Daniel Bryan Looks Back On His Run As The Planet’s Champion, Says Dropping The Title To Kofi Kingston Was The Perfect Way For It To End

WWE superstar Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Solo Wrestling about a variety of topics, including how his run heel run as the Planet’s Champion was his favorite title reign, and how dropping the belt to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 was the perfect way for it to come to an end. Highlights from the interview can be found below.

Says his run as the Planet Champion was his favorite:

Being the Planet Champion was by far my favorite. It’s interesting because in WWE my reigns have never been very good [laughs]. I won the championship at WrestleMania XXX but had to vacate it some time later due to a neck injury, and I also won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 but lost it in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII. Those reigns didn’t feel as special as when I was Planet Champion and bad boy.

How dropping the title to Kofi Kingston was the perfect way for his reign to end:

I loved the way it started, and everyone who competes hates to lose a championship, but if we’re going to lose it, let it be in a great match at WrestleMania against someone who really deserves it, and that’s what happened when I lost that one against Kofi Kingston. I had a lot of fun with that reign and I loved the hemp championship.

On his transition into a part-time wrestler:

I’m still a full-time wrestler today but I don’t think I’ll be a full-time wrestler for much longer, but it’s weird because I’ve never considered the option of retirement. “I want to fight until I’m old, and I mean very old. I love wrestling and have always been inspired by people like Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk, and even European wrestlers like Jonny Saint, who was fighting in his 60s and 70s, and not because they needed the money, they did it because they loved to do it.