Daniel Bryan Return Was Certainly A Dream Come True

At long last, Daniel Bryan made his in-ring return to the WWE at WrestleMania 34, and there wasn’t a better place to do it than New Orleans. The Superdome was the venue where, at WrestleMania 30, Bryan made the impossible happen by overcoming Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista in two distinct matches to capture the unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Tonight at WWE WrestleMania 34, Daniel Bryan didn’t win any titles. In fact, his victory with SmackDown Live commissioner Shane McMahon ended up getting the heinous duo of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens fired for everything they had done to hurt Shane and Daniel.

But the match was so much more than the result. The fans had been expecting Bryan to win in his return, but what they wanted to see more than anything else was the Bryan they’d watch own that wrestling for years. They wanted to see him flying around like he was made of feathers, hitting heavy strikes on his opponents, kicking out of big moves, and slapping the YES! Lock as vengeance on the men who brutally beat him down weeks ago.

The WWE checked off all the boxes in this match. From the get-go, Owens and Zayn played it dirty. They blindsided Bryan and McMahon from behind, hitting Bryan with a Helluva Kick on the outside before smashing him with a powerbomb on the apron, taking Bryan out of commission. This left Shane to fight for his life against the well-oiled machine of Owens and Zayn, all the while selling the heck out of a diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia.

Credit: WWE Universe on Twitter

When Bryan flew in from out of nowhere to save the matchup, the crowd knew something special was in the air. When Bryan finally tagged in, the response was overwhelming. And when he was flying around the ring on the hot tag, the YES! chants reminded us all why Bryan is the most beloved superstar in the history of the WWE.

He showed great resiliency, kicking out of both the Helluva Kick and the Pop-Up Powerbomb. That’s classic Daniel Bryan. You can beat him down outside the ring and hit him with your best shots, but he’ll still find something in him to stay alive, especially when he’s fighting for someone else whether that be the fans or his friend Shane McMahon.

A missile dropkick, hard strikes, and some YES! Kicks done right. Bryan was in vintage form, and it was as if he never missed time. It was as if he was the same Daniel Bryan who conquered the WWE at WrestleMania 30.

Bryan would win the match for his team by sending Zayn flying to the canvas after hitting his lovely running knee, and then he promptly turned that into the YES! Lock. Zayn? Well, he had no choice but to quickly tap out to perhaps the greatest wrestler of our generation.

Just a year ago, Bryan’s return would have seemed impossible. I mean, at the beginning of 2018, I wouldn’t have been able to foresee Bryan taking hard bumps and submitting another former Ring of Honor legend in Sami Zayn with the YES! Lock.

Next: WrestleMania 34 Live Review, Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

That’s exactly what happened at WrestleMania 34, though, and the WWE and the wrestlers in the match itself couldn’t have written this performance any better. His tag, his submission of Zayn, and everything else in between will be immortalized and replayed on WWE Top 10s for years to come. Because that’s what happens when you mix the magic of WrestleMania with the magic of Daniel Bryan.