

On March 29, more than 70,000 fans will chant “YES!” as they watch WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan, 33, compete in the biggest sports entertainment event of the year — Wrestlemania! HollywoodLife.com got a chance to talk with Daniel, and in an EXCLUSIVE interview, he discusses how life has changed after marrying WWE Diva Brie Bella, his emotional involvement in the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony and some interesting “challenges” he faces when he gets in the ring!
WrestleMania is in full effect! Fans and WWE superstars alike can barely hold their excitement in the days leading up to WresltleMania 31, taking place on March 29 at Levi’s Stadium in the San Jose/San Francisco Area. HollywoodLife.com caught up with Daniel Bryan, one of WWE’s most popular Superstars. At WrestleMania 31, he’ll compete in a 7-man Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title. Known for his “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chant, he was more than happy to say, well, yes, to an EXCLUSIVE interview!
HollywoodLife: You have been married for about a year now with Brie Bella, how has married life treated you, anything changed or got better along this time of marriage?
Daniel Bryan: You know I have heard from people that the first year of marriage is the toughest, and Brie and I have definitely had our share of life difficulties with me having neck surgery and that sort of thing, but things are going really well and it is getting better after year one and that is phenomenal.
You will be honoring Connor “The Crusher” Michalek at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony the night before WrestleMania, take us through the emotion of that night ahead of you?
Daniel Bryan: Yeah we are inducting Connor into the WWE Hall of Fame with the Warrior Award, and it’s going to be really hard with the waves of emotion that will set in. I will have to share with everyone what he meant to me and also deal with how sad his story is. He was so inspiring to people, it is going to be really emotional for me. It should be very special!
You probably will be having many people crying in the audience…
Daniel Bryan: I won’t be the one who will make people cry. I think Connor’s story is enough to make people cry and it will be very interesting for sure.
What other challenges in the ring do you have to deal while wrestling, like do certain WWE Superstars smell bad or do weird things happen while you are wrestling them that you have to prepare yourself for?
Daniel Bryan: (Laughter) Yeah, I think that when you look at a guy like Luke Harper you can see that he does in fact smell… (Laughter) That is a guy you just look at and you know that he smells! But one thing that people don’t account for is when guys sweat. Some guys sweat a lot! For example, Big E who is a part of a group called New Day sweats a lot, I mean he sweats buckets! So if someone like him gets you in a chin lock and you are in the chin lock and you feel this bead of sweat drip on top of your head, not only is it hard to breathe, you are also feeling the disgustingness of sweat getting all over you.
You have a big match at WrestleMania with the Intercontinental Championship Ladder match, what have you learned from previous ladder matches like Money In The Bank that will help you win this match on Sunday?
Daniel Bryan: It’s interesting because winning often teaches you about losing and losing often teaches you about winning and a lot of things also happen by luck and you have to be at the right place at the right time. That is what I learned about the 2011 Money In The Bank Ladder match that I won. You just have to go out there and try your best and work your hardest. You have 7 guys in there who are all really good and very great at what they do so regardless of who wins or who loses it should be a great match!
Many Superstars find their way into TV or movies, you haven’t really wanted to go that route in the past, has that changed?
Daniel Bryan: I mean it’s interesting. I don’t want anything to take away from wrestling. I say that, but if someone presents me with a great opportunity then who knows! I don’t have a passion for TV or movies or acting. I have a passion for wrestling and I find it hard to leave that for TV and movies. But if it is a thing that is a short amount of time I would consider it, but wrestling is what I love to do!
What match are you most excited to see besides yours or your wives match this Sunday and why?
Daniel Bryan: Oh my gosh! That is really hard to say, I am really interested in the Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns match just to see how that goes, but the match that I might be most excited to see and watch is Randy Orton versus Seth Rollins. Only because they are both incredible wrestlers and if they get an opportunity they can have a pretty amazing match!
So, HollywoodLifers –– are you excited for WrestleMania?
— Jason Brow, Interview by Russ Weakland