggle against the powers that be, against those who never thought he could make it, against those in power who actively worked against his ascendancy both in the story and in the real world. It looked awkward as hell, but they were happy, and I let it slide. Seventy-plus thousand people in attendance leapt to their feet, chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and thrusting their arms, index fingers pointed to the sky, with every monosyllabic cheer. I could tell that he was the fan favorite star of WWE's biggest pay-per-view the instant that he emerged from backstage to a rendition of Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries" as interpreted by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He didn't much look like a wrestler, either, with a shaggy mop of hair and a lumberjack's beard.Īnd yet, the crowd loved him. He weighed less than 200 pounds, another sharp contrast between him and the bodybuilders he faced and I expected to see. Standing at all of 5-foot-8, his shoulders barely crested the top ropes. WrestleMania 30's in-ring performances began and ended with Daniel Bryan, someone I'd never heard of. Of course, I began with the show that everybody was talking about. I signed up for the WWE Network, and gave pro wrestling another shot. It sounded like everybody was having fun, and I was missing out.
#IRON HEART PRO WRESTLING PROFESSIONAL#
In early 2014, I rekindled a latent love for professional wrestling after a night during which my Twitter feed became a wall of WrestleMania 30 reactions. He has, in measurable ways, made my life better.
And I can't help but reflect on the effect, weird as it may sound, that this stranger I once gave my money had on me. But it felt like I'd known him a lot longer.Įarly Monday morning, Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from pro wrestling. This was about a year ago, and it was only about a year before that I learned of his existence. The first time I saw Daniel Bryan in person, I was so impressed that I did the only thing I could think to do: I gave him some money.
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