Daniel Bryan Talks WrestleMania, Facing Sheamus, His WWE Run & More
World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan was interviewed by Brian Fritz of BetweenTheRopes.com. During the interview, Bryan discussed; WrestleMania, facing Sheamus, his run in WWE and more. Here are some of the highlights:
On competing in his first WrestleMania match: "I'm excited about the match. This is my first WrestleMania. I'm really excited. 70,000 people! How can you not be excited?
On how he wrestled Sheamus at last year's WrestleMania in a dark match and is now headlining this year's event with the same opponent: "The 70,000 that were there (last year) are the only people that saw [that match last year]. You never know. That could happen again this year. [Laughs.] We're hoping not, being that it's a World Heavyweight championship match.
"... It's been a good year. Coming from there to facing Sheamus again this year in a big match in one of the biggest matches in my career. I'm excited. ... It's strange because we've wrestled each other since then and we've both grown as wrestlers and as characters. Hopefully, the crowd is more invested this year than they would have been last year. Last year, I thought we could have stole the show.
"If they had put us on that pay-per-view, I thought we could have stole the show. Hopefully, we get that opportunity this year.
On the goal of always trying to steal the show and "making his mark': "Especially this year. There are so many eyes on this pay-per-view. It's such a big WrestleMania — the biggest WrestleMania of all time. We've got The Rock and John Cena. So many extra people are going to be watching this, you want to go out there and make your mark.
On his now-famous "Yes!" chant and it's inspiration: "I love Diego Sanchez and that's where it came from! Diego Sanchez is such an amazing fighter, but he would come to the ring and he would be, like, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' And I love him as a fighter, and I'd be like, 'That's annoying. I can use that!' [Laughs.]
"Did you see his latest fight? He came to the ring brandishing a cross like he was warding off vampires. It was unreal. So, I may use that as my next bit."
On bringing his style into WWE: "A lot of that was just luck and opportunity. For example: My friend Nigel McGuinnesss just recently had to retire. Nigel was signed by WWE at the same time that I was but it didn't go through because of medical reasons and whatnot. Nigel could have been a much bigger star than me.
"A lot of guys who have a lot of talent and a lot of ability just end up falling through the cracks because they don't get the right opportunities at the right times. By the time that Nigel got here, his body was so beat up that they said, 'We can't take the chance on this guy.'
"So, I just feel very fortunate to be in this position that I am now."
Bryan also discussed how he showed people in WWE that he has the ability to get over on the microphone.
To check out the entire interview, watch it below.
Source: Between The Ropes
Kris Walpool contributed to this article.