At well over 70 minutes, Daniel Bryan eclipsed Rey Mysterio’s 2006 Royal Rumble record time spent in the match.
But he paid dearly for it.
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We’re not exactly sure when it happened, but Bryan’s was turned into raw meat. He did have a heated chop exchange with NXT’s Roderick Strong, and that may be our smoking gun, but for now, we’re just going to freak out about the remarkable damage done to his flesh.
๐ณ pic.twitter.com/QeUxsNHs85
โ TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) April 27, 2018
HOLY CRAP! What happened to Daniel Bryan’s chest!???? #WWEGRR @WWE
โ DalyxmanVX (@DalyxmanVX1) April 27, 2018
Braun is the size of a truck, figuratively.
Daniel Bryan looks like a truck ran over him in the chest. Literally. #WWEGRR
โ Sam Roberts (@notsam) April 27, 2018
Who caused Daniel’s Bryans chest to look like burger meat ? I can’t remember him taking chops
โ Jamie Hickman (@SirJamieH) April 27, 2018
Roderick broke the blood vessels on Daniel Bryan’s chest just like he did in ROH many years ago. I can’t handle all this #WWEGRR
โ Max (@MaxwellVerdi) April 27, 2018
Screenshot Daniel Bryan’s chop welted chest and show it to anyone who honestly believes what happens in the ring is fake or doesn’t hurt.
โ Andrea Hangst (@FBALL_Andrea) April 27, 2018
Sometimes, wrestling isn’t so fake.
Bryan’s record-breaking run ended after new villain, Big Cass tossed him out of the ring. He and Cass are set to meet at the May 6 Backlash event.
Most people may have been expecting Bryan to enter a program with the Miz, given the A-Lister’s arrival to SmackDown. However, that looks to be WWE‘s long play an may end up as a marquee match fro WrestleMania 35.
Given his stature as one of WWE’s most popular stars, a feud with Bryan is one of the most enviable spots in all of the company. Cass getting that spot upon returning from knee surgery indicates just how much WWE believes in the big man.
Before his injury, it looks like WWE was ready to see how far they could push Big Cass as he seemed to hover around the main event. He’s resumed that lofty trajectory and now the biggest match of his career was him at Backlash.
With him eliminating Bryan, another layer of animosity has been laid. And by next weekend, their story will be ready to combust.