Former WWE superstar Daniel Bryan who is now an All-Elite was once shockingly fired for choking former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts.
When The Nexus made their debut in the WWE back in June 2010, The entire WWE roster was on notice. The team consisted of 7 superstars who had graduated from NXT and formed a group to decimate everything that breathes on both Raw and SmackDown. A lot of big names in the company fell prey to the onslaught orchestrated by the Nexus.
A team of seven superstars led by Wade Barret as the leader, there was a time when The Nexus seemed unstoppable with their dominance. Daniel Bryan was one of the seven superstars as a member of the new menacing group. On the night when the faction invaded the WWE, they left complete carnage around the ring.
From flipping the announce table to destroying everything they could get their hands on, The Nexus had arrived to make a statement. During the process, Justin Roberts got into the clutches of Daniel Bryan and was stripped half-naked and choked with his own tie.
Since WWE was PG-rated, there are convoluted rules and words that everybody needs to be mindful of. Although wrestlers like The Undertaker and Kane are allowed to use the move “Chokeslam”, the word “choke” is banned from use in the WWE. Daniel’s choke on Roberts seemed so real and violent that it upset some sponsors.
According to Roberts in his book “Best Seat in the House”, he phoned Bryan the next day upon learning that he was fired after the incident. He wrote, “I asked him what was going on, and he explained that Vince had called to tell him that he had to let him go. Something about choking not being allowed, and it was out of his hands,”
“This was a typical example of a rule being broken without anybody knowing that it even existed. It wasn’t like guys haven’t choked each other before, but for some reason this choking incident got Bryan terminated,” added Roberts.
Thankfully, Daniel Bryan was rehired later and made his comeback on the PPV event of SummerSlam joining forces with the WWE legends to go against The Nexus.
Bryan Danielson and Justin Roberts recreate the infamous tie-choke in AEW
Both Justin Roberts and Daniel Bryan who is now known as Bryan Danielson are now working for AEW. In November 2021, both men reunited after the bell at the end of Dynamite to recreate the infamous tie-choke moment. The duo took the fans back down memory lane in the presence of the AEW boss Tony Khan.
Interestingly, Bryan has been fired from the WWE on two different occasions. He told SLAM Wrestling that he was fired in 2010 for spitting in John Cena’s face.
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