page_title: Daniel Bryan
section_title: Official return to WWE (2009–2010)
hierarchical_section_title: Daniel Bryan / Professional wrestling career / Official return to WWE (2009–2010)
caption_attribution_description: Daniel Bryan at a Puerto Rico House show.
context_page_description: Bryan Lloyd Danielson is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Daniel Bryan.
  In WWE, Bryan has held the WWE Championship four times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once, in addition to being a one-time United States Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion as part of Team Hell No, and a one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion. He was also the 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner, the 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner and the SmackDown General Manager from July 18, 2016 to April 10, 2018. Bryan is the 26th Triple Crown Champion and the 15th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history and headlined several major pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XXX.
  Danielson was previously signed to WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation, for an 18-month period from 2000–2001, and made additional uncontracted appearances for the promotion until 2003.
context_section_description: Danielson re-signed with WWE in August 2009. He made his debut on January 4, 2010 in a dark match prior to Raw, defeating Chavo Guerrero. He went to Florida to train with Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), the WWE developmental territory, to acclimate himself to his new work environment and work on his ring rust. He debuted at the FCW television tapings on January 14 and lost to Kaval. At the February 11 tapings, Danielson was renamed Daniel Bryan. He later indicated that he was given a list of ten possible ring names to use in WWE (including Buddy Peacock and Lloyd Bonaire) and Daniel Bryan was one of them while his real name was not on that list. His name was given by William Regal.
  Bryan made his debut on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, losing by submission to then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and being attacked by his storyline mentor The Miz for disrespecting him earlier in the show. Over the next several weeks, Bryan failed to win a single match, but despite a record of 0–5 he was ranked first in the inaugural Pros' Poll on the March 30 episode of NXT. After losing five more matches on NXT, Bryan got his first victory on the May 10 episode of Raw by pinning Santino Marella in an eight-on-four handicap match. The following night on NXT, he was eliminated from the show along with Michael Tarver as neither man had confidence in themselves to win the competition. Despite his elimination, he appeared on the following episodes of NXT, being interviewed by Matt Striker and attacking both Michael Cole and The Miz.
  On the May 31 episode of Raw, Bryan was granted a match against The Miz by guest host Ashton Kutcher, which he won and threw Miz into Cole at ringside after the match. On the June 7 episode of Raw, the faction known as The Nexus (NXT rookies from season one) invaded the WWE ring, attacking John Cena and causing destruction around the ringside area. On June 11, Danielson was fired from WWE for being too violent, strangling ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own neck tie. Danielson noted that WWE apologized to him for his release, explaining that they "had sponsors they had to deal with". His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of the NXT rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared that Bryan would never return to the WWE again.
caption: Bryan at a Raw house show in 2010
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