Danielson revealed in his 2015 autobiography that he was close to being called up to the main roster during the 2001 Royal Rumble match: he explained that the WWF thought of using him as one of their key figures in the newly created cruiserweight division, which was inspired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

[3][25][26] The rest of the year saw Danielson have successful title defenses even against wrestlers from other companies, such as Pro Wrestling Noah star Naomichi Marufuji at Final Battle on December 17.

[27] At the beginning of 2006, Chris Hero, a representative from Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), invaded ROH and targeted Danielson—the two exchanged words over the internet before having a match together, with nearly the entire roster of both companies embarking on an interpromotional feud.

[citation needed] Danielson returned at Glory by Honor V: Night 2 on September 16 and was challenged by Kenta, a guest competitor from NOAH, due to the two companies' talent exchange agreement—Danielson again retained his championship.

[35] This allowed him, now as a fan favorite, to challenge Morishima for the title at Manhattan Mayhem II on August 25 in a losing effort[citation needed] in which he also suffered a legitimate detached retina.

[citation needed] Morishima returned to the company at Final Battle on December 27, 2008, in a match billed as a "Fight Without Honor" in which both men were allowed weapons and which Danielson won.

In February 2005 at New Dawn Rising, he made his debut in ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), teaming up with Rocky Romero in a match against Austin Aries and Homicide.

[citation needed] Danielson's biggest success came in 2006 by winning the FIP Heavyweight Championship,[49] holding the belt for eleven months before losing it to Roderick Strong.

[citation needed] 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.

[67] 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.

[7] Two weeks after his departure from WWE, Danielson made his return to the independent circuit on June 26, defeating Eddie Kingston at the CHIKARA event We Must Eat Michigan's Brain.

[95][96] Bryan then successfully defended the title two weeks later by defeating The Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match at Hell in a Cell on October 3.

[136] The next night on Raw SuperShow, Bryan became the number one contender to CM Punk's WWE Championship when he won a Beat the Clock challenge by defeating Jerry Lawler in under three minutes.

[153] At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant bickering and infighting even during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship on the September 10 episode of Raw[154] and then defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the championship on September 16 at Night of Champions.

[157] On the February 4 episode of Raw, Bryan was inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship number one contender Elimination Chamber match when he defeated Rey Mysterio, after which the returning Mark Henry attacked both men.

[181] Benjamin Tucker of Pro Wrestling Torch criticized WWE for having "watered down" Bryan's heroic character to a "sneaky, backstabbing, cheap, aggravating jerk" for the feud against Roman Reigns.

[238] After about a month off television, Bryan returned on the May 11 episode of Raw to explain that after having undergone an MRI he would be out for an unknown period of time and could possibly have to retire (though the nature of his injuries were not revealed), therefore he relinquished the Intercontinental Championship.

He said a recent EEG reflex test revealed slowing and a small subacute or chronic lesion in his brain's temporoparietal region, which explained Bryan's post-concussion seizures and led to his retirement decision.

[259] Bryan later took time off from WWE television for paternity leave and returned on the June 20 episode of SmackDown Live, during which he stripped Carmella of her Money In The Bank briefcase and suspended James Ellsworth due to his interference in the match.

[279] After months of goading and later avoiding Bryan—as well as getting involved in Team Hell No's feud with The Bludgeon Brothers—Bryan competed against long-time rival The Miz at SummerSlam on August 19, but lost due to an undetected use of brass knuckles.

[281] However, in wake of the Khashoggi death incident he refused to work the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia and the storyline was altered so that their match took place on the October 30 episode of SmackDown Live, which Bryan lost.

[297] On July 14 at Extreme Rules, Bryan and Rowan lost the titles to The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) in a triple threat tag-team match, which also involved Heavy Machinery.

[322] On the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show on December 20, Bryan, Big E, Chad Gable and Otis defeated Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.

[345] At Revolution on March 6, Danielson lost to Moxley, after which the two began brawling; William Regal, once a mentor to both men, then made his surprise debut to break up the fight and force them to shake hands.

[359] At the Full Gear event on November 19, Danielson challenged for the ROH World Championship in a four-way match involving Jericho, Castagnoli and Sammy Guevara, but lost.

[375] Danielson returned on the May 8, 2024 episode of Dynamite, becoming the final member of Team AEW with Eddie Kingston (later replaced by Darby Allin) and FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) to take on The Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.

On March 29, 2024, at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, Danielson made his Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) debut, teaming with Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, and Matt Sydal in a losing effort against Volador Jr., Blue Panther, Místico, and Último Guerrero.

[7][56][445] He was also roommates with Xtreme Couture's head grappling trainer Neil Melanson,[7] and had previously lived with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida and fellow professional wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura while they trained at the NJPW Dojo in 2003.

[457] Danielson is a fan of the Seattle Seahawks and was given control of the team's Twitter account for a Q&A session in 2015,[458] as well as wearing Seahawks-themed wrestling gear at WWE SummerSlam in 2018[459] and AEW WrestleDream in 2023.

[461] A self-described environmentalist and anti-consumerist, he has discussed feeling like a hypocrite for selling WWE merchandise,[462] and endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein in the 2016 presidential election.