WWE champion Daniel Bryan: Dynamite Kid was big influence on me

Daniel Bryan has paid tribute to the influence of British wrestler Dynamite Kid, who died last month at 60

Daniel Bryan has cited Dynamite Kid as a major influence on his career and feels it is now time for WWE to put the British Bulldogs in the Hall of Fame.

The WWE champion will defend his title against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, live on Sky Sports Box Office at midnight on Sunday.

Ahead of that contest, he spoke exclusively to Sky Sports about how Dynamite Kid, who died in December at the age of 60, was an in-ring role model for him, and not just for his famous series of matches with Tiger Mask in Japan in the early 1980s.

"The modern style of WWE and professional wrestling is very largely based on what Dynamite Kid did," he said. "I was a huge student of watching Dynamite Kid tapes and not just the stuff with Tiger Mask, but the early stuff he did in England with Stampede too.

"He changed the landscape for what it meant to be a small man in professional wrestling - he wasn't even necessarily a high-flyer he was so intense and aggressive and I've tried to incorporate that into my wrestling."

Bryan faces AJ Styles in a huge WWE title match at the Royal Rumble on Sunday
Bryan faces AJ Styles in a huge WWE title match at the Royal Rumble on Sunday
Dynamite Kid formed a very popular tag team with fellow Brit Davey Boy Smith and neither is currently in the Hall of Fame, either as a singles competitor or as a duo.

Bryan is fully aware the decision over whether or not to induct the Bulldogs is not his, but feels the time has now come.

"That's an interesting question," he said. "To me - yes. I don't know if that would be as a tag team or as Davey Boy Smith on his own.

"One of the highlights of my fandom was Davey Boy beating Bret Hart at SummerSlam in 1992. To me, as a kid, when I thought of epic matches I thought of Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat and I thought of that.

"But I don't make those calls."