IGN.com discussed the build to Wrestlemania and the Flintstones animated film.

When asked about fans being upset about how he was booked at the 2015 Royal Rumble, Bryan wrote, "I mean, I was more disappointed than anyone else, I think. [laughs] Because to go from the top where your headlining a show like WrestleMania and then come back and you're in a spot where you don't have anything certain for WrestleMania. It's hard. As a WWE Superstar, sometimes you think "Okay, I know the lay of the land." It's going to be these matches and these matches and these matches at WrestleMania. And so if you're not in that batch...my situation was this. I was either going to be in the main event of WrestleMania or I was going to be fifth or sixth from the top. And it's a huge difference, you know what I mean? So it was pretty disappointing."


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WWE's Daniel Bryan Would Love to Win the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 31

IGN talks to Daniel Bryan about his current WrestleMania plans.

By Matt FowlerI recently had the chance to speak to WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan about the upcoming Blu-ray release of The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown. During the conversation, I asked him a couple of non-Flintstones related questions about his current storyline in the WWE and his possible plans for WrestleMania. So I've got Bryan's answers for you here. The rest of the interview, about voicing a Flintstones-version of himself called Daniel Bry-Rock, will be posted in a separate piece.

IGN: The age range for people who watch the WWE is so big. You do an animated project like Stone Age Smackdown for the kids, but then you go out and try to entertain older fans too. You seem like someone who can appeal to both though. What are some the challenges involved in trying to reach everyone?

Daniel Bryan: That is the one of the great challenges of the business now. Because what appeals to a five-year-old isn't going to appeal to a 50-year-old. Everyone has different things they like. But that's also one of the awesome things about the show. That each person on the roster doesn't have to appeal to all of those people. I'll appeal to a certain demographic. And multiple demographics, right? People who like hard hitting wrestling and action, they'll like me. But the kids also like throwing their hands up in the air and screaming "YES!" And the fact that I look kind of silly with my giant beard and long hair.


And some guys come to the shows just because the Divas are hot, you know? And then some of them are coming to the show because the Divas are athletic and they like that. And that appeals to several different type of people as far as what they're looking for. John Cena comes out with a lot of energy and bright colors and kids love that. But then there are also a lot of hard hitting matches that the older fans like. But there will also be some more cartoonish things that a 22-year-old will hate or whatever. So not everything's going to appeal to everyone.

IGN: Your ability to get everyone to cheer for you though has kept you as the top guy in the WWE. When you were injured and away for so long, were you worried about the crowd reaction when you got back?

Bryan: I wasn't really worried about the crowd reaction. I was mostly worried about whether or not I could come back. We dealt with so many frustrations, so many setbacks. The last thing on my mind most of the time was "Oh, no. What if I come back and no one reacts?" Right? [laughs] I wasn't really thinking about that. I kind of figured they would react well because my wife had been in a story over the summer and they were used to reacting to her. And she was keeping the "YES!" chant alive and all that. And so I wasn't worried about keeping my momentum going, just whether or not I could actually come back and wrestle.

IGN: The fans took your elimination from the Royal Rumble really hard. It made headlines.

Bryan: I mean, I was more disappointed than anyone else, I think. [laughs] Because to go from the top where your headlining a show like WrestleMania and then come back and you're in a spot where you don't have anything certain for WrestleMania. It's hard. As a WWE Superstar, sometimes you think "Okay, I know the lay of the land." It's going to be these matches and these matches and these matches at WrestleMania. And so if you're not in that batch...my situation was this. I was either going to be in the main event of WrestleMania or I was going to be fifth or sixth from the top. And it's a huge difference, you know what I mean? So it was pretty disappointing.

IGN: Fan rage actually changed the storyline for you in the space between the Rumble and Fastlane pay-per-views.

Bryan: I think that's one of the coolest parts about our job. In no other place do fans have this much power. Last year the fans definitely affected change for me as far what they did. I was never supposed to be thought of for that spot. And so the fans were the ones who pushed and made their voices heard. And that's powerful. And that kind of power is special and something that makes the WWE completely unique.

IGN: It hasn't sorted itself out on TV yet, but it seems like you might be a part of the Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title. How would you feel about that?

Bryan: I'd be thrilled. I'd love it. To me, right now, the Intercontinental Title stuff is some of the funnest stuff on television. As far as the WWE goes and the stories. You have a lot of skilled performers who are getting to be in it, and going back to the thing we said before, about reaching different demographics, R-Truth has been hilarious during this whole thing. Like, trying to constantly steal the Intercontinental Championship and all that kind of stuff. And when you're in a Ladder Match with a bunch of other people, it's different than everything else on the show. So you really have the chance to go out there and not only be highlighted, but also actually steal the show.


IGN: When you came back, a lot of people didn't know if you were good to go at a hundred percent. Fans wondered if you might take it easy, but it's been full throttle for you since day one.

Bryan: [laughs] I don't think I had a choice. In fact, when I was wrestling they had me in two...so in TV wrestling we talk in segments. Right? So if you do it from one commercial break and the match finishes by the next commercial break, it's a one segment match. And so if you start in one segment and it goes through commercial and you come back, that's a two-segment match. My first night back, they had me in two two-segment matches on Smackdown.

IGN: A few weeks back you and Roman Reigns were in a tag team gauntlet match that, I think, lasted the entire second half of Smackdown.

Bryan: Yeah. That was crazy. So Smackdown is a two hour show. And in that two hour show there are 11 segments. And in that particular week, between RAW and Smackdown, Roman and I together wrestled for 12 segments. [laughs] We did an entire two hour show, and more, by ourselves.


Original article can be found by clicking here.