Whether you like him for being an underdog champion or hate him for stooping to such tactics as putting his diminutive girlfriend AJ in harm’s way in order to keep his title, you have to respect the fact that Daniel Bryan has overcome a lot of obstacles on his way to his current World Heavyweight Championship reign in WWE. From wrestling around the world as a top indie contender to his tumultuous relationship with his NXT mentor The Miz to overcoming giants like Mark Henry and the Big Show to retain his title, Bryan has been a bit of an indie hero since entering WWE’s ranks. In a somewhat odd twist of fate, he finds himself in one of WrestleMania XXVIII‘s main events defending that title against Sheamus, the same man he faced in the WrestleMania XXVII dark match for the United States Championship last year. As the man previously known as Bryan Danielson gets closer and closer to the biggest match of his career to date, he talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his rise from indie wrestling obscurity to World Heavyweight Championship gold. If you’d rather listen to the interview, check out the March 21 edition of Ringside Rap.

Courtesy WWE

Last year at WrestleMania you were the United States Champion in what was basically a dark match against Sheamus that devolved into a battle royal. How does it feel to be going into this year’s WrestleMania holding the World Heavyweight Championship in one of the main events against the same opponent?

It feels really vindicating that both me and Sheamus for the past year have really stepped up our games to be at the point we’re at now, to be in a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. Last year was such a bitter disappointment that we weren’t on the actual main show because I really felt that, if we had been given the opportunity, we really could have done something to steal the show. This year that’s what we intend on doing. I absolutely intend on, for my first WrestleMania match, to go out there and steal the show.

I didn’t even think about the fact that it will be your first WrestleMania match.

Yep.

I talked to you briefly last year at the WrestleMania Art Auction when you were still the U.S. Champion and I remember asking you if you thought holding that title was a stepping stone towards bigger opportunities in WWE. You’ve obviously had bigger opportunities since then and you’ve overcome some big obstacles as the World Heavyweight Champion. As you return to Atlanta for Raw less than week before WrestleMania, do you know what your role on that show will be?

You never know what’s going to happen at Raw. You literally never know. You show up having no idea what’s going to happen or what you’re going to do. But I can only assume it’s going to be a huge show and there will be big plans for everybody because that is the last Raw before we head into ‘Mania. That’s always one of the most exciting, unpredictable shows of the year.

Like I said, you’ve overcome some big obstacles as champion, but Sheamus is a little different opponent than the Big Show or Mark Henry. How are you preparing for him at WrestleMania?

I prepare for him the same way I prepare for everybody. I keep doing my grappling, my kickboxing and all that kind of stuff. The thing with Sheamus is he’s tough to keep down, he keeps coming at you and he hits very, very hard. But he’s also kind of an idiot. So if you can goad him into doing something stupid, he’s bound to do something like that if you can take advantage. I wrestled him on SmackDown six weeks ago and I goaded him into doing something stupid. You can just get away with things like that with people like Sheamus.

Courtesy WWE

A lot of people said last year’s WrestleMania was a changing of the guard because a lot of the matches featured veterans facing younger guys. But this year, your match included, WrestleMania is relying on the vets to carry the card. You’ve only been in WWE for a few years, but overall you have a lot more experience as a wrestler than a lot of the other people. How do you feel about this year’s card and your spot on the card?

It’s definitely an exciting card, but I’m ultimately a little disappointed that it isn’t trying to establish new stars more. Hell in the Cell is going to be awesome with Triple H and the Undertaker. Rock and Cena is going to be an amazing atmosphere. But come April 2, those guys aren’t going to be on the road full time. Those aren’t going to be going on the European tour with us. Those guys aren’t going to be doing all that kind of stuff. This is really the biggest WrestleMania of all time, so for them to be more highlighted than some of the younger guys who are going to be continuing on the wrestling tour, it’s kind of unfortunate. I would have liked to have seen Undertaker wrestle somebody from my generation. That would have been cool to see somebody from my generation to take on the Undertaker and potentially beat him. That said, this year’s WrestleMania card is stacked. It’s just going to be an awesome show, but from a performer’s standpoint I wish there were more younger guys getting opportunities.

On the same token, you and CM Punk have become these unlikely indie heroes as the two main champions in WWE over the past few months. A lot of people thought that you especially would not still be champion by the time WrestleMania came around. From that perspective, how do you feel about guys who aren’t necessarily new, but are still somewhat new to WWE, getting a bigger spot?

It’s interesting because CM Punk has been with WWE since 2005 and came up on TV in 2007. He’s been in some big matches and he’s been in some big WrestleMania matches. So this isn’t his first rodeo. He has earned his spot being in the WWE Championship match. For me, it’s honestly been a dream come true. I honestly did not think after WrestleMania last year that I would be anywhere near the position I’m in this year. It’s one of those things where it’s a real true blessing and I feel very fortunate to be in this spot. There are a lot of guys who haven’t gotten that opportunity, so it’s interesting. Me and CM Punk wrestled each other in front of about 35 people in a 45-minute match in 2005. The two current top WWE champions – the WWE Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion – seven years ago wrestled in front of 35 people against each other. To me that’s just incredible that now we’re going to be on the same show as the champions wrestling in front of close to 80,000 people.

Ring of Honor recently released a best-of DVD, Bryan Danielson: The American Dragon, that features a match between you and Punk, among a lot of other matches. What did you think about Ring of Honor showcasing your career prior to going to WWE?

I think that’s awesome. They actually sent me a link to it and the matches that are on there and everything and I thought, “Oh, OK. That would be kind of like the best matches I had in my Ring of Honor career.” It wasn’t. It was just the best matches I had up until 2005. So they must be planning on releasing another one, too. There’s another huge gap of matches that weren’t on there that should be on another one. I think it’s cool and I think it’s important that they capitalize on my success and CM Punk’s success because you need places like Ring of Honor to develop the new stars. Me and Punk are as good as we are because we honed our craft in Ring of Honor in front of those hardcore fans who wouldn’t accept anything less than our best efforts. You need a place like that for new stars to come from.

I look forward, when I watch the Ring of Honor shows, to see who’s going to be next to come up to WWE. Right now under developmental contract is Seth Rollins, who wrestled in Ring of Honor as Tyler Black. He did amazing last weekend. He came up to the live events and did a dark match on Monday and everybody was like, “Wow! This guy’s really good.” That’s something I knew from the beginning, but he needed that opportunity to showcase it.

Since you keep talking about giving younger guys a chance, assuming you’re still the champion after WrestleMania, and with the recent influx of Ring of Honor and other big indie guys in Florida Championship Wrestling, is there anyone on the current WWE roster or in FCW that you’d like to have a shot at your title?

It’s funny because I talked about giving younger guys an opportunity, but deep down there are still guys that I’m a fan of. These are the guys that when I was growing up I watched and thought were amazing. I would love to be in a program where I was wrestling Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. That doesn’t seem likely, but that would be so much fun. I’d love to be able to wrestle the Undertaker. The Undertaker appeared on WWE TV when I was, like, ten years old. Being able to wrestle him for the World Heavyweight Championship would be awesome. Or guys like Triple H and all that kind of stuff. All of that would be amazing, but I would love for Seth Rollins, for Dean Ambrose, who wrestled in the indies as Jon Moxley, Antonio Cesaro, who was in Ring of Honor as Claudio Castagnoli, I would love for those guys to come up shortly after WrestleMania and give them opportunities for the World Heavyweight Championship for people to see what those guys can do. They’re really incredible.

Of course Chris Hero, now known as Kassius Ohno, seems to have made a nice debut in FCW recently.

I haven’t seen his debut, but I can’t wait to see it. I’m going to try to find it on YouTube.

For more information, go to www.wwe.com.