Arn Anderson Talks WWE ‘Not Seeing’ Daniel Bryan as a Major Star Initially

Former WWE Agent and AEW on-screen coach Arn Anderson recently discussed the 2010 Night of Champions PPV on the ARN podcast. One of the topics of conversation during the show surrounded WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan.

At the time, Bryan was not long off of his first run with the company on the main roster. When the Nexus debuted on RAW and dismantled the ring, Bryan used then ring announcer Justin Roberts’ tie to choke him. The fall out from this caused WWE to release Bryan; reportedly it was WWE partner Hasbro that was not happy with the incident.

WWE would then bring Daniel Bryan back for SummerSlam 2010, where he would join with John Cena as part of a team going up against his former faction, Nexus. Beyond that, it took a long time for WWE to finally give Bryan the opportunity at the top of the card, culminating in his WrestleMania 30 main event win. Even this scenario only came to pass due to CM Punk leaving the company and plans needing to be changed almost last minute (the rampant fan reaction also helped).

“Well, whoever knows what the reasons are? There’s really no reason that made any sense” Arn Anderson began on the podcast, saying how WWE should’ve been getting behind Bryan sooner. “Because all you have to do? Is listen to the audience, you know?”

“He was getting over” Anderson continued. “And he was doing it because he was an everyday guy. A blue collar guy that had earned his way and paid his dues in the Indies. And that word, it caught around you know?”

Arn Anderson would then reveal that WWE at the time didn’t listen to the ‘hype’ coming from the independent scene. “We used to think that indie hotline wasn’t all that powerful, but it is. It gets around and when there’s a new guy out there that the audience feels like should be in one of the the big companies? One of the big shows? They’ll let you know.”