Daniel Bryan Talks Being In The Ring When Lawler Collapsed, His Ring Name, Being Fired, More

Daniel Bryan appeared on 98.5 SportsHub in Boston this morning. Thanks to WrestlingINC.com reader Josh (@ClubberinTime) for sending in this report from his appearance.

Bryan started off by talking about Jerry Lawler's heart attack on RAW this past Monday, and being in the ring at the time. He says he was in the middle of a chin lock and noticed that the crowd was looking away from the ring. He thought that there was a fight in the crowd, and first realized what was going on with Lawler when he went to the top rope. He noted that Lawler was very lucky, and the locker room was very concerned because they're like a close family backstage.

Bryan said that William Regal came up with the "Daniel Bryan" name, and he revealed that he made a list of names, including "Buddy Peacock."

He also discussed being a smaller wrestler in WWE, and said that he was lucky that he had ten years of independent wrestling experience before being thrown into a WWE ring. He noted that one of the best things about being out of the indys is that he gets a chance to shower after a WWE show, unlike wrestling in armory's and small halls.

The host brings up the necktie incident that resulted in his firing from the company in 2010. Bryan admitted that he was fired because it "wasn't PG." He defended himself, and said that he was told that they [Nexus] were told to go out there and give a "gang-style" beating. He said that he was new with the company at the time and didn't know the rules.

He is asked about the difference between "sports entertainment" and "wrestling." Bryan stated that the fact that WWE produces 8 hours of television a week, it just can't be wrestling. People would get bored by just 8 hours of wrestling, and he said that you need to throw interviews and storylines in there to give people a break.

Daniel Bryan revealed that he and CM Punk are NO longer vegans after being one for 2 1/2 years. He said that it was the hardest thing to find vegan food on the road.

The host talked about how much Andre The Giant used to drink, and that it doesn't seem like the wrestlers are drinkers like they used to be. Bryan told a short story about having a cookie eating contest in a lobby in Japan, and the old timers making fun of them and noting how much the times have changed.

Josh (@ClubberinTime) contributed to this article.