Did Daniel Bryan Feel Any Ring Rust After His Return To Competition?

Daniel Bryan recently spoke with the Sport Bible, where he discussed a number of topics. Among them were if he had any ‘ring rust’ upon being cleared to return to in-ring competition, making adjustments to his wrestling style, future opponents and more.

Below are some highlights from the interview:

On having any ‘ring rust’:

“I honestly didn’t feel any ring rust. It was strange because the day I was cleared, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens attacked me and I did the running dropkicks – just dropkick, dropkick, dropkick.

“You have to understand, I wasn’t prepared for this to happen. I’m wearing the shoes which I’m wearing now – which are from a thrift store and they’re a half size too big! I was wearing a sportscoat and I haven’t done the dropkick in the corner for three years – it’s a very exhausting thing to do because you’re sprinting, running, jumping and then kick.

“I was a little bit concerned but that night I didn’t feel tired or anything, I was excited, it was fun. Same thing at Wrestlemania, I felt like nothing felt weird or awkward – everything felt like normal and how it used to feel.

“Obviously I am doing these live events and there are more singles matches – there’s stuff where I’m like, ‘Ok I’m a little bit rusty at this’ – I haven’t done a fireman’s carry in years and that’s a very specific movement that I haven’t done a lot of.

“Stuff like that is going to take me a while before everything’s back to normal but overall I’m very happy with it.”

On making any adjustments to his wrestling style:

“The idea would be that I do things differently and people aren’t able to perceive it. Specifically with the Wrestlemania match, we wanted to show people that the old Daniel Bryan was back – I want to change my style but I’m doing it gradually.

“This last week I attacked Cass and ended it with a heel hook – in my mind this is a new direction in how I’m wrestling and then focussing more on the ‘Yes!’ Lock than on knee and that sets up different things.

“This is probably in more detail than fans would probably want to know but I’m setting up those things so the matches are still entertaining and interesting – if you’re watching it for a story front to back, it’s more interesting with less risk. That’s kind of where I’m going with it, while still making it exciting.”

Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy - Winner faces Samoa Joe next week: SmackDown LIVE, May 22, 2018

On who he would like to face in the future:

“I want to work with everybody. When I look at the roster of Smackdown Live specifically: Shinsuke Nakamura – yep! Samoa Joe – of course. Andrade Cien Almas – sure! I did the match with Rusev – it was the first match we had ever wrestled each other before. I’ve been wanting to wrestle Rusev for a long time.

“I also think there’s something there with me and Roman Reigns, somewhere down the line. I just feel there’s something there.

“And the big match that I always say – I really want to wrestle Brock. I’ve been wanting to wrestle Brock for years, when I came back from my neck surgery in 2015, it was the match that I wanted. I’m sure Brock doesn’t want it, he doesn’t care!”

They also discuss how he made his return, the circumstances behind it and more.

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