Daniel Bryan Dream Matches in ROH

On February 8, 2016, a legend of the modern era was about to retire way before his time.

Fast forward 27 months…

After extensive testing from various doctors and neurologists around the world, Daniel Bryan had been deemed medically fit to return to the ring. The exciting news opened up the floodgates for potential dream matches in a variety of companies that once seemed impossible. Now Bryan has went on record and said that if he was not cleared by WWE, he would have left WWE and went back to the independent scene where he made his name from 2001 to 2010.

Specifically Ring Of Honor, which he helped put on the map as a former world champion. In this guest column, I will be looking at my personal dream opponents for the former Bryan Danielson if he did return to ROH full-time at the end of his WWE contract.

Flip Gordon

Over the past two years, Flip Gordon has made quite the name for himself with his highflying, innovative offense that seems from almost out of a video game. He has traditionally stayed in his element of having matches against people with similar styles, so it would be a really interesting clash of styles for him to go up against a man that was the polar opposite when he was on the independent scene.

While Daniel Bryan was a highflying technical wrestling hybrid in WWE, he was often a crisp, technical wrestler using basic grapples and submissions to tell a story on the indie scene. In fact, he was so good that the Best Technical Wrestler Award in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was renamed the Bryan Danielson Award as result of him winning it eight years in a row.

It would also be an absolutely incredible way to increase the stock of Flip Gordon in the eyes of ROH fans by him sharing the ring with a founding father of the promotion. With his Star Spangled Stunner and Samoan Pop, Gordon would certainly taker Bryan to his limit.

Jay Lethal

It shocked me when I found out that this match never happened in these guys’ original ROH runs, considering both of them are pioneers who made the company what it is today. Over the past seven years while Daniel Bryan was helping snap the stigma that “indy guys” couldn’t make it big in WWE, Jay Lethal has been changing the perception of what truly is independent wrestling. Both of these men have had ROH World Championship reigns at two drastically different time periods, and they could both be considered two of the best championship runs in the company’s history.

The reason I want to see this match lies more in the potential storytelling as opposed to the in-ring action, as great as that might be. Over the years, both of these men have played a variety of face and heel roles, a rare breed that can actually play both roles extraordinarily well. So you could take this story a variety of avenues depending on who you decided to cast as the good guy or bad guy. This would also fit Lethal’s current storyline of trying to rebuild his image and career after a losing streak, while helping acclimate Bryan to the changing indie scene.

Dalton Castle

This would be a unique clash, for sure. On one hand, you have a straight-laced technical wrestler who uses a variety of in-ring technique to wear down opponents, refraining from mind games and silliness. On the other hand, you have a flamboyant and eccentric character that loves to use said mind games to make his opponents uncomfortable and throw them off of their game. So the diversity of these characters would lead to a very fun and intriguing show, the likes of which is rarely seen these days in pro wrestling.

Castle has proved himself over the years to be more than just a gimmick, meaning that he can actually carry himself in big-time main events with the best in the world. Not to mention with “The Party Peacock” being the current ROH World Champion, this could lead to a nice classic story of veteran versus young gun as Bryan struggles to rip away the championship that he once held so proudly.

Brendan Bradley is a pro wrestling blogger whose work you can find at medium.com/@Brendanbradley927.

Follow Brendan on Twitter at @coolguysince01.