Bryan Danielson Was Not Originally Supposed To Cash-In Money In The Bank At WWE TLC 2011
Danielson recounts the story.
The first time Bryan Danielson won a World Championship in WWE was at the 2011 TLC pay-per-view. He cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Paul Wight (Big Show) to capture the World Heavyweight Title.
While sitting down with Chris Van Vliet, Danielson said that was not the original plan. He was not scheduled to be at the venue. He ended up going to the venue, and when Vince McMahon found out Bryan was there, he decided to put the title on him.
“I had won the Money in the Bank, and the only reason I won the Money in the Bank is because they had two Money in the Banks. They had one for Raw and one for SmackDown. They knew for sure they wanted Alberto Del Rio to win the Raw one. On the SmackDown one, they thought they wanted Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, or me. On the day of the show, they all decided it was me because they didn’t want a bad guy to win the Money in the Bank on the SmackDown side because they had a bad guy winning it on the Raw side. But the most important thing was the Alberto Del Rio thing… They inserted me in a story with Big Show and Mark Henry… but then, Mark Henry got hurt. This was at the TLC pay-per-view in 2011. Mark Henry gets hurt. I wasn’t scheduled to be at the pay-per-view. I had a Walmart signing that same day in Baltimore with Kelly Kelly, and came over to the building because Brie (Bella) was there; I think Brie had a match on the show. So, I was there, and then Vince (McMahon) found out. Just because I happened to be there, they’re like, ‘It’ll be shocking that Daniel Bryan comes in and cashes in on Big Show…’ It was just a circumstance.”
Bryan is currently with All Elite Wrestling. He is no longer active in the ring and is on commentary for AEW Dynamite.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
