WWE: Daniel Bryan realised his neck injury 'was not a normal situation' during painful lay-off but now has his eyes set on the Royal Rumble

Bryan is targeting victory in this weekend's Royal Rumble to set-up a shot at either Brock Lesnar or Seth Rollins at Wrestlemanie, he tells The Independent

Daniel Bryan leaps out onto Triple H during their match at Wrestlemania 30 (WWE)

Daniel Bryan’s rise to the top of WWE was one of the biggest stories in professional wrestling during the early stages of 2014, but after a neck injury forced him to vacate his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in June of that year, he disappeared from television, with many wondering whether he would ever compete again.

Thankfully for fans all over the world, Bryan made his long awaited return to the ring mere weeks ago, and this Sunday he is one of 30 entries in the legendary Royal Rumble match. For the first time, anybody in the United Kingdom can view the event live on the WWE Network.

Bryan spoke to The Independent ahead of the PPV, and shared his enthusiasm for Sunday.

“I’m really excited about it, it’s my first PPV back and the Royal Rumble to me is one of the most exciting events of the year" said Bryan. "It’s starting off the road to Wrestlemania so it should be a good time.”

The injury that kept the WWE Superstar out was not initially seen as anything strange, especially as many performers over the years have suffered severe neck injuries, but as time progressed, it became apparent that this was not a normal situation.

“I was supposed to only be out for about six to eight weeks after surgery, but what happened when I hurt my neck was that the nerve was compressed and for a long time it was just sending shooting pain down my arm," Bryan continued. "The pain wasn’t really a problem, but it became an issue when it became weakness, and when I couldn’t even unlock my car door.

“So that’s when they decided that I needed the surgery and it couldn’t wait any longer. But then we did the surgery and there was an issue as the strength wasn’t coming back, and there was thought that perhaps the nerve had been compressed too long, that I’d waited too long to get the surgery. I’ve been wrestling a long time, had a lot of stuff happen to me but never really got it taken care of, so I thought it was all coming back to bite me!”

After months of toil and anguish, with the real fear of never being able to do the thing he loved most in the world again, a crack of light finally entered Bryan’s world, with a potential cure found.

“There was talk of doing a second surgery, but they weren’t sure whether it would work or not," he said. "A doctor in Pittsburgh said it wouldn’t work, and a doctor in Phoenix said it might work, but then I went to this guy in Denver who does a thing called Muscle Activation Technique and he got my strength back, which only lasted for a little bit at first, but I went back again and the strength has lasted until now, and that includes my first seven or eight matches back.

“My strength has held up, and my body and neck feel good so I’m ready for the Royal Rumble.”

Despite the pageantry of the ‘Yes’ chants, the beard and his everyman persona, the unique aspect of Bryan is that he is genuinely one of the most talented and respected performers in the ring, a reputation he has forged throughout over 15 years of wrestling. From his early displays on the independent circuit, to his title reigns in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and onto his WWE tenure, when the name Daniel Bryan is on an event, 99% of the time he will be in the best match on the show.

Daniel Bryan made his return to action earlier this month (WWE)

After an injury of that magnitude, will Bryan have to adapt his ring repertoire, which frequently consists of high impact moves, including diving headbutts and top rope dropkicks? To the relief of his fanbase, the answer appears to be "NO!"

“I’m confident that I can maintain the high standards, but my style has to change regardless because if I come back and just keep doing the same stuff I was doing before, I think people could get bored of it," added Bryan. "I’m a big believer that as a wrestler and a performer you constantly have to evolve, and that’s what I’ve been thinking with my time off. That does not necessarily mean that my style is going to be any less risky, it just means it has to be a little bit different and I’ll have to change some things.

“I wasn’t that hesitant, because wrestling, like in anything, if you go out there and do any sport after you come back and you’ve been hurt, if you hesitate, you’re more likely to get injured, so I just have to go out there and go full bore, and if my neck tells me “you should stop doing this” then I have to listen to my body and let that be my guide.”

A Royal Rumble win would have huge ramifications for Bryan, with another Wrestlemania main event in sight. As for who he ideally wants to face on the grandest stage of them all, there are two choices in his mind.

“If I win the Royal Rumble I would really love to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, I think it would be an incredible match and an incredible story, a true David vs Goliath type story that the fans would really get behind. Also, I’ve always wanted to wrestle Brock because I think our styles would mesh in a way that would make it one of the best matches in WWE history, and creatively that would be very fulfilling for me.

“If Brock Lesnar doesn’t win the title match on Sunday, and I can’t wrestle him at Wrestlemania, I would want to wrestle Seth Rollins, and if I don’t get to wrestle Rollins this year, then I want to wrestle him at Wrestlemania next year. To me, since I’ve been gone, he has been the best performer in the company.”

The grandeur of Wrestlemania frequently means that many former Superstars from the past come back for a high profile match, and then leave again for much of the year. For Bryan, he wants this time to be different.

He said: “Essentially, what I want from this year’s Wrestlemania is a lot of the current stars to get big matches. I want to see Dolph Ziggler get a big match, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose all get big matches. For the last several years it’s been hard because it seems that returning people are the ones who get the biggest matches, people who aren’t going to be around for very long, and that’s not what I want to see this year. I want to see these guys who are working their butts off all year round, to see them get rewarded with top spots at Wrestlemania.”

Bryan emerged victorious in his battle with Triple H at Wrestlemania last year (WWE)

Competing at Wrestlemania is the highest achievement a WWE Superstar can enjoy, and the competitors in WWE’s NXT franchise all harbour ambition to reach that summit one day. NXT has been one of the most popular shows to watch on the WWE Network, a fact not lost on Bryan, who is a big fan of many of the talents there.

“Hideo Itami is definitely one, Finn Balor is another, Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville. Those guys I’d really want to wrestle. There is also Chad Gable, who went to the Olympics in wrestling and he’s a smaller guy, but I met him when I was down in NXT getting ready to come back, and he is incredibly athletic, and is going to be really good. I hope he does really well and gets called up.”

A man with no ego whatsoever, Bryan is keen to compete with the best in the world, and he has very exciting plans regarding NXT of his own.

“One of the things I would really like to do, and this is especially relevant due to everybody being able to view NXT on the WWE Network now, is that for example, if they’re not going to call up Hideo Itami soon, I want to go down to NXT and wrestle him. Same thing for Finn Balor, everything is on the Network and I want WWE fans worldwide to see that kind of thing.

“Also, NXT has a very intimate atmosphere, and I love that. I was an independent wrestler for ten years, I love the atmosphere of independent shows, and NXT has a similar feel. So if those guys don’t get called up soon, I’d love to go down there and wrestle them.”

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan (WWE)

One of the main trainers for NXT is former English wrestler Robby Brookside. Earlier this month, Bryan named a match he had with Brookside from Germany in 2003 as his favourite of all time, beating out both matches he competed in from Wrestlemania 30, plus his countless Ring of Honor classics, and matches with the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton and CM Punk.

So after over a decade of world class matches against many of the best wrestlers in the world, why did Bryan choose a match which was never filmed, let alone televised?

“The person who has had the biggest influence on my career is William Regal, without him I wouldn’t be where I am today. He introduced me to Robby Brookside in 2000, and Robby has also been a very good mentor to me. I would go over and do extensive tours of England before I got to WWE, and I would constantly ask him questions.

“In the match I had with him in Germany, Robby really pushed to the promoter to do a title match with me, and the promoter was saying “this guy? He’s small, I don’t think that’s going to be very good, and the crowd is not going to like it very much. Nobody knows who he is”. But Robby said to him trust me, and we went out there, had a two out of three falls match, and it was really good. We came to the back, and the promoter came up to me and shook my hand and said “you did an outstanding job.”

“Then he talked to Robby afterwards, and said he was right and apologised for ever doubting him. That is one of the more fulfilling things to me, having somebody who has invested a lot of time in me, and being able to reward him with us going out and having a really good match. As far as trainers go, Robby is enthusiastic, technically excellent and has a wealth of knowledge for anybody training to be a wrestler.”

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan (WWE)

Considering Bryan’s own technical ability, and his admiration for the smoother side of performing, it is perhaps no surprise that his number one match recommendation for UK fans to check out on the WWE Network first, is a series of matches between two of the greatest of all time.

“It’s hard for me to pick one specific match, but if I was to tell people about wrestling and say this is what you should watch if you want to become a wrestling fan, in my opinion it’s the series of title matches with Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair back in 1989. When you go to the Network, go to the WCW PPVs in 1989, with the first one being Chi-Town Rumble, these series of three matches with Flair and Steamboat are the most incredibly gripping matches to me, if you only like current wrestling and think old wrestling is boring, go and watch those.”

Subscribe to the WWE Network for just £9.99 a month to watch the Royal Rumble live at no additional cost on Sunday night, January 25th at 1am. You can also see the Royal Rumble live on Sky Sports Box Office.