Daniel Bryan On His Original WrestleMania 32 Plans, Wanting To Be Cleared To Face Brock Lesnar, CWC
As noted, Michael Cole's latest sitdown interview is with Daniel Bryan, as seen in the video above. Below are some more highlights from the interview:
* When asked to evaluate his first month on the job, Bryan said that he's always hard on himself and that he would give himself a "C" because he always thinks of ways to improve a show after it's over. He said that talent have been coming up to him and saying that they love being on SmackDown Live because of the opportunities, and that's what they're trying to provide.
* Michael Cole said that even though he's on RAW, he enjoys watching SmackDown every week, noting that it's been different. Bryan said that Shane McMahon and himself have been trying new things, and sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss but that they've had more hits than misses and he's proud of his crew.
* Bryan was asked about Brock Lesnar F5ing Shane McMahon at SummerSlam last weekend. Bryan said that Shane went out there, and anytime you do, you have to expect anything. Bryan said that he wished that he was cleared because he would have loved to have went out there, noting that his dream match has always been with Brock Lesnar. When asked why, Bryan said that he's always appealed to fans by being an underdog, and there's no bigger underdog match than himself against Lesnar, likening it to David vs. Goliath.
"He's never fought someone like me," Bryan said. "I was working on this new style, before they told me I couldn't wrestle anymore, that's really unlike anything else, just in the way that I move."
* Bryan was asked about Finn Balor's injury. Bryan said that Balor should have been on the main roster a year and a half ago, and added that Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura should be on the main roster, which we mentioned here.
* Bryan booed when Cole noted that the Cruiserweight Classic will be coming to RAW in September. Cole noted that Bryan has been getting great reviews for his commentating on the show, and said that Bryan hit a homerun. Bryan said that the CWC is one of the coolest projects he's worked on, and said that the Kota Ibushi – Cedric Alexander match gave him goosebumps. He said that even though Cedric lost, he put everything out there and everyone was chanting for him to be signed. Bryan said that Cedric turned down a contract to do the show and dropped 20+ pounds for the opportunity. He said that Triple H coming out and raising Cedric's hand are moments that he lives for.
* Bryan cringed a little when asked about Total Bellas. He said that it came on the heels of his retirement and it was a really tough part of his life. He said that for people who are entertained by that, they'll get to see it but he doesn't want to re-live it.
* Cole was about rumors on his documentary about wrestling a bear being released. Bryan said everyone thinks that WrestleMania 30 was the hardest moment of his life, but the hardest thing he's ever done was wrestle a bear, and they've documented the whole thing. Bryan said that it was his plan for WrestleMania 32, and he thought it would have been the biggest match on the card.
"Daniel Bryan returns from his injury and goes out there and wrestles a bear," Bryan said. "We documented the whole thing, so fans will get a chance to see what happens."
That was the end of the interview, there was no mention of his segment with The Miz on Talking Smack earlier this week.