Daniel Bryan on "Yes" Changing His Life, Lesnar, Punk & More

Here are some portions of the interview:

On whether or not he ever thought a word as simple as 'yes' could change his life the way it has:

(laughs) Yeah, you'd never think it. All the years I spent toiling
on the independent scene, really learning my craft, being as good of a
wrestler as I could possible be and the thing that makes me the most
popular is probably the first word I learned as a kid.

If he was disappointed for his match at WrestleMania which only lasted 18 seconds or if that is just part of the job:

You have to look at it as part of your job but you can also be
disappointed. I've always wanted to go out there and steal the
show, every show that I'm on. That's how I got to where I'm at. I didn't
get here by being a nice guy or going out there and being a character
or anything like that. The WWE noticed me because I put on great
matches. That was my thing. Now, I've developed into somebody who has
some personality on TV and that sort of thing but that isn't what
brought me to the dance. What I love and what I enjoy doing is going out
there and wrestling and going out there and entertaining people with
what I do in the ring. So to not be able to do that to the best of
abilities what disappointing but everything that has come from it has
actually been very good so I guess I can't complain.

On if it will be special to face CM Punk on a big stage at the Over the
Limit considering where they came from and knowing each other for such a
long time:

It is, especially because nobody expected either of us to get to
this point. When we were both on the independent scene and stuff like
that, there were knocks against Punk's looks against my looks and how we
don't look like prototypical WWE superstars. And ever when we both
signed here, Punk, he has that character, he has that quality that you
think if they would just give him an opportunity he could really connect
with the WWE Universe. For me, even the people who really liked me,
kind of doubted whether I would be able to succeed here in the WWE. And
it's cool that two guys who really paid their dues and worked hard on
the independents just to get opportunities like this or having this
chance. This isn't a small opportunity. This is a WWE Championship match
at an Over the Limit pay-per-view. It's unreal. This is more that I
even dreamed of.

On his thoughts of Brock Lesnar's return to WWE:

I think it's great. I think he brings a lot of added interest to
the company and I'm hoping some of those UFC fans will come and watch
some of out pay-per-views, especially that last pay-per-view Extreme
Rules was awesome. It was an awesome show. I hope they stick around and
watch Over the Limit and they're going to see another awesome show. This
is going to be a great night of wrestling for everybody involved. I
think it's great and I would love to have a match with Brock Lesnar. I
know that's probably not in the cards but I'm petitioning for it right
now because I feel like me and him could have a match unlike any other
pro wrestling match in North America probably ever.

You wouldn't shy away from the physicality of that match would you?



No, not at all. And actually I like that sort of thing. My skills,
especially as a grappler, lend itself to that kind of thing. When he's
ground and pounding, like doing the kind of stuff he was doing with
(John) Cena, there's not a lot of guys who have any counters for that.
Well, I have a million. There would be a lot of things that would be
really fun about a match like that. I think people would be excited to
see it too"