Even before he arrived in WWE and was renamed Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, a technical wizard who put on amazing bouts and collected belts in indie promotions like Ring of Honor as well as in the international wrestling scene. In WWE, against all odds, the undersized performer — boosted by grassroots support — worked his way to the top of the card, becoming a four-time WWE Champion in the process before moving on to All Elite Wrestling.

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But most fans already knew all that, as well as some highlights from his pre-WWE career like training with Shawn Michaels and his legendary bouts with Nigel McGuinness. Let’s cover some lesser-known moments of Bryan Danielson’s career before he wrestled for the majors.

9 Tried To Train With Dean Malenko

Dean Malenko

It should come as no surprise to anybody that one of Bryan Danielson’s favorite wrestlers as a teenager was Dean Malenko, a similar junior heavyweight sized wrestler with amazing technical prowess. Danielson wanted to learn from the submission specialist, so he worked hard to save money, so he could enroll in Malenko’s Florida-based school.

Unfortunately, by the time he graduated from high school, the Dean Malenko School of Wrestling had shut down, and he sought alternate training instead.

8 Relationship With Brian Kendrick

Bryan Danielson and Brian Kendrick

Upon graduating, Bryan Danielson enrolled in The Texas Wrestling Academy, which was run by Shawn Michaels. Training at the same time as Danielson was future WWE star and tag team champion Brian Kendrick, who back then wrestled under the ring name Spanky.

The two trainees formed a friendship, had their first match together, and even held the Texas Wrestling Academy Tag Team Championship together. This history came into play years later in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, where Danielson did color commentary while Kendrick competed in the tournament.

7 First WWE Developmental Run

Bryan Danielson as the masked American Dragon

Bryan Danielson’s big run with WWE started in 2010, but he actually had a short developmental run with the company a decade prior, as he originally signed in 2000. Performing for the developmental territory Memphis Championship Wrestling, Danielson, wrestling under the masked gimmick of American Dragon, and captured a couple of belts during his run with the promotion.

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According to Danielson himself, he was slated to move up to the WWE main roster to be part of its fledgling cruiserweight division, but it never materialized and Danielson was released from the company in mid-2001.

6 Wrestled For New Japan Pro Wrestling

Curry Man and American Dragon (Bryan Danielson) as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions

Many fans have been clamoring for Bryan Danielson to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling now that he’s no longer with WWE, so it may come as a surprise that he actually already worked for the company in the early 2000s.

A staple of the junior heavyweight division, Danielson wrestled as American Dragon and took part in the 2004 Best Of The Super Junior tournament and enjoyed a IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title run with Curry Man (a.k.a. a masked Christopher Daniels).

5 Wrestled John Cena In 2003

Bryan Danielson vs. John Cena in 2003

While he was released from WWE in 2001, he actually had a couple of matches on minor WWE shows like Velocity and Heat, wrestling indie contemporaries like Jamie Noble, Paul London, and the aforementioned Brian Kendrick. But his most notable match would be a losing effort against John Cena in 2003 on Velocity.

At this point, Cena was already working his “Doctor of Thuganomics” character, and 10 years later Danielson would dethrone John Cena as WWE Champion in the main event of SummerSlam 2013.

4 Pro Wrestling NOAH

Bryan Danielson in Pro Wrestling NOAH

Outside of Ring of Honor, Bryan Danielson did some of his most acclaimed work with the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH, which had a working relationship with Danielson’s home promotion Ring of Honor. In 2008, he defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to become GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion.

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One of the big highlights of his work with NOAH was his rivalry with top junior heavyweight KENTA. Across ROH and NOAH, Danielson and KENTA had four epic bouts — including one for the ROH World Title — and in their final bout, KENTA defeated Bryan to become the new GCH Junior Heavyweight Champion.

3 Wrestled In Europe

Bryan Danielson vs. Tommy End (a.k.a. Malakai Black) in wXw

In his pre-WWE days, Bryan Danielson didn’t just perform on the indies and in Japan — he wrestled in Europe as well. In addition to wrestling in the UK for Ring of Honor shows as well as for local promotions like All Star Wrestling, Danielson made his way to Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling, where he not only captured the wXw World Heavyweight Championship, but also took part in its 16 Carat Gold and AMBITION tournaments.

During his exploits to Europe, he took on future stars like Zack Sabre Jr., WALTER, and Tommy End (a.k.a. Malakai Black).

2 Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

Bryan Danielson vs. El Generico

While Bryan Danielson primarily wrestled for Ring of Honor in the US, he was no stranger to the Southern California indie sensation Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. His debut match in 2003 had him unsuccessfully challenging Frankie Kazarian for the PWG Championship, but four years later he defeated El Generico to capture the belt.

In 2009, he defeated Chris Hero in a 43-minute epic, but vacated the gold when he signed to WWE. Other notable opponents who clashed with Danielson in PWG include Kevin Steen, CIMA, The Young Bucks, and future AEW rival Kenny Omega.

1 Pursued The NWA World Title

Bryan Danielson in the NWA

In 2007, the National Wrestling Alliance decided to end its relationship with TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling), meaning that the NWA World Heavyweight Title was no longer associated with that promotion. A new champion would be determined in a tournament, which Danielson entered, and reached the finals after beating (among others) Prince Devitt (a.k.a. Finn Balor) and future WWE authority figure Adam Pearce.

An injury kept Danielson out of the finals, but he did end up challenging for the belt in 2010, taking on Adam Pearce in a losing effort.