All Elite Wrestling superstar Bryan Danielson has revealed that he was told a disheartening comment about his place in WWE.
WrestleMania 30 on April 6, 2014, marked a big moment for Danielson as he ended the event as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. While WrestleMania positioned Danielson as the face of WWE, it would be short-lived as he had to lose the title due to an injury on June 9, 2014.
He would return to in-ring competition for WWE on Jan. 15, 2015, to resume his career. However, he suffered another injury months later that took him out of action and made him retire from wrestling for two years. Danielson would return to wrestle in WWE at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, and he ended his career with the company on May 5, 2021.
In an interview with Uproxx, Danielson revealed even after his win at WrestleMania 30, WWE didn’t consider him the face of the WWE. Uproxx’s Raj Prashad transcribed the following quotes.
“After WrestleMania 30, when I had won the championship and just main evented WrestleMania, they had a meeting with me where it was like, ‘Okay, what we’d really like is to do is to set this other guy up to be the guy,’” he says. “I think the phrase was the next John Cena. And I was like, ‘I would like to be the next John Cena,’ (and they said) nobody can be John Cena.”
Bryan Danielson
He continued, “I literally just main evented WrestleMania, and you’re already telling me directly — and I actually appreciated that — that you don’t see me as the guy,” he continues. “That’s good for me because (I knew) this is what I have to overcome if I want to be that. I never got there in WWE as far as being the company’s guy. “
New Opportunities For Bryan Danielson in AEW
In AEW, Danielson has earned different opportunities to become the “company guy” he wasn’t in WWE. On March 5 at AEW Revolution, Danielson will challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship. He believes in AEW when you defeat the AEW World Champion, you are considered “the guy” in the company.
“The AEW World Championship is the centerpiece of the promotion,” said Danielson. He explained, “You can’t say that about every wrestling company in the world, but you can say that about AEW. That’s why guys like Jon Moxley have been considered the man in AEW for the last couple years, Kenny (Omega), a little bit after that. When you’re the champion, you’re the one in charge of carrying the company. And it would be … for really the first time since I was in Ring of Honor that I’d get the opportunity to do that.”
It’s unclear if AEW will have Danielson remove the title from MJF on March 5. However, AEW presents a chance for Danielson to be considered “The company guy” for a major wrestling promotion.
