Daniel Bryan emerged as the most popular superstar in the year 2014, achieving his lifelong dream of main-eventing WrestleMania. Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Batista in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 30 to become the WWE World Heavyweight champion. He made a successful title defense against Kane the following month at Extreme Rules.
The higher-ups had penciled in one more title defense following that, pitting Daniel Bryan against Batista at WWE Payback. Despite it being a mega showdown, The Animal recently disclosed during an interview with Daily Dead that he refused to battle the G.O.A.T, believing that it made no sense.
“What most fans don’t realize is that I stayed an extra month. The reason I had to leave was because I had to go and do press for Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy. They [Marvel] were actually nice enough to let me stay an extra month. They [WWE] wanted me to stay that extra month and work with Daniel Bryan at another pay-per-view, but I just thought that didn’t even make sense.”
Batista to Daily Dead
Daniel Bryan and Batista did have a singles bout in March 2014, right before WrestleMania 30. The Animal went on to become a megastar in Hollywood following his departure right after the show of shows. Bryan, on the other hand, stayed with WWE until 2021 when the leader of the YES movement decided to join rival competitor, AEW in September 2021.
Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter
If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.
You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.ⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘⓘ
