The 2010 A1W 100 Slow Release: #1 Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson

The A1W 100 is a list, voted on by regular wrestling fans like you and me, that chronicles the best in-ring workers in the United States for the calendar year 2010. There were 20 total ballots sent in from TWB readers and forum members at A1 Wrestling.

And now, the one you've been waiting for. Drumroll, please…

*drum roll*

The Best in the World
Photo Credit: WWE.com

1. Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson
Points: 1892
Votes Received: 20
Highest Vote: 1st (ME!, jerseyboy, Padje Mescall, reader, Russel Harder, Robert Lamb, Koppo Kick)
Last Year's Ranking: 15th

And now, the testimonials…

TH

Daniel Bryan began the year out of sight, out of mind, as Bryan Danielson, freshly signed with WWE after years of resisting the call. The anticipation was electric. We'd all heard he'd be at the landmark 1/4 RAW, and he was, although in a dark match against Chavo Guerrero. Next thing we all knew, he was in FCW by his own request. There, he had a match with Kaval that went viral. We all waited with baited breath.

Then came NXT. However, with his rechristening as Daniel Bryan, the matches didn't start coming. Yeah, there was the wildly overrated tilt with Chris Jericho but that was sloppy as all get out, mainly because of Jericho and not Bryan. His NXT resume wasn't all that great. Some of it was the greenness of the workers he was put in the ring with. Some of it was lack of time. Some of it was him getting squashed. I mean, he was good, but he wasn't the Best in the World that we were used to.

Then he got fired for choking Justin Roberts with a tie. What we all had a collective aneurysm over this firing, but it was the turning point in the year in in-ring work as we all knew it. When Bryan became Danielson once more, he went into the indies and started doing some serious work. He started with Eddie Kingston and Tim Donst in Chikara. He took on Johnny Gargano in AIW, Roderick Strong in PWG, Bobby Fish and Munenori Sawa in EVOLVE and YAMATO and Jon Moxley (and another match I don't like to mention) in DGUSA. He became the Best in the World once more. It was the Summer of Danielson, and the heat came not only from the Sun but from his work around the indies.

When he bade farewell to the indies and was revealed as John Cena's final team member in the fight against Bryan's former stable, some groaned at him being cuffed again by the WWE and its booking. A funny thing happened though… he was given a good faith push, and with that push, he was given more time to work matches up to his par. If the summer was hot, his fall and winter in WWE were SCORCHING. He went out and had the best WWE match all year by my reckoning, a tilt where he beat The Miz for the United States Championship. He had an epic series of matches with Dolph Ziggler over three days. He was excellent with the gamut of opponents, from Sheamus all the way down to Alex Riley. By the end of the year, there was no doubt who the best worker in the world was.

It was Daniel fucking Bryan. That's why I gave him my number one vote, and that's why he's become maybe my favorite wrestler in all the land right now, now that Chris Jericho is off dancing for housewives on TV and Austin Aries is having a mid-life crisis. If you can work, you're good with me, and to say Daniel Bryan can work is like saying Monet could paint or Mozart could write music. There was no better example than the portfolio he put together in 2010.

Seth Zillman

Since I can actually watch his matches now, I can say I see why he's been tops on people's list for years. Bryan is another guy who has it all when it comes to matches. Fluid in-ring work, match psychology, and an athletic look. If there's anything he lacks, it's that ability to cut a money promo. But once he gets in the ring, he's a top 10 in anybody's book.

jerseyboy

The reason Daniel Bryan was #1 on my ballot wasn't just the fact that he had maybe the best WWE TV match of 2011 against Dolph Ziggler, or arguably the best PPV match of the year against the Miz. It wasn't that he had matches with Ted DiBiase that were actually entertaining or a contest against Batista that was the funnest squash I've seen in year.

No, I decided Daniel Bryan was the #1 wrestler of 2011 because of what he did on NXT. Yeah, yeah, he got jobbed out repeatedly to a bunch of developmental guys. But if you noticed - in every one of those matches he made his opponent look great. Without fail. The other guys I had in my top 5, like CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler, would've had competent matches with the likes of Darren Young. But they wouldn't have made them look like legitimate stars the way Daniel Bryan did, and that's why in a very competitive race he gets my nod for the top stop.

Jeff Peña

Daniel Bryan seems to be given full recognition for his work on the internet, so I'm not sure anything I could say wouldn't have already been acknowledged. However, if there is anyone out there who isn't sold on Bryan's work rate and ability, look no further than what WWE has done with him, in less than a year.

WWE is not known for pushing new hires all that quickly. Or, if they do, they generally de-push them soon after (see: Sheamus). However, there are two particular standouts who broke this mold in 2010: Alberto del Rio and Daniel Bryan. What makes Bryan's push arguably more impressive than AdR's-- even if it isn't a Main Event push, yet-- is that Bryan may not strike people as having all that he does. Not to take anything away from AdR, but he's considered the "Next Big Thing" as far as WWEs Mexican stars go. His push has a backing, and he's backed it up. However, Bryan doesn't have that angle to play.

Daniel Bryan has won over the WWE Universe by being upstanding (returning to battle against Nexus); he's shown a huge reservoir of talent in matches; he's able to hold his own on the mic, and does it in a straightforward manner that fits him like a glove; and he knows how to make an angle work (salvaged the angle with the Bellas and Gail Kim).

In short, Daniel Bryan has shown that he's worth the push because of his work rate, in-and-out of the ring, to the point where WWE took the risk of giving him an immediate and significant push. He's justified that trust in full (really, the cord-choking incident was not 100% his fault, and should not be held against him), and WWE should make good on this work rate machine, pushing him into the Main Event scene in 2011.

Russel Harder

In a world of bodybuilders and talkers, so says VinnyMac, it's unprecedented to be called BACK to the 'big show' based on your workrate, I would think. Then again, when it was your workrate that got you fired in the first place (adding a truly memorable moment of chaos that only proved to be one among many)... it's understandable. Then again, I don't think Daniel Bryan (nee, Bryan Danielson) expected his tie-choking of the WWE's announcer to become an indy wrestling meme shortly after either (El Generico would tie it up against Kevin Steen a week and a half later in Toronto). This moment is barely even remembered now too, though his short victory lap in the indy world will always be remembered and enjoyed, because Bryan would be able to return at SUMMERSLAM during the night's biggest match as a conquering hero. What followed was a feud that cemented the Miz (which says something, after the run that Miz had with the Tag Team and US titles) and gave Bryan as large a stage as possible for a series of classic matches that MADE Dolph Ziggler over a week of PPV, Raw and Smackdown. Still, after everything, the meatiest story-line that creative has given the American Dragon... was the "virgin/no wait I just dig Can-Asian girls" storyline, and yet he's still put himself in a possible show-stealer at Wrestlemania with Sheamus (given 15 to 20 minutes, a classic) based on workrate alone. It's easy to worry about a average sized guy's future in the WWE, but you have to think that only the sky is the limit for his future. Which means next year... even more #1 votes? I guess so.

Andy Hewitt

I'm going to say it, and you can't stop me!

I think Daniel Bryan is overrated.

Really? Well, yes. That's not to say I don't think he's marvellous. I do think he's marvellous, and his place inside my Top Ten shows that. It's just that, well, I don't think he's Top Five material at the moment, based on what he's doing in WWE. Now, I love Bryan, and I think that when he shows what he can do then it's entertaining, but what makes me rate him lower is that he's not really being able to translate his in-ring intensity into something a little more. By that I mean that he's failing to get the crowd as hot and into his matches and storylines as I would like. The WWE are selling the LeBell Lock superbly, and some of his signature spots will always draw a reaction, but there's just a slight disconnect at the moment. When Bryan returned to WWE as part of the team to face the Nexus, he was like lightning in the ring. I've never seen anyone try to make a statement as much as he did then, and the crowd ate it up. Since then though, he's been booked incredibly strongly, held the US Title for a long time, went clean over everyone not named Sheamus, and yet there's still something a little missing. It reminds me of when CM Punk was a face, back when he won his first title. It just seemed like there was something not quite working. The in-ring ability was there, but there wasn't a hook to really get the crowd going one way or another. I think Bryan needs something, be it a set of stellar matches that are given time in the ring, a 'Road to Damascus' feud with someone that makes him show a little more character, or a turn to make him a vicious 'Tap or Snap' heel.

I can see why Bryan will have received #1 votes, but for me, at the moment in WWE, he's a rocket waiting for a fuse to be lit. And that light can't just come from the bookers.

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