In a different interview with NBC Sports, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, sat down the NBC Sports crew & discussed the current Independent wrestling scene. Bryan goes over the best match that he has seen this year, inside & outside of the WWE, speaks on how NJPW star, Kenny Omega, would fair in the company & tons more.
Here are the highlights:
Being Himself On Talking Smack:
“I don’t really view it in a scale of 1-10. Sometimes when I’m talking about things that I know I shouldn’t be talking about, it raises those parts in your brain that excites you and makes you happy. For example, when I refer to James Ellsworth as “The Big Hog”, I don’t think anyone really appreciates that other than me and some of the viewers. It makes me chuckle. I consider a 10 as the happiest or the most fun that I have. A 10 would be doing something really fun with my wife and daughter. Just yesterday we went to a place to eat and Birdie was cooing and smiling and Brie and I were having a great time, that’s just the best. Talking Smack on its best day can get to like a six or a seven. Once you have this idea of where your true happiness lies, it changes your perspective.”
What Changes Could WWE Make To Improve The Product:
“I think a change of presentation is absolutely necessary. I think the way that we present our superstars probably needs to change. Years ago they went through with this idea of having as much live stuff as possible on the shows, but I think when you watch, say UFC for example; some of the things that are the most endearing, that make you care the most about the fighters are these backstage vignettes that get to show their real personality. You’ll see great fights that people will cheer maybe because they’re great fights, but the fights that have the most impact are the ones with fighters who people actually care about.”
“I think one of the things that really endeared me to people was that people got to view more aspects of my personality than most because of the different things that I did within WWE. Seeing performers frustrated and being able to show that on TV and being able to show their experiences, their reactions to what’s happening to them on the show and doing backstage vignettes. There was a great one on NXT about Roderick Strong recently about being a new dad and all of that kind of stuff.”
Best WWE Match He’s Seen This Year:
“Oh gosh that’s hard, so, I was watching the NXT Takeover from Chicago and I really loved the Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne match. That’s my style of wrestling, Pete Dunne working over the wrists and manipulating finger joints is kind of attention to detail I really enjoy. It’s hard because we get so many matches all of the time that are awesome. I really liked the AJ Styles-John Cena match from the Royal Rumble, watching AJ Styles on a weekly basis is a constant pleasure.”
Best Non-WWE Match He’s Seen This Year:
“There was a Minoru Suzuki-Kazuchika Okada match from New Japan that was my style of wrestling. Forty minutes, lots of submission stuff, it was really cool. I think a lot of modern fans in the United States would have a hard time with it, especially if you’re used to WWE style, but I really enjoyed it.”
Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA:
“So that was really good. I really enjoy KUSHIDA’s work, he’s one of the guys that I would love to have a chance to wrestle because he does so many awesome technical things.”
One Indie Star He Would Love To See In WWE:
“It’s hard to define any of these guys as ‘indie’ guys anymore because they all have contracts. I have really enjoyed watching Matt Riddle; I think he has a ton of personality and a ton of charisma and he’s got that look that WWE really likes and the has history in UFC. I think if he were to get an opportunity in WWE, he would do really well. I also think Kenny Omega, if he were given an opportunity, would absolutely kill it.”
