Daniel Bryan is one of WWE’s most unlikely Superstars. The company didn’t have any big plans to push him, and he’s confirmed in the past that originally Vince McMahon pitched an idea for him to face Sheamus at WrestleMania 30.
However, the fans had other plans and on the road to WrestleMania 30 the fans made sure their voices were heard by constantly chanting for Daniel Bryan during WWE shows. Eventually WWE gave in and pushed Bryan to the top of the card, and he defeated Randy Orton and Batista in the main event of WrestleMania 30 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
However, Vince McMahon wasn’t shy about letting Bryan know that he wanted Roman Reigns to be the top star, not Daniel Bryan.
During an appearance on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness a few months ago, the former World Champion shared some interesting details from a conversation he had with Vince.
Bryan noted that he can’t quite remember exactly when the conversation took place, but it happened sometime either before or after WrestleMania 30, and Vince said to him, “You know, we really want to push Roman to be the next John Cena.”
Daniel Bryan responded by saying, “Boss, I one hundred percent support that, but I just want you to know that I want to be the next John Cena.”
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion then followed up by saying he’s not very confrontational and he’s not someone who would say things like, “I’m the man. I want you to push me.” But Bryan added that he made it clear to Vince that he wanted to push himself to the next level.
“To be honest with you sir, that’s great that you want that for him,” Bryan told Vince. “I want to be the next John Cena, and I’m going to push myself to be that person.”
However, Daniel Bryan added that due to his health issues he didn’t get the chance to do that.
Bryan retired from in-ring competition in 2016, but he’s been teasing that he could return to the ring in 2018 when his WWE contract expires.
If you use any of the quotes from this article please credit E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription.
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[…] By then it was too late: the fans turned on Reigns, ultimately becoming jaded to his upper tier status and management allegedly labeling him unofficially as the chosen successor to John Cena. […]