Daniel Bryan On Rooming With Shinsuke Nakamura, Nakamura Not Liking Roommate, American Alpha, More
As previously noted, WWE SmackDown Live General Manager and former WWE World Champion, Daniel Bryan was a guest on Bear Hug It Out. Among other topics, Bryan discussed how he will miss some of his friends on WWE Monday Night RAW's roster, who are SmackDown Live talents with main event talent flying under the radar, WWE's Cruiserweight Classic, and living with NXT Shinsuke Nakamura over a decade ago.
According to Bryan, he will miss some of his friends on RAW now that WWE's roster has been bifurcated between RAW and SmackDown Live.
"I have a lot of friends there like Sami Zayn, Cesaro, that sort of thing, so I'm going to miss seeing those guys because I won't see them as often."
When asked who are SmackDown Live talents with main event potential who are flying under the radar right now, Bryan named former NXT Tag Team Champions, American Alpha.
"I am so excited for these guys. I think that, one, not only are they great wrestlers, right? They're great in the ring, but they're entertaining dudes! Like, Chad Gable was in the Olympics. Right? Like, he's just a stud athlete. Jason Jordan, stud athlete. And then, not only are these two stud athletes that [are] great at wrestling in general, but they're just so entertaining, so funny, and I can't wait to have them on our show."
During the interview, Bryan admitted that he is pulling for his old friend, Brian Kendrick, in the Cruiserweight Classic.
"My favorite is Brian Kendrick and I've openly stated that. I think you might have seen it if you watched last week of the Cruiserweight Classic. I am really rooting for Brian Kendrick. He and I started wrestling together. We had our very first match October 4, 1999, Far West Rodeo in San Antonio, Texas." Bryan continued, "so I've known Brian for a long, long time and he's just fantastic and so I'm really rooting for him."
As for other cruiserweight talents to keep an eye on, Bryan mentioned Kota Ibushi, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Zack Sabre, Jr., and Jack Gallagher.
"There's some amazing talent in there like Kota Ibushi. Even there [are] guys like Johnny Gargano [and] Tommaso Ciampa, who've been seen on NXT TV. Then a guy like Zack Sabre, Jr." Bryan added, "if you have never seen Jack Gallagher, he's an extraordinary gentleman, right? And so he comes in, and literally, teaching jiu jitsu, so he didn't give himself the name 'Gentleman Jack'. He [has] done a couple of MMA fights. He teaches jiu jitsu at a gym in England. And he literally, since he has been a kid, shows up every day for practice in a three-piece suit."
On the subject of being roommates with NXT's Shinsuke Nakamura, Bryan said that Nakamura did not get along with their other roommate, MMA's Lyoto Machida, as their language barrier created misunderstandings. Bryan went on to tell a funny story about introducing 'The King Of Strong Style' to donuts.
"So this is wild. Me, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Lyoto Machida, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, all shared a two-bedroom apartment together. And Nakamura and Lyoto Machida, like, had this, like, weird rivalry, right? They just didn't like each other. I was kind of like the peacemaker of the crew. I wouldn't say peacemaker, but you could just see, like, Lyoto Machida didn't speak great English. I mean, he spoke decent English and Nakamura spoke decent English, but just enough for the miscommunication. And they're both stud enough athletes to be like 'ugh, ugh' and really get after each other.
"But it was great. Me and Nakamura had a great time living together. So he is not a big fan of sweets. I love sweets. Like, every week of my life, I've had a cheat day. And some weeks I've gone really bad, so, like, I love cookies, cakes, that sort of thing, and so I introduced Nakamura to donuts. I don't think he [has] ever had a donut. He's like, 'I don't really like sweets'. [Bryan responded] 'no! This is going to blow your mind!' And I never met anybody like it who, he had a bite of the donut and he said, 'ew, too sweet' and I was just like, 'what? What culture do you come from where you can ingest too much sugar?'"
To check out the podcast, click here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit The Bear Hug It Out Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.