Daniel Bryan Talks Wrestling At SummerSlam, Cashing In Before 'Mania, Cena, Punk & More
WWE Money In The Bank winner Daniel Bryan was on Busted Open earlier this week, here are some excerpts from the interview:
On his role at SummerSlam: "It's going to be a great show. Right now I do not have a match announced. I will be at the show and I'm hoping to wrestle Wade Barrett. And also I've got my Money In The Bank Briefcase that I can cash in at anytime."
On the possibility of cashing in his contract before Wrestlemania: "Probably not, but I like to hang it over their heads and say 'you know I can cash it in whenever I want.' And so it's just to keep them on the balls of their feet a little bit. And I also like to play with the idea that I'm just bluffing everybody and just saying that so they let their guards down. So it's really just a big mental game but my hope is to cash it in at Wrestlemania.
His thoughts on being back after being fired: "It really has been a strange two years with the WWE. It's been crazy. I was hired, got brought in, called a rookie, then I was fired, got brought back and main evented Summer Slam, I won the US Championship, I wasn't on TV for a while, I got drafted to SmackDown, and now I won Money In The Bank. The whole thing is just crazy. I don't know how to describe it.
On John Cena: "John Cena is actually an incredible human being. Here's the deal? I'm a vegan. John Cena is the exact opposite. If you wanted to re-populate the human species, you would re-populate it with people like John Cena. He should really be hooked up with Olympic level sprinters who have these incredible immune systems and incredibly strong, fast, and smart. And he's just a good human being which kind of makes you not like him. He goes out there and does more make-a-wish stuff than anybody else. He's on the road 200+ days a year, he never takes time off, the guy is a machine. He's unreal.
"I had to alter my entire lifestyle just so I can keep up with this road schedule. John can do whatever he wants and still stay incredibly healthy, incredibly mentally focused, and he is an amazing human being once you talk to him. He's so quick witted and smart. Sometimes he'll say jokes but I don't get it until three minutes later and he's so on the ball. And I'm kind of a smart guy, I'm pretty on the ball myself but he's a notch above. It's really strange."
On CM Punk: "CM Punk is great and the reason why is because regardless of whether you agree with him or not, he's going to speak his mind. And he doesn't care if I like it, he doesn't care if the WWE Office likes it, he doesn't care if Vince McMahon likes it, he's going to go out there and say what he wants to say. And I think that people are really drawn to that. For him to just say what he actually feels I think it's great. Not only that he's an incredible in- ring performer. When he says he's 'the best in the world,' when you talk about all around as far as being on the mic, performing in the ring, when he's done commentary it's been great, he really lives up to that name. So it's going to be an incredible event on Sunday."
On the possibility of wrestling Wade Barrett on Sunday: "I think there's a good chance that it's going to happen. And I can't wait. Me and Wade Barrett have butted heads from the moment we met. We are almost nearly exact opposite personalities as far as I'm very laid back, I've worked really hard to get here. It took me 10 years to get to WWE and I appreciate kind of everything I've got. Now Wade, he worked hard to get here but he was noticed because of his size and because he speaks so eloquently and everyone sees him as someone who speaks very well in the ring, whereas people see me as somebody who is not necessarily the best on the microphone; although I feel like I'm actually pretty good. But he really thrived in the WWE System and so when they scout talent and they see somebody like that most of them don't make it. Wade Barrett came in and has done a tremendous job in a short amount of time. But he's always just kind of looked down on me and looked down on guys like me as being like 'guys like that shouldn't be here.' And we only wrestled once on TV and he beat me in that match, then at Summer Slam last year in the main event he beat me in that match as well, 7 on 7 match and he was the one who eliminated me on that too and so I'm really hoping to get my revenge on Sunday."
Comparing and contrasting the feeling of winning Money In The Bank with possibly winning a world title at Wrestlemania: "Winning Money In The Bank was the biggest moment of my career. I can only imagine the emotion that would come out if I was to actually cash it in and win the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania. That would literally be a dream come true. That's what I've dreamed about since I was a little kid. And to be able to realize that dreams that you've had when you were a child, so much emotion comes out of it. This business takes a lot of toll on your family. My mom and dad had to deal a lot of injuries. My mom had to take me in when I got eye surgery when I detached my retina and literally was like 'you can't do this anymore?this is not worth it.' And to get through all that and to get to where I am today, and to see that I have a chance to possibly do that at Wrestlemania, I can only imagine what that's going to feel like."