I was one of the thousands and thousands of worldwide wrestling fans, screaming “Yes! Yes! Yes!”, pumping my arms up and down, before, during, and after Wrestlemania XXX at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Even now, the visual of 60 000 WWE fans doing the “Yes chant” as Daniel Bryan’s “Flight of the Valkyries” theme music played is impressive. Just the sheer unity of the crowd. That’s such a rare thing in today’s wrestling landscape where people choose their favourites and there aren’t as many clear cut heroes and villains.
But, on April 6, 2014, there was one clear favourite, a true people’s champion, and he was the leader of the “Yes Movement”: Daniel Bryan. And, man, were the odds stacked against him. They had been for months, thanks to the Authority. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had made it their mission to keep Daniel Bryan from being WWE Champion. They said it was because he just wasn’t an A level guy; he was a B+ player at best.

Setting the Stage

Bryan had been known for years for his incredible in-ring talent and, over the last number of months, he was proving to be a very relatable, down-to-earth, easy to cheer for underdog. His work with Kane and their tag team, Team Hell No, had produced some of the best comedy segments of 2012 and 2013. The fans were behind him, increasingly so with each passing week, until the summer of 2013 when then-WWE Champion, John Cena asked the fans who his opponent for SummerSlam should be. There was only one answer.
And that was an answer Triple H did not want to hear. After booking the match and making himself the special guest referee, he screwed Bryan out of the title by pedigreeing him after the SummerSlam main event match that Bryan had won. Bryan had beat Cena. He had held the WWE Championship, cradling it in his arms. Triple H snatched that victory away with a pedigree. This allowed Randy Orton to cash in his “Money in the Bank” briefcase and become WWE champion.

Why am I spending so much time on the build to this match? Because the build to this match is why the fans in New Orleans were so emotionally invested in seeing Bryan defeat Triple H. The consistent putdowns and insults and attacks were difficult to watch, but Bryan just kept gathering more and more support from the fans. Month after month, the fans cheered for Bryan to get a rematch, but Triple H and the Authority continued to ignore it. That’s what was so great about the “Yes Movement”; it was a genuine groundswell from the people… and when the returning movie star, Batista, won the Royal Rumble, well, to quote the late Owen Hart, “enough was enough and it was time for a change!”

After occupying Raw with dozens of “Yes Movement” supporters filling the wrestling ring and ringside area, Daniel Bryan called for a Wrestlemania match. He said he and his supporters would not leave the ring until he got that match. The excitement of the fans simmered to a boiling point and, finally, so did Triple H’s temper. In frustration, Triple H relented and finally gave in to Bryan’s demands. There was a catch, though. Bryan would have to defeat Triple H in order to be added to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion, Orton, and the #1 contender, Batista.

The Match

This was the opening match of the night and, man, did it ever have a big fight feel. It followed a surprise in-ring interaction between WrestleMania host Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, so the fans were already pumped and primed for an historic evening of wrestling. Triple H’s majestic entrance affirmed his “King of Kings” moniker, complete with three nXt wrestlers as his scantily clad, masked valets (Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss & Charlotte). As he sat up from his throne, his robe and golden skull crown were removed to reveal the menacing eyes of the cerebral assassin. Then, his trademark Motorhead theme kicked in and Triple H slowly made his way to the ring where his wife, Stephanie McMahon waited, clapping and gesturing to her husband.

In contrast, you had no theatrics or fanfare for the challenger, Daniel Bryan. His electric guitar-led version of “Rise of the Valkyries” hit and the sold-out Superdome crowd began chanting. And that’s where the visual I described at the start of this column first happened. A literal wave of arms pumping up and down in unison was the backdrop to Daniel Bryan’s biggest and most important match up to that point in his career.

The pace began slow with Triple H in control, clearly showing with his facial expressions that Daniel Bryan was beneath him, that this match was going to be a cakewalk, that Daniel Bryan had no business being in the ring for a match of this importance. It was not a one-sided affair though and Bryan showed his rebellious nature immediately by kicking Triple H’s outstretched hand, foregoing the niceties of a handshake to start the match.

In that first half of the match, both men had their opportunities to show off their strengths. Triple H preferred to slow down the pace and punish Bryan to the mat (or the announcers’ table) with calculated attacks on Bryan’s injured left shoulder and arm. In response, Bryan pushed his body to the limits, willing to fly from the turnbuckles inside and outside the ring to catch Triple H off guard.

By the midway point, this match was firmly in Triple H’s hands. He was methodically working Bryan’s left shoulder to the point of injury, adding insult by attempting his own crossface submission holds. Still, the fans were always a factor, cheering Bryan on. He persevered through Triple H’s pedigree attempts and kicked out of Triple H’s pedigree, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd.

A consistent thread in this match, and the rivalry with the Authority as a whole, was that Bryan wouldn’t give up. He found ways to fight back, he found reserves of energy when it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to fend for himself any longer. So, in the final five minutes, Bryan, once again, was throwing himself through the ropes, allowing his body to careen off of Triple H’s. Despite the advantage being mostly for Triple H, Bryan would not give up. He flipped his way out of another pedigree attempt, creating space to smash Triple H’s face with his running knee. It caught Triple H off guard, knocked him flat on his back, and a few seconds later, Daniel Bryan was going to fight for the WWE Championship in the main event later that night.

The drama continued to unfold shortly thereafter when Triple H attacked Bryan afterwards, putting more doubt into the fans’ minds about whether Bryan would even be able to wrestle let alone compete in that triple threat match against then champ Randy Orton and Batista. It was an incredibly clever move on Triple H’s part because of how pissed off it made everybody. We were all on our feet chanting “Yes!” like crazy and had the legit wind sucked out of our sails seeing Bryan’s left arm smashed by a chair. Then it was Stephanie mocking Bryan as he laid by the turnbuckle in pain. The drama was well-calculated to engage the audience and get us reeling despite Bryan’s victory. It would prove to be one more obstacle for the “Yes Man” to overcome.

The Legacy

I think there are three points of value regarding the legacy of this milestone match.
1. This is a top 3 best opening match in WrestleMania history alongside Hart vs. Hart at WrestleMania X and Mysterio vs. Guerrero at WrestleMania 21.
2. It showed that Triple H was equally invested in making stars out of the new generation of talent as he was in wrestling contemporary legends like The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. He would go on to pave the way for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to get big wins off of him in subsequent years.
3. Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan was the match that sent Bryan to the main event of WrestleMania. It created an unforgettable moment and has to be one of, if not the most feel-good moment for fans in WrestleMania history. Looking back on it, April 6, 2014 was Daniel Bryan’s peak as a WWE wrestler. That’s an argument for another day, but even with him returning from retirement and wrestling at WrestleMania again, it was never as big a deal as it was on this night. I’m so glad I got to be present for it and if it’s the only WrestleMania I ever get to attend, there are absolutely no regrets that I trekked to New Orleans for that one. Such a special night and with the crowning of Daniel Bryan hinging on this first match, it was a perfect start to the show.

It is an honour to induct Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan into the LOP/WH Hall of Fame. Yes! Yes! Yes!