For Bryan Danielson, the roar of over 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium for All In London surpassed the pinnacle of his WWE career, the main event of WrestleMania XXX. While the latter is a moment etched in the memory of wrestling fans, for Danielson, it “doesn’t mean that much.” The American Dragon recently shed light on why his match against Swerve Strickland at All In holds a more profound personal significance.

The WrestleMania XXX main event, where he defeated Batista and Randy Orton to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, was a moment of triumph for his character, but a time of personal struggle for the man. He was battling severe neck pain, and the joy of the moment was further soured when his then-fiancée, now wife, Brie Bella, was not permitted to join him in the ring to celebrate.

Danielson told Sun Sports “My sister and my niece got to come in the ring. But I was about to marry my wife the following Friday and they wouldn’t let her come to the ring, they didn’t want her to be in the thing. It wasn’t just that, I was going through a ton of neck pain, and all these other things, so these things that seem like cool moments to a viewer, there’s all this other stuff going on in a performers life, that could make that moment not as valuable to them as it is to the people viewing.”

In contrast, his All In experience was a family affair. His children were present to witness their father’s “cool” moment, a memory he cherishes as he nears the end of his full-time career. The energy of the UK crowd, which he lauded as “the best,” and the opportunity to wrestle a rising star like Swerve Strickland, who had grown immensely in the year since their last encounter, created a perfect storm of circumstances that made it his favorite wrestling memory.

While the All In main event holds the top spot, Danielson has a rich catalog of matches he holds in high regard. His clash with Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door in 2023 is noted as his hardest match, while he considers his bout with Zack Sabre Jr. in NJPW to be his most underrated.

Other standout encounters that are often cited as some of his best include his technical masterclass with Kenny Omega at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2021, the grueling 60-minute Iron Man match against MJF for the AEW World Championship at Revolution 2023, and his hard-hitting strap match with Ricky Starks at All Out 2023. His legendary run in Ring of Honor also produced classics against the likes of Nigel McGuinness and KENTA. In WWE, his matches against John Cena at SummerSlam 2013 and his opener against Triple H at WrestleMania XXX are also considered career highlights.

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