Is Daniel Bryan still the best wrestler?

[Versa]

I remember when I first came to this board, I asked who was better between dbry and punk. Most of y'all said dbry was the cleaner, overall better technician in the ring, and while I preferred punk as an overall talent, I grew to see and agree with that POV.

Use that still the case though? Dbry still puts on a show, but lately I've found myself kind of bored with his matches at times. The stiff kicks signature doesn't do a whole lot for me, nor does the dive outside the ring. Everything else is pretty great still though.

I feel that lately others have caught up though. Right now I am far more engaged and excited by Seth Rollins matches. I feel he's every bit as skilled in the ring. Another one who has been great ever since making tweaks to his offense to make for more exciting matches is Dolph Ziggler. If you're including NXT, Finn Balor, Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn have had some I'd most technically impresses matches I've seen as of recent.

So I ask, is Daniel Bryan still the hands down best wrestler in WWE?

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

Moved on

But tsc relies on old episodes of Sunday night heat as evidence to ridiculous arguments here so ill say this wasn't a good idea

 

[R=G]

Ziggler hasn't had any standout matches since his Rollins and Bryan matches. He's just flopping around like an idiot. Rollins is going strong...Cesaro is going strong but as usual, when Bryan gets going, it's almost instantly a match of the year candidate.

 

[Versa]

Ziggler hasn't had any standout matches since his Rollins and Bryan matches. He's just flopping around like an idiot. Rollins is going strong...Cesaro is going strong but as usual, when Bryan gets going, it's almost instantly a match of the year candidate.

Cesaro and Tyson Kid have been great too.

Ziggler had some really good matches with Luke Harper so I don't agree with you at all. He even had a good match with Kane lol.

 

[Silkk]

He's being restricted so idk, id give it to AJ Styles. Sami Zayn would be next but he's been out a while

 

[Jmare007]

He's not consistently the best in WWE because others have been given the chance to shine in longer matches and they have definitely rise up to the occasion.

D-Bry TV match formula has run it's curse in the sense that watching him in short matches isn't as novel and the crowd isn't as engaged. Kinda like what happened to him in the indys in 09' before his farewell tour.

BUT, when he's given time he's still the best in that company IMO. Nobody on that roster could've done what he did with Reigns at Fast Lane or carry a 45 minute tag team gauntlet like he did. It's clear as day that dude can still pull off great, new moves and tell good stories when needed. But the competition is much tougher with people like Rollins and the NXT guys showing the good stuff every chance they get. shyt, if Cesaro was given a shot he's neck and neck with Bryan too.

I agree he needs to drop the highflyer gimmick to a minimum and change his style. The "flying goat" shyt has run it's curse.

In the world? that's a whole different discussion and way harder to determine.


ps: I'm a big Dolph fan but I can't put him up there with the others. He struggles to find a way to mix his overselling with his spots and tell a great story. When he does pull it off he can be up there with the elite. But the most of the time he ends up being just a "last 5 minutes were fukking great" kinda guy. And even though there's nothing wrong with that - dude is still very entertaining to watch - it isn't as good as a Zayn, DB, Devitt and the like.

 

[TrillaMonsoon]

I still have the most confidence in Daniel Bryan to have a great match with anyone given the time. There are other great workers with more "entertaining" move sets but I still enjoy Bryans matches more.

Rollins and Cesaro are the two closest to Bryan IMO and they can have good matches with anyone but Bryan will have the best match with worse workers. His matches with Ryback, Kane, the Big Show/Mark Henry feud, Roman Reigns, Miz and others show how good he is and he gives all those people really good matches, accentuates their strengths and makes their matches look different then most of their work. So that is what keeps him ahead for me.

I do think the WWE style makes Bryan seem stale because the wrestlers always have to get their "movez" in. I dont wanna see the backflip in the corner, the 3 dropkicks in the corner or multiple suicide dives every 6 minute match he has. With Raw and Smackdown matches, they have to fit those moves in a shorter amount of time which can be frustrating because you feel like they're just rushing to those spots while when he gets 15+ minutes, you're going to enjoy just about every moment of that match since he's so good.

I do think Rollins is right there and his moveset is fun and he can do a lot of different things depending on who he is wrestling and whether or not he's face or heel, but he's only great if his opponent can keep up with him while Bryan can work any style and make himself and who he is working with look good.

I also think he's the best storyteller in the ring and you know exactly how you're supposed to feel and what point he wanted to get across at the end of his matches/feuds.

Edit: Damn, had the page up ready to respond at work when I got a second and @Jmare007 made the points I was gonna make first

 

[Jmare007]

Totally forgot about Harper too. That guy is the most underrated worker in the roster right now. I'm begging for him to get longer matches so he can in the discussion of best in the company. He's just like Cesaro in that way.

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

As bad as this may sound, I feel like every Daniel Bryan match is the same.

I prefer watching Rollins over D-Bry at this point.

 

[Mr.Moon]

Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson is the best technically wrestler.

Under WWE ... i dont know.. Brock Lesnar?

 

[dh86]

Bryan's work with Reigns last month was a work of art. He not only logically attacked Roman, but he showed a preview how he would attack Brock at Mania and weaved it together. Seth can do movez but Bryan can tell stories at a prime Savage level

 

[MMS]

most entertaining overall? Kevin Owens

on the main roster?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

best psychologist

 

[DosCadenaz]

Yes

 

[R=G]

Crying over consistency? Always something....the things that Shawn and Bret are praised to no end are now a slight on Bryan..lol.

Bryan had standout matches with Wyatt and Ryback when no one could...the Shield got over and mattered wrestling Bryan in 6 man's every week....had good no DQ matches with Blandy...gauntlet matches....standout matches with Harper...Ziggler....Miz...he is the only one that is anywhere near that consistent. Not Ambrose, Rollins, Blandy, Cena, Cesaro....none of them has carried the WWE more than Danielson since 2012.