Daniel Bryan - Gimmick

Gimmick

Danielson has spent the majority of his career without an overt character in favor of becoming popular with the fans through his monikers, signature mannerisms, and wrestling ability. His attire has varied, as well, with the majority of his tenure wearing a pair of short trunks, but also ventured into wearing a mask for a time in Japan as an extension of his "American Dragon" persona.

A notable part of Danielson's persona are his mannerisms and the reaction he inspires from the crowd during the course of his matches that include:

• During his time in Ring of Honor Danielson made his way to the ring to his entrance song, "The Final Countdown"; once in the ring, he stood on the top turnbuckle and sang the refrain along with the fans in attendance.
• After winning the ROH World Championship, Danielson displayed traits of a heel-like persona, starting to behave more aggressively and threatening to the fans, as well as taking more liberties with the rules. Despite his rulebreaking character, he still retained a certain level of popularity with the fans, as well as his upholding of the company's Code of Honor, ROH's storyline rules of wrestler conduct, allowing him to perform as a more neutral character.
• Applying a submission hold while the opponent gets a part of their body in the ring ropes, leading to the referee counting to five (not releasing the hold by the count of five would result in a disqualification); as the referee would be about to disqualify Danielson, the latter would release the hold, instructing the referee: "I have till five!"
• During his initial reign as ROH World Champion, telling the ring announcer to add an extra note about him appertaining to the current circumstances around his match; this was generally insulting the crowd or his opponent.
• At the beginning of Danielson's ROH matches the crowd chanted, "You're gonna get your fucking head kicked in!" at Danielson's opponent.
• After winning WWE's World Heavyweight Championship Bryan began shouting "Yes!" repeatedly on his way to the ring and after defeating an opponent. Danielson credits mixed martial arts fighter Diego Sanchez with the inspiration. This chant grew in popularity, particularly due to the backlash of fans voicing their discontent at how short Bryan's WrestleMania XXVIII match was, and has been even heard outside WWE events, at Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association games, and even at music concerts.
• Danielson, who was a vegan in his day-to-day life, had incorporated his vegan lifestyle into his heel persona to elicit heat from the crowd. Despite his dropping of the vegan diet in real life, his in-ring persona is still depicted as a vegan.