Daniel Bryan main evented Wrestlemania twice in his incredible WWE career. Many thought he would never even do it once after the debacle that was the 2014 Royal Rumble, but he overcame adversity to become the top star in the company when nobody backstage wanted him to.
Injuries and other reasons meant that he never got the run on top that he would have liked. Daniel Bryan should have had more Wrestlemania main events under his belt, with bouts like his match against Kofi Kingston, known as “Kofimania”, being hot enough to go on last at the biggest show of the year.
With him leaving to join AEW in 2021, it’s likely we have seen the last of Daniel Bryan in the WWE and at Wrestlemania. His career in the company was incredible and he will certainly be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame once he retired from the professional wrestling for good.
Here are all of Daniel Bryan’s Wrestlemania main events ranked from the best to worst.
Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania Main Events
2. vs Edge & Roman Reigns (Wrestlemania 37)
The second best Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania main event match was the Wrestlemania 37 bout between Roman Reigns, Edge and Daniel Bryan. Roman Reigns entered the match almost a year into his Universal Championship reign and looked unstoppable in his quest to retain the championship with the odds stacked out of his favour.
However, Daniel Bryan was at the top of his game and gunning for Reigns. He had regained the love of the fans after his heel run as the “Planet’s Champion” and felt in his heart that he could be the man to end Roman Reigns’ historic run as the WWE Universal Champion.
Also to contend with was the 2021 Royal Rumble winner. Edge had earned his shot against Reigns and Daniel Bryan in the Wrestlemania main event by entering the Royal Rumble from the number 1 spot and winning the whole thing. He also interfered in a Bryan vs Reigns match at Fastlane, hitting both men with chairs as he was the special guest referee of the match.
The three men were locked in a heated rivalry and it showed with their performance in the Wrestlemania 37 main event. This was Daniel Bryan’s second crack at the last match at Wrestlemania and would turn out to be his final Wrestlemania match ever. Knowing this, he gave everything he could to the match even though he “felt empty” about performing in front of thousands of screaming fans.
“I felt very out of body in it. When I’m wrestling, I feel everything and feel like I’m enjoying it and I am having fun. This was weird, I was out there and it felt like I was detached. It was so strange that before the match started, I got this strange feeling like, ‘Oh no, is this what it’s like before you die? Am I going to die? Huh, well, okay.’
Daniel Bryan on his feeling during the Wrestlemania 37 main event against Edge and Roman Reigns.
All three men gave their all to an incredible main event. Roman Reigns won a brilliant match after stacking Edge on top of Daniel Bryan, pinning both at the same time in one of the most dominant performances in Wrestlemania history. To pin not one, but two living legends at their peak was something nobody expected.
Despite being an absolutely brilliant match, it was only the second best Wrestlemania main event match of Daniel Bryan’s career. His best was his first that came at the end of one of the greatest runs in WWE history.
1. vs Batista vs Randy Orton (Wrestlemania 30)
Of course the best of Daniel Bryan’s Wrestlemania main event matches had to be his triumph at Wrestlemania 30. No true Daniel Bryan could rank anything as high as the time he overcame adversity and proved himself to the entire WWE Universe once and for all.
The story leading up to this match is as important as the match itself. Daniel Bryan was the fans chosen champion, having got himself over in the past few years with a number of different gimmicks.
By Summerslam 2013 he was ready. He beat John Cena in the main event for the WWE Championship, but had it cruelly taken from him by Randy Orton and Triple H.
They feuded for months with Bryan always getting the upper hand only to have it snatched out from him in the last second. He took a hiatus from battling the Authority for a feud with Bray Wyatt which fans thought was a way to get him into the Royal Rumble match to win.
He did not even enter the Royal Rumble, but the fan backlash was enough to get him into the main event of Wrestlemania 30. Daniel Bryan’s first Wrestlemania main event match was against Batista and Randy Orton, although he had to beat Triple H earlier that night to earn his place in the shows finale.
The main event of Wrestlemania 30 was storytelling perfection. Daniel Bryan overcome the odds by beating two men who towered over him and were the hand picked choices to be champion. He also got revenge of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon during the match, tying up all the loose ends from the year-long feud.
He eventually hit the Solid Knee Plus on Batista and locked in the Yes Lock, forcing the former WWE Champion to tap out. This gave Daniel Bryan the victory in his first and greatest Wrestlemania main event match. Fans rejoiced as their chosen hero had finally ascended to the top of the mounting and closed Wrestlemania XXX with a sea of 80,000 fans all “yes-ing” in unison.