Daniel Bryan Helped Me Put My Career Into Perspective
For many, retirement is seen as a luxury. We’ve worked our entire lives, now it’s time that we can just relax, sit around, or do things we could never do with a job. I’ve always felt like it was in the eyes of people with regular jobs who look forward to retiring. I’m certain my Grandma wouldn’t want to be still be working at Target, while my Grandpa, before he passed away, was happy being a well respected janitor. It’s ultimately finding what you’re comfortable doing forever, and sadly some careers can’t go on until death do us part.
Last night, Daniel Bryan, one of the best wrestlers of our generation, had to say his goodbye to the squared circle in an emotional send-off in Seattle. Anybody who saw the news hoped this was a swerve and that he’d get one last WrestleMania moment. But, it wasn’t. It was real. A moment that we, as fans, all selfishly didn’t want to believe, because we loved his in-ring abilities. It was concussion after concussion, and fight after fight for the last year to get clearance by medical staff. Daniel’s frustration brought to life on Total Divas as his wife, Brie Bella, tried to help him start a life after wrestling.
Daniel’s career is one to be felt. He was the underdog. Nobody, including Vince McMahon, thought he was would become a star. He never had the look of a star, but his skills were of the highest. When CM Punk walked out, Daniel was there as one of the faces of the company. He got his huge WM moment when he won the world title after wrestling in two matches that night. So many moments created in his WWE life, but it’s far from what made him great.
His run on the independent circuit broke down barriers. He put on five star matches all the time in the likes of Ring of Honor, among many other smaller promotions. He clashed with people who became stars, or pending future stars, in the WWE years before like Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, and AJ Styles. His long-standing feud with Nigel McGuiness is one of ROH’s best storylines, and a tragedy that the two couldn’t continue after Nigel failed to make it into WWE.
You can’t fake passion. You either have it or you don’t. In the music industry, it’s easy to establish who has it vs. who doesn’t. Passion is doing what you love for years and not seeing more than a dime. Passion is overworking yourself in hopes of being noticed. Passion is doing whatever it takes. That’s where Daniel and I relate. He was wrestling at gas stations for damn near nobody just because he loved the sport. My gas station is spending hours writing something and constantly wondering if anybody is going to read it. Will it pay off?
And sadly, just having passion isn’t enough. I talked about Nigel McGuiness and how his career didn’t go in the way he wanted. I’m still haunted by a scene in his documentary where he got a text from Daniel after his WrestleMania win saying he wished he was there. Granted, Nigel is in a good place with his career. A retired wrestler turned matchmaker for ROH isn’t a bad turnout.
Am I going to be Nigel or will I have a Daniel story to tell one day?
I’m in year eight, half of what Daniel Bryan put in before retiring. He probably had the same thoughts as me. Around his eighth year, he was pretty much done with Ring of Honor and moving onto WWE. The fear of being a little fish in a large pond when you were accustomed to the opposite for years. I read his autobiography last year. He didn’t make it first time around, and was lucky enough to get resigned following his choking incident on live TV.
Internally, I’m a big fish in a larger pond that kind of roams alone. There’s all kinds of schools of fishes like Complex, DJ Booth, and Hot New Hip Hop. And those fish know of me, but there hasn’t been an opportunity that truly stuck and allowed me to join the school for more than a little while. As a writer, it’s a long process of becoming the size of a shark in a sense that when you see me write there’s no denying that you have to notice.
I’m 24, and Daniel Bryan is 10 years older than me retiring. I can’t imagine retiring so young, unless I make Gunplay mad during an interview that we have an epic street brawl that ends by me falling through two stacked tables and my future employer won’t clear me to write again. It does raise the question of what does retirement look like for a journalist?
All of my idols in writing are still very much active. Elliott Wilson went through his Juicy J phrase and is still one of the most prominent names in our business well into his 40s. Can I still be doing album reviews on Youtube in my 50s or will the youngsters reject me? Will my audience grow with me or grow away? What is even life after being a writer? We often shun hip-hop artists who drag out their careers too long. The same might be true for journalists one day. “Oh, he’s old, he doesn’t get why Mighty Morphin’ Rocko The Reptile is the best rapper today,” a 12 year old might comment on social media’s biggest platform.
I think what Daniel Bryan’s retirement put into perspective most was the amount of time it took to make it. Obviously, everyone’s journey is different, so his decade plus to get to the top isn’t the only path. It’s just the one that feels most relatable. I’m the underdog. I’m in the indies with a small amount of flirting with the big dogs. I’m in year eight, I’m 24, and I’ve still got a long ways to go.
So, Thank you, Daniel Bryan. For the many years of entertainment, for representing the underdogs, and for helping define careers in a new aspect across the globe.
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