Bryan Danielson Recalls WWE Rivalry With Randy Orton

Bryan Danielson has recalled what it was like getting to work with Randy Orton when the two men had a memorable rivalry in WWE.

It was nearly ten years ago when one of the best rivalries of the 2010s took place. Bryan Danielson, who was known as Daniel Bryan in WWE, won the WWE Championship from John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam 2013. It was Bryan’s first time holding the WWE Title after holding the World Heavyweight Title earlier in his career. Moments later, referee Triple H hit Bryan with a Pedigree and Randy Orton cashed in to become the WWE Champion.

Randy Orton’s actions would lead to him becoming WWE’s top heel while Bryan was clearly one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster. The two men would go on to wrestle many times on television, pay-per-view and live events over the next year.

While WWE didn’t go the obvious route to set up Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 in 2014, they did get there with Royal Rumble winner Batista added to the match as well. Bryan would end WrestleMania 30 by winning the WWE Championship that Orton carried into the match, so Bryan won the feud and ended it on a happy note.

In a feature article on The Ringer, Bryan Danielson praised Orton heavily while reminiscing about their memorable WWE rivalry.

“I would get to wrestle Randy Orton, who might be one of my favorite people to ever wrestle, in the sense of he and I just clicked, and Randy Orton is so good. You’re wrestling all these untelevised matches right in front of live events and … if you’re somebody who tries to continually get better, it’s a great place to hone the details … your explosiveness, of all the different things that you do.”

“When I wrestle Randy, and when I watch Randy, and especially like, Randy at his best, I think, ‘Man, this guy is untouchable. Everything he does is perfect.’”

Bryan Danielson is currently getting ready for his AEW Revolution pay-per-view match against the AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF). MJF and Bryan will headline the show in a 60-Minute Ironman Match.