Most superstars made their mark in the worldwide phenomenon that is World Wrestling Entertainment as it was the hit brand back in the golden age of wrestling. However, as the younger generation came into bloom, stars made their mark as indy classics paved their own way of greatness. Like one Phenomenal One, AJ Styles, who started out in TNA as a premiere superstar ruling the X-Division and climbing his way up the ladder to mega stardom. He then went on to Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling joining the villainous Bullet Club faction before finally settling in the WWE showing his greatness. Kenny Omega and his best friends, The Young Bucks, made their names all over the world winning multiple championships across a few different promotions. Then, there is Cody Rhodes, the executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling and the son of the late American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. With his connections in the Elite, he ushered in a new wave of wrestling and brought a revolution to challenge WWE at their lowest point. He showed them up succeeding on the indies and became the mega star he saw himself as even winning the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship just like his father did years ago.
However, one lonely poor kid from Mexico would make the difference next as Ryan "Fireball" Brown would be born on October 16th, 1990 in the country of Mexico within the city of Ciudad Juraez. His father wasn't around much and his mother was mostly the one taking care of him as well as his older sister, Martha. His real full name is Ryan Marte Rodriguez and Ryan wouldn't live the best life as Mexico would be overrun with the drug cartels around the early 90's, because of their operations of smuggling drugs/people across the southern border at frequent checkpoints. This caused a sudden move to South America where the family still had financial troubles, but were stable living in countries like El Salvador and Honduras. Ryan's mother divorced his father as he would no longer pay any child support for both of his children and effectively, they both made up their mind. The courthouse would side with Ryan's mother on agreements of shared revenue as she worked as a phone receptionist which didn't pay too much. Naturally living around a country with a main source of entertainment of professional wrestling, Ryan would get hooked into watching live lucha libre matches from behind security ropes. He would also like soccer and baseball playing with friends around town becoming really good at both, but never trying out for the teams.
In 2003, Ryan, Martha, and their mother immigrated legally to the United States and settled down in El Paso, Texas for three years where Ryan would be bullied ruthlessly making the family move to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a much more normal life. In 2007, Ryan would get into a professional wrestling school and always impressed his coaches with how agile he could be as he mainly copied what he saw luchadors did back in his country. Ryan would be trained by Tito Santana and Ultimo Guerrero since he knew what would work best for him adopting a full scale Lucha Libre-style move set. Ryan would be shipped to Louisville, Kentucky going to compete in Ohio Valley Wrestling at a ripe age of 17 and moved closer to 18. On a taping on June 24th, 2007, he took on Nick Nemeth in a losing effort after a Superkick to the chin.
Ryan made his return on the 30th wrestling against Jamin Olivencia in a better effort, but he still lost the match in 7 minutes. Ryan would return on August 18th after he underwent more training and he would face KC James in his first win ever hitting a Sunset Flip Powerbomb for the three count. On August 29th, he teamed with Paul Burchill and Jay Bradley in a winning effort against Michael W. Kruel, Jesse, and Festus. Ryan returned on October 17th due to a family emergency keeping him on a long hiatus and he lost to Seth Skyfire. Ryan would compete in one more match with the developmental brand on November 30th losing to Pat Buck in a squash match. Vince McMahon stated he was impressed with how Ryan could move in the ring and wanted to sign him to a move to the major brand, but Ryan did not feel ready opting out of signing so he could prove himself on the indies.
Ohio Valley Wrestling: (2007)
Ryan went on the independent circuit mainly in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California where he first competed with a promotion called Lucha Libre Unlimited wrestling under a mask since it was required. He named himself Inferno Rapido as he defeated masked wrestlers like Dragon Antiguo, Rash, Costilla de Cerdo, El Hijo de Johnson Perdido, and Fortune Mask. Ryan wanted to compete on a larger scale leaving the promotion in 2008 and to compete in Canada with The Phoenix Challenge as he defeated two wrestlers in his appearances like Chuck Jose and legend Pat Tanaka. WWE superstars made surprise appearances at the local promotion as Ryan teamed with The New Age Outlaws to defeat Nigel Patton, Richard Strike, and Fanatic. Ryan would then gain interest in a non-exclusive deal with Ring of Honor opting to also work appearances with California-based promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
First tour of the independent circuit: (2007-2008)
Ryan would substitute Jimmy Jacobs teaming with Tyler Black in the ROH World Tag Team Championship tournament to crown new champions. At Up for Grabs 2008, Ryan and Tyler defeated Delirious and Pelle Primeau when Ryan hit a Shooting Star Press on Pelle for the win. In the semi-finals, Ryan wrestled his heart out against Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson putting on match of the night. Tyler hit Blackout on Danielson to advance the team to the finals after 26 minutes of tag team action. Black and Brown met El Generico and Kevin Steen in the main event as Ryan hit Generico with a third Moonsault to win the match and the titles. At Respect is Earned II, Black and Brown defeated Generico and Steen in a rematch for the Tag Team Titles. Brown adopted the nickname of "Fireball" seeing as he climbed pretty fast in the roster of ROH. The next title defense came at New Horizons as Black and Brown won by countout against Alex Payne and Bobby Dempsey when the heels walked out on the match. At Fueling the Fire, Black and Brown retained in a rematch when Tyler hit Blackout on Payne. At Death Before Dishonor VI, Brown and Black defeated Eddie Edwards and Chris Hero to retain. At Night of the Butcher II, Black injured his left leg in a title defense against Generico and Steen leaving Ryan to take the pinfall from Steen. This ended Ryan and Black's reign with the titles at 70 days succeeding the event.
On September 14th, ROH headed to Japan meaning Ryan had to leave the country for the first time to compete at the Tokyo Summit. Ryan would lose his match against Naomichi Marufuji, but showed great action in the Strong Style-category. At Driven 2008, Ryan defeated Austin Aries in a great match establishing himself in the mid-card of the company. Ryan would challenge Bryan Danielson for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship at Glory by Honor, but would lose after tapping out to a Crossface submission. At Ring of Homicide 2, Ryan would lose in a complete squash to Brodie Lee. Returning to work The French Connection in Canada, Ryan got back on the winning side defeating The Green Phantom in a brief match. At Bound by Hate 2008, Ryan defeated Brodie Lee in a No Disqualification Match to finish up their feud. Ryan would debut for PWG working the Battle of Los Angeles tournament since he was getting good exposure and he defeated Chuck Taylor in the first round.
For the quarter finals, Ryan would defeat Low Ki in order to advance to the semi-finals with Chris Hero, Bryan Danielson, and Nigel McGuinness. He would lose his semi-final match to eventual winner Chris Hero, who defeated Danielson in the finals. At ROH Escalation, Ryan would lose in a good effort to Roderick Strong and then move on at Wrestling At The Gateway defeating Kenny King in a good match. Ryan faced King and Strong at Final Battle 2008 for #1 Contendership to the ROH World Championship, but he took the pinfall from King in the match. Ryan worked PWG The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies 2009, defeating TJ Perkins with a Shooting Star Press. At ROH Injustice II, Ryan defeated Damien Wayne and then cut a promo saying he is one of the fastest rising stars on the independent circuit and he will make it known that he isn't a one-hit wonder promising this year to pick up the ROH World Championship. At Caged Collision 2009, Ryan got locked up with former partner Tyler Black, Low Ki, and Austin Aries to see who became #1 Contender to the title. Ryan came close, but lost out when Aries pinned Black for the win. At PWG Express Written Consent, Ryan defeated El Generico in a tough match putting both men over. Ryan returned to the spotlight at Eliminating the Competition interrupting the Fatal 4 Way ROH World Title match teasing a heel turn as he grabbed a steel chair. He whacked Nigel McGuinness over the head, but Nigel snuck away retaining his title starting a feud between both men.
Ryan explains on TV tapings that Nigel is the only obstacle stopping him from reaching the world title and he proves his worth winning all his matches when scheduled. Nigel would cut a promo three weeks later stating he isn't scared of a fight between him and Ryan imploring a resolution to what Ryan almost cost him. At ROH Stylin' and Profiln', Nigel defeated Ryan after rolling him up after tripping Ryan into an exposed turnbuckle. At Insanity Unleashed, Ryan defeated Silas Young wanting a rematch with Nigel after his cheap victory. At ROH's 7th Anniversary Show, Nigel granted Ryan his rematch as the Fireball hit his finisher Where's The Fire (Springboard Flying Forearm) to score a victory after 23 minutes. Ryan won his first world title in his career making good on his promise and establishing himself as a true underdog. At Supercard of Honor IV, Ryan defeated Nigel in their third encounter with Where's The Fire. At Take No Prisoners 2009, Ryan defeated Nigel and Erick Stevens in order to retain his championship. Ryan worked PWG Ninety-Nine in a special appearance defeating Sonjay Dutt in a non-title match. At The Hunt Begins 2009, Ryan defended his ROH World Title against Jimmy Jacobs in a time limit draw up to 20 minutes. At A Cut Above 2009, Jacobs would get his rematch in a losing effort by disqualification after blasting Ryan with a steel pipe. At Never Say Die, Jacobs defeated Ryan with an inside cradle pin to win the world title ending Ryan's reign at just 49 days.
Ryan would get a rematch more than a month later at Contention in which he won by DQ after Jacobs hit a low blow. At Manhattan Mayhem III, Ryan took on Jacobs and Austin Aries where Aries pinned Jacobs for the win becoming world champion. At PWG The Secret of Guerrilla Island, Ryan defeated Charles Mercury in a brief match. On Night 1 of Death Before Dishonor VII, Ryan defeated KENTA and D-Lo Brown in a brief triple threat match. Skipping towards September during The Final Countdown Tour, Ryan defeated Bobby Dempsey and Delirious during two events. At PWG Guerre Sans Frontieres, Bryan Danielson offered to put his PWG World Championship on the line against anyone in the locker room where Ryan entered ready for the match. These two wrestled a technical classic for 35 minutes as Ryan hit his new finisher, Rollthrough 25 (S.O.S), for the win and the title. At Glory by Honor VIII, Ryan defeated Grizzly Redwood in his first defense with the PWG Title as apart of cross-promotion.
At Survival of the Fittest 2009, Ryan competed in a qualifying match against Rhett Titus to advance to the Survival of the Fittest 2009 final where he would lose in this encounter. On Battle of Los Angeles Night 1, Ryan defeated Chris Hero after 23 minutes in the main event for the PWG World Title. On the second night, Kenny Omega would wrestle Ryan for 34 minutes defeating the smaller wrestler with the One-Winged Angel winning the title. This ended Ryan's reign with the title at 79 days being his longest time with any title. At PWG Kurt Russellreunion 2010, Ryan would go on to defeat Roderick Strong and Davey Richards in a good triple threat match after 21 minutes. At ROH's 8th Anniversary Show, Ryan defeated Colt Cabana to become #1 contender to the ROH World title. Ryan would request for his match on March 6th, 2010 on a normal TV taping where he took on Tyler Black for the world title. These two wrestled a good main event until Colt Cabana caused a double DQ ending the match. At ROH Gold Rush, Ryan and Colt competed where the winner advanced to the main event for the world title which Colt won with a heel rollup hanging feet off the ropes, but failed against Black in the main event.
At Epic Encounter III, Ryan teamed with Black and Steve Corino against RJ City and The Flatliners where Ryan took the pin from Matt Burns after Colt interfered. At ROH From The Ashes, Ryan defeated Bison Smith in a normal match with Cabana on commentary. At Phoenix Rising, Ryan defeated Colt in a normal match continuing the feud and capped off the feud at The Big Bang! where Colt defeated Ryan in another singles contest. At PWG Titannica, Ryan worked a triple threat match with Candice LaRae and Chuck Taylor losing when LaRae pinned Taylor for the win. At ROH Pick Your Poison, Ryan teamed with The American Wolves to win against Petey Williams, Nerco Butcher, and Sami Callihan. Ryan would receive calls from New Japan Pro-Wrestling to come work exclusively with them in the summer to which Ryan agreed leaving his future up in the air with the American independents.
Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: (2008-2010)
Ryan would say his goodbyes to family heading off to the airport and many hours later, Ryan landed back in the country at Haneda Airport. Ryan would make his NJPW debut at Wrestling Dontaku 2010 defeating Nobou Yoshihashi in his debut match with a Dragonrana. Ryan entered the Best of Super Juniors Tournament competing in Block B losing to Taiji Ishimori in the first round off to a bad start. Ryan met Kenny Omega in his second match as they fought for 17 minutes before Ryan scored the victory with Rollthrough 25. Ryan defeated Tama Tonga next to get up to 4 points. Fujita Hayato would stomp down Ryan's momentum delivering himself a victory. Ryan would pick back up victories over Tiger Mask and Gedo bringing him up to 8 points. Ryan would lose yet again getting rolled up by AKIRA in a surprise upset. Ryan would only have 8 points ending his run in the tournament. At Dominion 6.19, Ryan entered a feud with the winner Prince Devitt over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship as Ryan defeated Devitt with Rollthrough 25 in the second to last match. On a tour show in June, Devitt won back his title from Ryan.
On the New Japan Soul tour, Ryan defeated Devitt again to win his second Junior Heavyweight Title reign after pinning him in a match also featuring Gedo and El Samurai. On the same tour, Devitt won his title back with a backslide rollup pin. During one of the G1 Climax shows, Ryan defeated Devitt yet again winning his third Junior Heavyweight Championship with a rollup pin hooking around the legs. Also, during another one of the shows, Ryan lost a non-title match to Yuji Nagata. At the Kotesu Yamamato Memorial Show, Devitt defeated Ryan again to get back his title. At NJPW NEVER.2, Ryan defeated Devitt in their last singles encounter to win his fourth IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. At New Japan Live in Yamagata, Ryan defended his title against Koji Kanemoto losing by count-out after Koji decked him outside the ring. At Destruction 2010, Ryan teamed with the Golden Lovers to defeat Giant Bernard and Apollo 55 as Omega hit One-Winged Angel to Devitt. On one of the G1 Tag League shows, Ryan successfully defended his Junior Heavyweight Title against Tomaki Honma. On two Super J Tag League shows, Ryan defeated Gedo in a non-title match and scored an upset win over Tetsuya Naito at another event.
On December 16th, 2010, Ryan would finally lose the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to KUSHIDA in a good solid match apart of the Sports Dream Match tour. Ryan's fourth reign lasted longer than previous ones as this reign lasted 92 days. At Wrestle Kingdom IV, Ryan teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe taking on TNA wrestlers Matt Morgan, Sonjay Dutt, and Samoa Joe with Joe pinning Makabe for the win after a Muscle Buster Suplex. Ryan competed on the second night of Fantastica Mania in collaboration with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre as he defeated Dragon Rojo Jr. In a brief match. At The New Beginning 2011, Ryan competed for the IWGP Tag Team Championship with KUSHIDA against Bad Intentions where Bernard trounced KUSHIDA for the pinfall. Ryan competed in the New Japan Cup of 2011 defeating Yujiro Takahashi in the first round with a 450 Splash. Ryan would then defeat Yuji Nagata in the second round moving on to the semi-finals. Ryan got a big win over Shinsuke Nakamura to face Togi Makabe in the finals where Togi defeated him in a great contest. At NJPW New Dimesnion, Ryan defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in order to win his fifth IWGP Heavyweight Title with the Rollthrough 25. This put him as the second person to have the most reigns with the belt. However, Ryan lost the title to Kota Ibushi on one of the shows for the New Japan Brave tour ending his fifth reign at 24 days. However, at Wrestling Dontaku 2011, Ryan won his sixth reign with the title after Kota would be going out with an injury so he dropped the title back to Ryan. NJPW would start their Invasion Tour in the United States allowing Ryan to return home as he took on Jersey All Pro Wrestling Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger in a winner-take-all match for both titles. An excellent match for 23 minutes as Ryan rolled up Jushin with the Crucifix Pin for the win becoming a double champion.
At Dominion 6.18, Kota Ibushi returned to win the Best of Super Juniors tournament and would defeat Ryan to win back the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship ending Ryan's sixth reign at 47 days. From there, Ryan competed on three New Japan Soul shows defeating Ryu Kashi on the first, teaming with Kota Ibushi to defeat CHAOS members Hideo Saito and Gedo on the second, and defeat MVP on the third. During the first G1 Climax show, Ryan invoked his rematch clause defeating Kota Ibushi to win his seventh and final IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On two other shows, he defended the JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship against KUSHIDA and defeated Taka Michinoku in a non-title match. On August 27th, 2011, NJPW came together with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH to present All Together where he defended both of his titles against Kaito Kiyomiya where Ryan took the younger star to his limits retaining with Rollthrough 25. At NJPW NEVER.7, Ryan decided to vacate the JAPW Light Heavyweight Title so the officials in America can get their belt back ending his reign at 130 days. At the Hiroyoshi Tenzan Anniversary Show, Ryan would lose to Tenzan in a special match after 16 minutes. Ryan challenged for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Destruction 2011 against champion MVP, Masato Tanaka, and Rocky Romero where Tanaka won pinning MVP for the victory.
On two G1 Tag League shows, Ryan defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Hiromu Takahashi in a winning effort and lost to Don Fujii on the other. Ryan would defend his Junior Heavyweight title against Taka Michinoku and Gedo at Power Struggle 2011 where he retained rolling Gedo up in an inside cradle. At Live in Kyoto, Ryan teamed with Susuki-Gun members Lance Archer, Taka Michinoku, and Taichi to lose against CHAOS members Hideo Saito, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo, and Toru Yano when Ishii pinned Michinoku. During the Satoshi Kojima Anniversary Show, Ryan would lose the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Low Ki in a competitive match ending Ryan's last reign at 226 days. At Wrestle Kingdom V, Ryan teamed with Stack of Arms to take on Shinsuke Nakamura, Gedo, and Taichi in a winning effort when Ryan hit Rollthrough 25 on Nakamura. During Fantastica Mania, Ryan competed on Night 1 defeating Rush in a competitive match that Ryan almost lost. At The New Beginning 2012, Ryan defeated Masato Tanaka to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship after a 450 Splash becoming the third champion in existence. At NJPW/AJAW/NOAH All Together, Ryan defended his championship against Masato Tanaka, Kotaro Susuki, Jushin Thunder Liger, Toru Yano, and MVP where Ryan retained pinning Yano for the win. Ryan would compete in the New Japan Cup of 2012 where he defeated La Sombra in the first round, but lost to Karl Anderson in the second round.
At Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Ryan faced Karl Anderson for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and he would retain with a Superplex turned into a Michinoku Driver. At Dominion 6.16, Ryan defeated Tama Tonga with the Rollthrough 25 finisher. On two of the Kizuna Road tour shows, Ryan defeated Shelton Benjamin and Yujiro Takahashi in singles matches. At Last Rebellion 2012, Kota Ibushi would unseat Ryan in a five-star match to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion after 32 minutes. This ended Ryan's reign at 169 days with the championship. Ryan would catch the eye of WWE talent scouts and he felt ready to join the major company, but he wanted to compete more with New Japan while discussing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. Ryan would take the challenge of the G1 Climax 22 competing in Block B and defeated Satoshi Kojima to earn 2 points. In his next match, Ryan defeated MVP with a Shooting Star Press getting him up to 4 points and then he lost to Hiroyoshi Tenzan halting his momentum. Ryan would be defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura making it another big name he has fell to. Ryan picked up a win over Rush after executing a Cazadora Rollup pin for the victory getting him up to 6 points. Ryan would then meet Kazuchika Okada where he would defeat the Japanese icon with a big upset to get to 8 points, but Ryan would suffer at the hands of Hirooki Goto. Ryan would win one more match against Tetsuya Naito making it to the finals with Karl Anderson. Ryan would defeat Karl Anderson in the finals becoming the winner of the 2012 G1 Climax.
At Kings of Pro-Wrestling 2012, Ryan would meet the face of Japanese wrestling Hitoshi Tanahashi in his bout for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. These two tore the house down as they wrestled for 34 minutes, but Tanahashi defeated Ryan to retain the world title, but both men shook hands afterwards for a great match. Ryan would have one final match at Power Struggle 2012 teaming with Jushin Thunder Liger, Captain New Japan, MASAKO, and Justin Tope taking on Minoru Susuki, Lance Archer, Shelton Benjamin, Taka Michinoku, and Davey Boy Smith Jr. of Susuki-Gun. The babyfaces won when Ryan hit Rollthrough 25 on Michinoku for the win for his team. Ryan cut a promo saying he has had fun here in Japan, but every story has it's ending and while he hasn't ruled out a return to Japan, he has family waiting for him back home. He shook his teammates hands as Ryan officially ended his career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling: (2010-2012)
Ryan worked out a four-year contract with WWE as he would be a surprise entrant in the 2013 Royal Rumble match as a way to introduce him to new viewers and get more ratings for having a spectacular international superstar in the company. Ryan entered #7 and would start helping Chris Jericho against Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes even having some dream match action with Kofi Kingston. After Cody eliminated his own brother, Ryan hit a Dropkick sending Rhodes to outside eliminating him to the shock of the crowd. Ryan would also eliminate Tensai with help from Brodus Clay and Kofi Kingston getting an alliance between those three. Ryan scored a third elimination hitting a Dropkick to knock Heath Slater off the apron to the floor. Ryan would make it to the very end becoming one of the final seven in the ring with John Cena, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Sheamus, and Wade Barrett. Barrett would eliminate Ryan with the Bullhammer and Cena went on to win the entire match eliminating Ryback last. The next night on Raw, Ryan made his main roster debut defeating Tensai in a straight-up match winning with a Tornado DDT from the top.
The next week, Ryan would be interviewed about how successful his career is so far in wrestling before Team Rhodes Scholars interrupted him saying that Ryan has been privileged with greatness, but he can never match up to an intellectual mind or a gorgeous mustache. Ryan retorted saying he worked from the bottom up to get to where he is and he's the underdog meaning he'll have to work his way up again so he might as well shut that intellectual mind up. Ryan would defeat Damien Sandow with Rollthrough 25 and celebrate his win before the lights go out. They come back on to see Roman Reigns spear Ryan nearly out of his boots. Ambrose and Rollins jump the barricade getting in the ring, but John Cena and Sheamus make the save fighting off the trio. The next week, Brown took on Ambrose winning by DQ after The Shield got involved as they attacked Ryan. Sheamus came out with a steel chair not allowing the hounds to go any further, but Reigns stood tall against the Irishman before backing off. This led to a six-man tag team match at Elimination Chamber 2013 of The Shield facing John Cena, Sheamus, and Ryan "Fireball" Brown. While the babyfaces gave it a good effort, Reigns hit the Spear on Brown for the win. The next night on Raw, Ryan explains his history with Seth Rollins from back in the indies, but The Shield interrupt with Rollins saying he was never friends with Ryan and he's not the person Ryan thought he was. Ryan explained that Rollins fights for a misguided vision of justice, but Ambrose butts in saying that injustice is any kind of shape and it doesn't matter what form it takes. All that matters is that the Shield is there to rectify it. Ryan puts out a challenge to Seth Rollins for WrestleMania 29 for a meet up. Rollins denies saying he doesn't have anything to prove, but Ryan then challenges Reigns, but Ambrose interrupts saying mind games don't work on them. Ryan retorts saying one of them is facing him at WrestleMania and he'll take each of them on if it comes to that. Ryan is then booked for a six-man tag team match featuring him and The Prime Time Players versus The Shield which Ryan and the Players win by DQ after Reigns breaks up a pinfall, but doesn't exit the ring.
Ryan would attack Reigns, but duck a clothesline from Rollins hitting a Superkick to his former friend and then hit Rollthrough 25 on Ambrose escaping before Reigns got his hands on Ryan. On Smackdown!, Ryan defeated Heath Slater as The Shield cut a promo on Ryan accepting his challenge for WrestleMania, but he will find out who he will be facing real soon. A few weeks later, Rollins announced he is Ryan's opponent for WrestleMania and gave it some thought wishing to make his moment clear by embarrassing Ryan. At WrestleMania 29, Ryan defeated Seth Rollins with Rollthrough 25 getting one over on the Shield for the big event. Ryan would move on from his feud with The Shield defeating Antonio Cesaro and The Miz in a #1 Contender's match to the United States Championship. At Extreme Rules, Ambrose would win the United States Championship from Kofi Kingston becoming Ryan's target for Payback, but Ryan won via count-out after Ambrose walked out on the match. At Money in the Bank on the pre-show, Ambrose lost by DQ after Rollins and Reigns attacked Ryan from behind giving him the Triple Powerbomb.
At SummerSlam, Ryan would finally defeat Ambrose hitting a Rollthrough 25 off the top rope and pinning the talker of the Shield to win his first singles title in WWE. However, Ambrose would cheat to win back his strap at Night of Champions low blowing Ryan with the referee's back turned and then hitting the Headlock Driver ending Ryan's reign with the title at just 29 days. Ryan would receive a scheduled rematch for the title at Hell in a Cell, but Ambrose would win that match as well ending the long feud. At Survivor Series 2013, Ryan joined Cody Rhodes, Goldust, and The Usos against The Real Americans and The Shield where he eliminated Jack Swagger and Seth Rollins with Rollthrough 25 even being the last team member standing before Reigns hit him with a Spear. The next night on Raw, Ryan teamed with Cody and Goldust against The Miz and The Real Americans where Miz hits Rhodes with the Skull-Crushing Finale for the win. This also leads to Swagger attacking Ryan after the match hoisting him in the Ankle Lock. Ryan took on Swagger the next week before winning with a rollup matchbook pin, but got assaulted afterwards. Cesaro and Ryan paired up for a match on Smackdown! where Cesaro won due to interference from Zeb Colter. The Real Americans continued attacking Ryan after the match until the Big Show came out going to drive them away.
This leads to Ryan and Big Show facing the Real Americans in a tag team match at TLC 2013 where Ryan hits Rollthrough 25 on Cesaro for the win. Ryan and Show competed in a Four Corners Elimination Tag Team match on Raw for #1 Contendership to the WWE Tag Team Titles also featuring The Brotherhood (as they lost their titles to the New Age Outlaws at TLC 2013), The Usos, and Rybaxel. Ryan eliminates Rybaxel after hitting a Top Rope Splash to Axel following a Chokeslam while The Usos eliminate Cody with a Double Uso Splash. Show knocks Jey out with a knockout punch sealing victory for his team and the contender spots. Ryan and Show built momentum defeating teams like The Usos and Rybaxel well into 2014 even Los Matadores two weeks on Smackdown! At the Royal Rumble, Ryan got rolled up by Billy Gunn thus losing the Tag Team Title match. Later in the night, Ryan came in at #13 this year helping to eliminate Jack Swagger from the match. Many more entrants came into the mix like the returning Kevin Nash and other modern roster stars. Ryan helped Punk go after The Shield trying to dissolve the trio as Punk eliminated Ambrose sending him packing with the GTS. Ryan eliminated Rollins along with Dolph Ziggler after both men tried eliminating one another. However, Roman Reigns would eliminate Ryan from the Rumble match. The next night on Raw, Ryan joined John Cena, and Sheamus against The Shield for three spots in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match. The match ended in a DQ win for the babyfaces as The Wyatt Family attacked john Cena during the match causing major fighting between both trio factions.
Christian and Cesaro would be the last two occupants as Ryan did get a chance to take on Randy Orton evening rolling up the champ for a surprise upset win on Raw. At Elimination Chamber, Christian would be the first eliminated by Sheamus with the Brogue Kick, next, Sheamus would be eliminated by Orton with the RKO, Cesaro would be eliminated by Ryan with Rollthrough 25, but suffered an RKO right afterwards. The Wyatt Family appeared in the Chamber and Wyatt hit Sister Abagail on Cena which Orton took advantage of to take the pin. The Wyatt Family would take on Cena, Ryan, and Sheamus which ended bad for the faces as Wyatt hit Sheamus with Sister Abagail for the win. The next week, Ryan defeated Luke Harper with Rollthrough 25 causing Rowan to attack the miniature star, but Cena made the save. Ryan and Cena would take on all three members of the Wyatt Family at WrestleMania XXX in a 3-on-2 Handicap No Holds Barred Match. At Mania, Cena pinned Wyatt after a grueling match to which the babyfaces celebrated their win. Cena continued the feud with Wyatt as Ryan moved on to feud with Cesaro through Extreme Rules and Payback which Cesaro won both matches decisively. Ryan, Rollins, Ambrose, Kane, Ziggler, Kingston, and Swagger all competed in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match which Ryan got ahold of the briefcase winning it at the end of the night. Ryan started a feud with Ziggler after the Showoff turned heel attacking Ryan backstage. Ziggler cut a promo on one Raw saying he gave the fans everything and abandoned thinking about himself to show the world what he had to offer, but he's getting overlooked left and right. At Battleground, Ziggler lost by DQ attacking Ryan mercilessly leading to a rematch at SummerSlam for Ryan's briefcase. Ryan won after hitting a Shooting Star Press off the top rope and hooking both legs retaining his briefcase.
Ryan teased a cash-in on a prone Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions, but kept back as he started another feud with Randy Orton. Orton hasn't forgotten that he lost to Ryan and he simply wants the briefcase holder to know that he will never become the world champion when the true face of WWE is around. This led to a match at Hell in a Cell where Ryan won with a rollup pin, but he got an RKO after the match followed by the Punt Kick feeling Orton's wrath. These two had a rematch on Raw which Orton ended in seconds with the RKO. Ryan and Randy fought in a No Disqualification Match on Smackdown for the main event where Orton won with an RKO through a table. Orton would be injured by the Authority on Raw causing Ryan to switch gears and join Team Cena with Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, and Ryback against Team Authority consisting of Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Luke Harper, and Rusev at Survivor Series. Big Show eliminated Mark Henry first straight away with the knockout punch and a three count. Harper would eliminate Ziggler with the Discus Clothesline while Rusev got DQ'd after exceeding the five count on kicking Cena in the corner. Rollins eliminates Ryback with the Curb Stomp and then Big Show turned on Cena causing Rollins to pin Cena to eliminate him. Ryan eliminated Kane with Rollthrough 25 and eliminated Harper with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb. Triple H entered the fray hitting the Pedigree on Ryan trying to get Rollins on to pin him, but Sting made his debut hitting the Scorpion Death Drop on Triple H before Ryan and Rollins got up. Rollins stared down at Triple H, but didn't see Ryan hitting Where's The Fire to win the match.
A #1 Contender's tournament would be held to see who would face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble featuring Luke Harper, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Ryan "Fireball" Brown, Bray Wyatt, and Mark Henry. Wyatt defeated Henry in the first round, but got attacked by Ambrose after the match, Ambrose defeated Ziggler to move on, Rollins rolled Cena up for the pin winning his match, and Ryan easily defeated Luke Harper moving onto the semi-finals. Ambrose and Wyatt fought the next week with Ambrose getting a count-out victory while Rollins hit the Curb Stomp on Ryan for the win. Ambrose and Rollins fought at TLC in a Ladder Match for the contract as Wyatt interrupted hitting Dean with Sister Abagail letting Rollins unhook the contract for the win. Lesnar took on Seth for the world title, but Rollins would get decimated throughout getting in limited offense before being put down with an F5. However, Big Show came out hitting three Chokeslams on Lesnar and a knockout punch for good measure afterwards. Ryan came out afterwards taking advantage and finally cashing in his briefcase to a huge pop. Ryan hit a Phoenix Splash and the Five-Star Frog Splash for the win winning his first world title in WWE. Roman Reigns would go on to win the 2015 Royal Rumble Match cinching the main event for WrestleMania 31.
However, Paul Heyman reminded Ryan off Lesnar's entitled rematch to the championship so at Fastlane, Ryan defended the title against Lesnar being treated like a rag doll most of the match, but Roman hit a Superman Punch on Lesnar causing a DQ. He then helped Ryan up before hitting a Spear on the young star lifting the title to end the show. Roman explained his actions that he wasn't going to let Lesnar take the title hostage anymore and he wanted a fighting champion to fight for WrestleMania so he gave a message to the man he wants to face. In the main event, Ryan defeated Big Show by DQ after the Authority got involved with Roman making the save turning it into a tag team match between Ryan and Reigns facing Rollins and Show before Roman hits the Spear on Show for the win. On Smackdown, Roman and Ryan defeated Los Matadores in a normal tag team match with a little animosity between them. On the next Raw, Ryan and Roman defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd after Kidd ate a Spear, but Ryan walked out on the celebration. On Smackdown!, Ryan defeated Rollins while Roman was on commentary as Ryan taunted Reigns raising the world title after the match. Ryan put the title on the line against Seth Rollins as requested by the Authority as they thought Ryan wasn't ready for the big stage. Ryan defeated Rollins with Rollthrough 25 for the win after interference from a returning Randy Orton. Orton, Reigns, and Ryan teamed up to take on Rollins, Show, and Kane where Rollins hit Orton with the Curb Stomp for the win after Reigns and Ryan started arguing. Ryan then faces Orton on Smackdown! Winning by DQ after Rollins interferes, but Reigns comes down to hit a Spear on Ryan after the last few weeks turning tweener. On the final Raw, the two had their final confrontation before a big staredown happened under the WrestleMania sign. .
Both men would be wrestling their hearts out at WrestleMania on the inside and outside of the ring going 25 minutes before Ryan hit a third Rollthrough 25 to end the match. Roman raised Ryan's hand at the end of the night showing a good amount of respect for Ryan and this did get a Reigns some support behind his babyface turn. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Ryan threw out an open challenge to anyone wanting a title shot that night and Ryback made his move making the main event. However, Rollins would interrupt causing a double DQ while Orton came out, but Rollins escaped through the crowd. The two had a rematch the next week, but Ryback got beamed in the head from Dolph Ziggler with a steel chair causing a DQ. The five men would come out the next week explaining their actions and wanting to take the opportunity of entering themselves into the world title picture. Roman Reigns came out stating his claim that he wants one more shot. The Authority set up a world title match where the other five had to win qualifying matches to see who could challenge for the title at Extreme Rules. Ziggler defeated Ambrose to advance, Rollins defeated Axel to advance, Orton defeated Miz to advance, Reigns defeated Wyatt to advance, and Ryback defeated Bad News Barrett to advance. On a Smackdown!, Ryan, Reigns, and Orton defeated Ziggler, Rollins, and Big Show after Ryan hits a 450 Splash on Show for the win.
At Extreme Rules, Ryan would retain after a grueling match when he pinned Ziggler with Rollthrough 25. Other important moments is Ziggler getting a near fall on Orton, Reigns jumping over the top rope onto all competitors, Ryan pushing Orton off the top rope through a table ringside, Rollins hitting a Curb Stomp on Reigns when Roman came in the ring, and Ryan hitting a Sit-Out Powerbomb to Ziggler off the top rope. Brown would take on Ambrose at Payback after Dean won a battle royal on Raw. Even though Dean was close, Ryan hits Rollthrough 25 for the victory. An Elimination Chamber match would be held for the WWE Title as Ryback, Reigns, Rollins, Ambrose, and Show would enter the match. The Shield reunited hitting Ryback with a Triple Powerbomb as a special moment, but Ryan retained after he and Rollins were the final two. On the next Raw, Ryan took on Show for the title winning by DQ after Rollins hit a Curb Stomp on the young star. This set up a clash for Money in the Bank where Rollins took on Ryan for the championship which Rollins would win after a Pedigree. This ended Ryan's reign at 141 days with the world title. Ryan would answer John Cena's United States Championship open challenge barely losing in the encounter. Ryan also took on Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on various Main Event tapings winning both matches. At Beast in the East, Ryan teamed with Sami and Hideo in Japan to take on The New Day in a winning effort when Hideo pinned Woods for the win. Ryan had a rematch with Seth Rollins at Battleground where Ryan twisted his neck as the match was called off due to injury allowing Rollins to win. Ryan would be subjected to surgery and the hospital for 6-8 months.
Ryan would be out for the rest of the year, but won the Breakout Star of the Year Slammy Award letting his family take it in his honor. At the 2016 Royal Rumble, Ryan returned as a special entrant along with the long-awaited debut of AJ Styles, Sami Zayn and Finn Balor getting called up from NXT, and Brock Lesnar entering his first Rumble since 2003. Ryan entered #11 eliminating Kane, Owens, and Rowan before Bray Wyatt tossed him out. Ryan would then challenge Triple H for the world title seeing as when he left, he was technically never beaten so at FastLane 2016, Triple H defeated Ryan in a brief title match with fans outraged saying Ryan got buried by the boss. Ryan was granted a rematch on the following Raw where he got a lot of time to shine, but Triple H retained at the end of the night. Ryan turned his focus to going after the Intercontinental Championship where he took on current champion Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, and Sheamus in a Ladder Match at WrestleMania 32 even defeating The Miz at Roadblock to promote the match. Ryan would win the IC Title after pushing the Miz off the ladder at the end. Ryan defeated The Miz and Kevin Owens at Extreme Rules for the title, Cesaro at Payback, and Big E at Money in the Bank. Ryan would be drafted to Smackdown! By Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan during the WWE Draft where he had one last match against Raw superstar Miz for the title retaining at Battleground. A 10-man battle Royal would be held on the first Smackdown Live! After Battleground consisting off Kane, Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder, Aiden English, Simon Gotch, and Kalisto all competing for a shot at SummerSlam. Corbin won last eliminating Kalisto and English together getting his shot as he did defeat Ryan to win his first singles title on the main roster ending Ryan's reign at another 141 days.
Corbin defeated Ryan in a rematch at Backlash ending the feud as Ryan got wins over Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, Erick Rowan, and even Randy Orton to keep his momentum going. Ryan would take on Bray Wyatt at No Mercy after Wyatt expressed interest in Ryan joining his cause, but Ryan would roll him up for the victory. Ryan joined Styles, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose against Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman at Survivor Series. Wyatt turned on Ryan allowing Rollins to pin him and eliminate the young star. This caused a Chairs Match versus Bray Wyatt where Wyatt won with Sister Abagail on a steel chair at TLC 2016. Ryan announced on Twitter his last match would be at WrestleMania 33 indicating he wanted to leave WWE so he signed an extension to work those shows. Ryan kept himself off TV until he came back to challenge AJ Styles for his final match on the grandest stage which Styles accepted. Ryan and AJ had a dream match where AJ won the final match with the Styles Clash shaking hands with Ryan which in turn made Styles a huge face going forward until 2019. Ryan then terminated his contract leaving WWE.
World Wrestling Entertainment: (2013-2017)
Ryan returned to the independent circuit to a huge pop at the Crash Syndicate Wrestling event in Austin. Ryan defeated Jerome Killens in a hard fought match and shook hands with the young star afterwards. Ryan performed five times for DEFIANT Wrestling winning three matches with David Starr, Gorge Johnson, and Simon Miller, but lost to Zack Sabre Jr. and Austin Aries. In an appearance for Limitless Wrestling, Ryan defeated Shazza McKenzie in his second intergender match, but he returned to take on Bear Bronson and Kimber Lee where he lost to Bronson, but defeated Lee. Ryan would decide to sign back with Ring of Honor for a non-exclusive deal and have a few appearances for the promotion. On two tapings in July, Ryan took on Flip Gordon in a good match where Ryan won with Rollthrough 25 and took on Cody in a losing effort to Cross Rhodes. At the three-day event War of the Worlds event in the UK, Ryan took on Kenny King in a winning effort with Where's The Fire? On Night 1 and teamed with KUSHIDA and The Addiction to take on Chaos members (Gedo, Rocky Romero, Toru Yano, and Mikey Nicholls in a losing effort when Mikey pinned Kazarian for the win. Ryan made an appearance at Death Before Dishonor XV teaming with David Finaly to defeat CMLL stars Niko Plain and Supreme Tiger.
Starting in October, Ryan left Ring of Honor and made two appearances for CHIKARA at their Hour of Power 11 and Deep Breath events where he took on Hermit Crab in a 3 minute squash match at the first event and defeated Jeremy Leary at the second event. Ryan signed non-exclusively with Impact Wrestling making an appearance at their Bound for Glory event winning a Ladder Match for the Impact X-Division Championship. In November, Ryan defended his title three times defeating Max Sampson, El Hijo del Fantasma, and Rich Swann. In December, he only defended it once against Laredo Kid where he won very easily. In a special cross-promotional match, Ryan returned to Mexico competing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide defending the Impact X-Division Championship on a special episode of Sin Limite where he defeated Cibernetico for the title. Ryan would lose the title to Matt Sydal beginning in 2018 ending his reign with the title which made him venture off elsewhere for the year.
Returning to the independents and Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling bound: (2017-2018)
Ryan started making appearances for EVOLVE Wrestling as he defeated Mike Kanellis, Angelo Dawkins, Velveteen Dream, Shepard Drake, and Corey Allison. He would lose three straight matches with stars like Kris Travis, Matt Riddle, and MVP. Ryan had a dream match with Johnny Gargano in April where Gargano defeated him clean with a 450 Splash. In May, Ryan defeated Matt Riddle to become the new WWN Champion and gave an exclusive interview after winning the championship. Ryan defended his belt against talent like Austin Theory, Dragon Shun, Razor Ramon Jr. (one-time gimmick for Cody Hall honoring his father), and WALTER. Ryan would hold onto the belt until losing it to Bobby Fish in July and then Ryan had two more matches in August with EVOLVE teaming with Rockstar Spud and Rod Stanz against Moe Kurtins, Jacob Henderson, and El Singular Contra in a winning effort and a loss to Andrade "Cien" Almas.
EVOLVE Wrestling: (2018)
Ryan flew back to Japan wrestling for their promotion Dojo House that launched in 2016 where in his debut match, he defeated Sasuke Fujia. In the middle of September, Ryan won the Japanese Junior Stronghold Cup tournament which is a 16-man tournament with crusierweights from around the country. In October, Ryan defeated James Patton to win the Dojo House Junior Heavyweight Championship and defended it into December where he would drop it to Taki Conzo. In 2019, Ryan wrestled only three matches for the promotion and then flew back to America to pursue the independent circuit there more.
Dojo House: (2018-2019)
Ryan made several appearances for Truck Stop Promotional Wrestling in Colorado where he defeated Reverend Marty Skullmeister. He continued with his appearances winning and losing some matches before moving on in June making two appearances at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla for the first time in ten years. At PWG: Rock On in June, Ryan defeated The Rascalz in a six-man tag team match with The Rock N' Roll Express. At Sixteen, Ryan teamed with Best Friends to take on Laredo Kid, Flamita, and Bandido in a losing effort when Bandido pinned Chuck Taylor. On Night 2 of Battle of Los Angeles, Ryan returns to take on Pentagon Jr. in a winning effort. Ryan made an appearance on an episode of AEW Dark in November teaming with Angelico and Jack Evans in a losing effort to Jurassic Express when Jungle Boy pinned Angelico for the win. Ryan would return in January of 2020 to defeat Sonny Kiss and Luther in singles matches.
Taking a hiatus from wrestling, Ryan would marry his girlfriend, Marzia Servelli, after nearly two years of dating and he would then sign with United Supreme Pro Wrestling not long after. So far, Ryan has lost a feud with Logan Gage and is entering a new one with "The Perfect 10" Shawn Spears.
Promotions appeared in:
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007), Independent Circuit (2007-2008; 2017-2020), Ring of Honor (2008-2010; 2017), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2008-2010; 2019), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2010-2012), World Wrestling Entertainment (2013-2017), Impact Wrestling (2017-2018), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2017), EVOLVE Wrestling (2018), Dojo House (2018-2019), All Elite Wrestling (2019-2020), United Supreme Pro Wrestling (2020-Present)
Titles Won:
1x ROH World Tag Team Champion (with Tyler Black)
Winner of the tournament to crown the vacant ROH World Tag Team Champions (with Tyler Black)
1x ROH World Champion
1x PWG World Champion
2008 Battle of Los Angeles tournament semi-finalist
7x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
1x IWGP Intercontinental Champion
1x JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion
2011 New Japan Cup finalist
2012 G1 Climax winner
1x WWE United States Champion
Money in the Bank briefcase winner (2014)
1x WWE World Heavyweight Champion
1x WWE Intercontinental Champion
1x WWN Champion
2018 Japanese Junior Stronghold Cup tournament winner
1x Dojo House Junior Heavyweight Champion
Five-star match ratings against Bryan Danielson (2009), Kenny Omega (2009), Kota Ibushi (2012), Roman Reigns (2015), and AJ Styles (2017)
Won Match of the Year (2017) vs. AJ Styles-WrestleMania 33 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated