Everyone was a fan of The Rock and Steve Austin growing up, right?
Well, not everyone, actually. Daniel Bryan was one of the few that wasn't a big fan of his work. Not that he didn't like the Rock, or appreciated his promos...it just wasn't his thing. He spoke to Peter Rosenberg on his podcast about what he liked growing up.
"As a wrestling fan, I didn't like The Rock, right?" he said. "Like, The Rock was a lot of people's favorite, and, like, Steve Austin, and that sort of thing because they would go out and cut these awesome, entertaining promos. And I can appreciate how good they were at it, (but) that wasn't my deal."
Bryan was a fan of a different type of wrestler, those who were finer tuned into the more technical aspects of pro wrestling.
"Dean Malenko was my favorite!" he exclaimed. "And he was not a go out an cut this scathing interview guy. He was the guy that was like, 'oh, look at that sweet drop toehold!' And it's like, that was my kind of thing. I was like, 'wow, look at all the variations of drop toeholds he has!' And to a casual person, that's not a thing."
To this day, the promo and talking aspects of pro wrestling still isn't his cup of tea. While he is getting better at it, he doesn't have the passion for it.
"One of the hard things about what I do now is that the entrance is the best part." he said. "And then, I go out there and I talk. And, like, I've gotten better at this whole thing. I used to be someone who is very bad on the microphone. But now, I've developed into being more comfortable with it, finding myself with it, and that sort of thing. But it's still not my passion. I've learned how to do it because that's what my job required.
Daniel Bryan is continuing his role as Smackdown General Manager, a role he started back in 2016. How long that lasts, however, is anyone's guess.
