Bryan Danielson has worn a plain white t-shirt during many of his AEW television appearances.
According to the American Dragon, there’s a reason for this unassuming gear. During a recent appearance on the Casual Conversations podcast, Danielson said he is generally not in favor of selling merchandise to his fans.
“So AEW came up with a very nice American Dragon Is Back t-shirt,” he began.” I think one of the things that has confused their merchandising people and also confused the WWE merchandising people is that I don’t wanna sell people things.”
The Steve Jobs of AEW
Danielson likened his plain white t-shirt to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs always wearing a black turtleneck shirt.
“So, it’s a choice,” he continued. “It also makes my life simpler, in the sense of like I don’t have to worry what I’m going to wear to TV, right, so a white shirt and some joggers.”
“There’s Steve Jobs, who was infamous for he would just do the black turtleneck and he didn’t have to worry. I don’t wanna waste my time thinking about what I’m going to wear.”
It’s convenient for Daniel Bryan to just throw on a white t-shirt and not have to worry about styling an outfit for himself. However, he stated once again that his love for the environment makes it difficult for him to play merchandise pitch-man to his fans.
“Anyways, there’s a certain aspect of that but part of my service is this idea of how we can benefit the planet and all that kind of stuff. One of the things that is hard for me is to sell people stuff.”
Listen to Bryan Danielson on Casual Conversations:
Former WWE Superstar and current AEW star Bryan Danielson recently revealed which younger talents he sees on the All Elite roster as people he would like to work with.
Danielson has already been wrestling on most shows since he made his on-screen debut for the company at AEW All Out, but there are some names that he wants to get in the ring with/
“As far as from the young guy perspective, I really like Daniel Garcia’s style. I think Dante Martin is incredible. So there’s those guys” Danielson began, speaking on the Casual Conversations podcast.
Bryan Danielson on Younger AEW Talent
“There’s Darby Allin, who I think is just fantastic. I worry about him physically about all the stuff he puts his body through. They’re all kind of different. Dante, who’s doing this incredible high-flying. Darby, he does stuff that seems a little reckless but I find him to be very psychologically sound and also this great character” Danielson added.
“Daniel Garcia is an excellent technical wrestler. You got MJF, who is evolving what you would have called the standard heel act. But he’s evolving in a way that’s modern, and it doesn’t feel like he’s just out there being a heel, it feels like he’s an a**hole” Bryan continued, praising Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Who do you want to see Bryan Danielson face in AEW? Let us know in the comments
Bryan Danielson is eager to work with CM Punk in AEW, whether they are tag team partners or opponents.
The American Dragon appeared on the Casual Conversations podcast this week and discussed the possibility of teaming with Punk against the Young Bucks or FTR.
“Yeah I mean, I think both of those are really exciting to me,” he began. “You also mentioned 2 teams that I would love to do a serious program with not just a one-off thing.”
Danielson knows people want to see him and Punk joining forces to battle AEW’s top tag teams. However, he’s also interested in working against the Chicago made cult hero. Danielson and Punk never got a chance to clash on a big stage like WrestleMania. In AEW, that could become a very real possibility.
“Who better to team with than Punk,” Bryan continued. “Although, you know I always thought and said this even when I was in WWE. It felt to me like Punk and I were destined to do a WrestleMania match together and then it never happened. It felt like, man, it’s so perfect and it makes so much sense that we would have this WrestleMania match against each other, but it never happened.”
Who is the Best in the World?
It’s been years since Danielson and Punk shared a ring. Sooner or later, they may have to determine who is the Best in the World once and for all.
“Given the time of how long it’s been since we’ve been in a ring against each other or even as a tag-team, like now I feel like when we do it, it’ll be big and big in a different way,” he added.”
“That’s something I look forward to, I also like the idea of us battling each other over who the real ‘Best in the World’ is, I think that sounds like a lot of fun.”
Listen to Bryan Danielson on Casual Conversations:
“The American Dragon” has already begun his feud with newly-minted champion “Hangman” Adam Page. Fans noticed a more passive-aggressive tone in Danielson’s promo.
Of course, in the ring he’s as vicious as he’s been since going to AEW and as he was prior to his WWE run.
Bryan Danielson Insists He’s Not The Bad Guy
Following the Bryan Danielson promo and shoving match with Page, many have assumed the number one contender has turned heel. Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Danielson said that isn’t the case.
“So, I don’t know what people are talking about. I thought the people of Virginia were giving me a really tough time.
“I don’t think anything I said was wrong or even mean to say, ‘Hey, congratulations Hangman Adam Page. You are the world champion, I’m a little disappointed it’s not Kenny Omega because that’s who I wanted to beat for the AEW Championship.
“‘And I’m a little disappointed that you’re not wrestling tonight and that you haven’t been wrestling that much and I’ve been wrestling every single week since I’ve come to AEW.’
“I don’t think any of that is overtly mean [laughs]. I think because people boo me, and I’m not gonna lie I do enjoy being booed. There’s something just so fun about it [laughs].
“So, I might lean into that a little bit more but there was nothing I said that was wrong or mean or anything like that. Now, because of that I’m gonna kick all of his friends’ heads in but I think I would be doing that anyway.
“I don’t consider it a heel turn. I’m just being me.”
Danielson is set to take on another one of Page’s friends, Colt Cabana on the Nov. 24 episode of Dynamite. Danielson already made quick work of Evil Uno and he’ll be in enemy territory as Cabana resides in Chicago.
Please H/T SEScoops with a link if you use any quotes from this article
Ric Flair isn’t sold on the idea that CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have done much for AEW thus far.
The Nature Boy has a new podcast launching this week, Ric Flair Wooooo Nation Uncensored. Each week, Flair and former WCW commentator Mark Madden will take a deep dive into his career and current events in the world of pro wrestling.
In a teaser clip to promote the premiere episode, Flair and Madden discuss Punk and Danielson’s impact on AEW business since joining the company in August/September.
Madden acknowledges that Punk and Danielson certainly stars by any definition of the word. However, he asked Flair, what have they contributed to AEW?
“Well, if I’m looking at the ratings, I don’t know what they’ve contributed.”
– Ric Flair on CM Punk and Bryan Danielson’s impact on AEW
It’s a television business
Pro wrestling is business largely driven by television ratings and rights fees. Flair says Punk and Bryan have had successful careers, but so far, they’ve failed to deliver for AEW where it counts.
“Well, if I’m looking at the ratings, I don’t know what they’ve contributed,” said Flair. “Yeah, certainly, as you said, they’re both big stars in the business. Both have had a lot of success, but I don’t know how to answer that question, because all you can do, as we do with football or any other show, is look at the ratings.”
Flair continued, “To me, that show should never do less than 1.1 million. If they get there once, and bring in all this talent, and go back, then there’s something wrong.”
AEW viewership has been sliding in recent weeks. After a nice stretch of time with Dynamite drawing over 1 million viewers in the overnight numbers, the show has been below that level for the past several weeks. The dip coincides with Dynamite being preempted several times in October.
Despite television viewership faltering, Tony Khan has been adamant that CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have made a significant impact on AEW’s business.
During an interview with Robbie Fox for Barstool Sports last month, Khan revealed AEW has seen half a dozen metrics increase since Punk and Danielson’s arrivals.
“I’d say since Punk came in, before Bryan, and now with Bryan, we’ve seen at least six business metrics go up,” said Khan. “We’ve had our all-time record for pay-per-view. Those digital numbers, live event attendance – all-time highs. We were already, before the pandemic, the number one attended wrestling company in the world.”
Bryan Danielson has amped things up since joining AEW and he has started taking more risks inside the ring. This increased physicality however has also sparked debate because of the issues the former world champion has faced in the past, even forcing him to take retirement from active completion for a while.
The AEW star provided some updates on his health and the precautions he takes during the post Full Gear media scrum. When he originally came out of retirement, Danielson had to do impact testing after every match. Though he has abandoned that routine now and started taking spect tests to monitor the oxygen blood flow to his brain, which shows that he is getting better:
“I don’t do the impact testing anymore, to be honest, I haven’t done an impact test in years and years. But I do regularly keep up with a neurologist who I see pretty much every month. There’s these new tests called SPECT scans which monitor the oxygen flow in your brain and all that kind of stuff. Because I keep working on it and keep doing different things, my SPECT scans keep getting better and better. I think last time he said that they were better than your average 25-year-old with no head trauma.”
Being A Father Is The Most Important Thing For Bryan Danielson
The wrestling veteran then explained that he is being very diligent with his health because he wants to be there for his children. Bryan Danielson said that his main goal is not to be the best wrestler but to be a good father to his son. He also mentioned his daughter saying that he wants to be there to help her when she needs:
“I’m trying to be very diligent because one of the things that’s most important to me is being a dad. I see the best doctors in the country and all of them have cleared me. My main goal is not to be the best wrestler — I’m a relatively old father, my son just turned a year and a half, when he turns 15, I’m going to be 54, 55. He’s going to want to take me down the way that I did when I was 15 with my dad. I’m going to sprawl on him and I’m going to crush his shoulder.
I want to be [able to] when my daughter asks me about chemistry and how H2O bonds with CO2, I want to be able to say it’s H2CO3. I want to be able to do all that and explain to her chemistry, and algebra, and calculus, and whatever it is she wants to do. That is my number one goal to do that and I think, if Tony thinks, I’m getting to a point where I won’t be able to do that, it’s going to be time to stop.”
Bryan Danielson won a hard-fought match against Miro during the Full Gear PPV. This was the final of the AEW world title tournament. The victory earns Bryan a future world title match against the new champion Hangman Page. Though there is no word yet on when this match will take place.
Please credit SEScoops if you use any quotes from the article.
All Elite Wrestling held its Eliminator Tournament to determine who would be the next in line for the challenge for the World Heavyweight Title and it came to an end when Miro stepped into the ring with Bryan Danielson in the finals at the Full Gear pay-per-view event.
The match was truly back and forth to the point where the announcers said that neither wrestler could get an advantage. At one point, they followed each other up with their submission finishers. Miro deadlifted Bryan out of a heel hook for a german suplex. Bryan hit a DDT off the top rope then locked in the guillotine choke for the win.
There were 8 competitors in the tournament that included 10, Jon Moxley, Orange Cassidy, Powerhouse Hobbs, Dustin Rhodes, Bryan Danielson, Lance Archer, and Eddie Kingston.
The first round matches saw Moxley over 10, Cassidy beat Hobbs, Danielson defeat Rhodes, and Kingston over Archer.
The semi-finals featured Danielson over Kingston while Miro replaced Moxley, who decided to get help for alcohol abuse and checked into rehab to address his issues.
Many have rightfully supported Moxley in this decision despite the pressure he had on himself while being a top star for the promotion and taking himself out of a high position in the company for now to further help himself. Miro defeated Cassidy to advance in the tournament.
Kenny Omega defended the World Title against Adam Page in the main event of Full Gear. Ironically, Omega beat Page in last year’s tournament at Full Gear
Bryan Danielson has spoken out about the latest wave of WWE roster cuts.
Nov. 4 was a dreaded day in the wrestling business. On that day, 18 WWE wrestlers were released by the promotion. Among the names were Keith Lee, Nia Jax, Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Ember Moon, and Franky Monet.
Bryan Danielson On WWE Releases
During a chat with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Bryan Danielson said that while he can understand things from WWE’s point of view, he feels the company shares some blame here.
“You offered them a contract to be with you for three years or whatever. If you overpaid them, that’s your bad and you’re still a very profitable company. That’s kind of my take on it. I wish they wouldn’t, you know what I mean? But I also understand it’s business in America [and] profits tend to be the most important thing a lot of times. You can even talk to the people within the companies. Like I love Vince McMahon, I do. I’ve learned so much from him but companies are not people anymore. They’ve taken on this whole — legally, they are their own corporation. For whatever reason, even good people make decisions that benefit a company that actually hurt the people that have worked so hard for the company. That’s hard on me mentally but that’s also the system that has been rewarded financially here in the United States.”
Danielson is currently a member of the AEW roster. He admits that he’ll keep tabs on WWE since a lot of his friends are still with the company. Not to mention, Danielson’s father-in-law, John Laurinaitis, works for the company.
Danielson is preparing for the finals of the AEW World Heavyweight Title Eliminator tournament. He will be taking on Miro in the finals at Full Gear on Nov. 13.
H/T to Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co for the quotes.
Bryan Danielson has unveiled his contract length with AEW.
Danielson made his AEW debut back in September. He has already proven to live up to the hype, delivering some highly praised matches. Danielson has shared the ring with the likes of Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Nick Jackson, Eddie Kingston, Bobby Fish, and Dustin Rhodes.
How long is Bryan Danielson’s AEW contract?
Bryan Danielson was a guest on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. During the show, Danielson revealed to Ariel Helwani the length of his AEW deal.
“Three years.”
Danielson was then asked about whether or not he’s allowed to work for other promotions internationally.
“Obviously, I have to clear it all through AEW first. AEW has to be my priority but even going to Japan right now is hard with COVID and all that kind of stuff. I’m able to do that but to be fair, WWE was gonna let me do that as well. With the contract that they offered me and when I was talking to Vince about it cause that was one of my big things. I was like, ‘I wanna be able to go and wrestle these guys all over the world’ and that sort of thing, and they were gonna allow me to do that.”
Danielson has made it to the finals of the AEW World Heavyweight Title Eliminator tournament. He will be meeting Miro to determine the tournament winner at the Full Gear PPV on Nov. 13.
Bryan Danielson was recently on the Bellas podcast with his wife Brie Bella and sister-in-law Nikki Bella. Danielson’s decision to leave WWE was discussed on the show. Not only do the Bellas have a relationship with the company, but WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis is married to the mother of the Bella Twins as well.
“[Brie] was very good about not pressuring me either way,” Danielson said on the show. “Because it would be very easy to say, ‘hey, it would be a lot easier for my career if you stayed where you’re at.’”
Bryan Danielson Considered Not Signing With Any Company
Danielson continued to say that Brie was also very patient with him taking a long time to determine what he would do. During his decision-making process, Danielson also considered the idea of not signing with any company.
“It would be, like, not signed anywhere. Wrestle kind of if I wanted to, kind of when I wanted to,” Danielson said.
He continued to say that he really wanted to have this summer off so he could spend time with his daughter, Birdie.
“That was one of the things I wanted is the summer off before Birdie goes to preschool so I could be with her every day, because I’ve never gotten to be with her every day,” Danielson continued. “Because I love being a Dad.”
Although part of him just wanted to stay home and be a father, Danielson wanted to take advantage of the hot free agent market in wrestling right now.
“There’s never been a better time to be a free agent since I’ve been a wrestler,” he continued. “Since the late 90s when there was WCW and WWE kind of going to war. There’s never been a better time from a financial perspective to be a wrestler. I can only imagine Brie’s frustration when I was like ‘yeah, I’ll just turn down all the money and I’ll just be a Dad.’”
I want to make this clear I let @bryandanielson make this decision on his own!!! But dang… did he take a long time to decide ??
Following last night’s edition of AEW Dynamite, Bryan Danielson and Tony Khan addressed the live crowd. Danielson was already in the ring after confronting Miro, who he will now face at Full Gear in the finals of the AEW Title Eliminator tournament.
With Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends still in the ring as well, Tony Khan addressed the live crowd and said that this week’s episode was the 2nd hardest ever to put together behind the Brodie Lee tribute show. A loud chant for Jon Moxley then rang out throughout the building.
Khan then gave the microphone to Danielson, who spoke about Brodie Lee and having texted with him about how happy he was in AEW. He also wished Moxley to get better soon. Danielson thanked the fans and everyone in the ring before inviting Justin Roberts into the ring. They then mocked the tie-choking spot that once got Danielson fired from WWE.
The YouTube channel “CoolToy” posted video of what went down after the show went off the air:
Next up for AEW will be a live edition of Rampage in St. Louis on Friday night. Adam Cole will face John Silver, The Bunny will face Red Velvet, and CM Punk will come face to face with Eddie Kingston on the show.
Bryan Danielson is going with the quality over quantity approach.
Since making the move to AEW, Danielson has been a part of some stellar matches. He’s had barn burners with Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Nick Jackson, Bobby Fish, and Dustin Rhodes. For Danielson, the key is ensuring that he isn’t forced to water things down due to spreading himself thin.
During an interview with WEEI in Boston, Bryan Danielson said that AEW has been doing things right by featuring him in less matches.
“I’m a little more judicious, but, realistically, the big thing that has changed, and this was a choice when I re-signed my last WWE contract and when I came to AEW, and one of the benefits of AEW, is that I need to be doing less matches because I like to go hard. If you tell me, ‘Go a little bit lighter today,’ it’s easy to say but in practice it doesn’t work like that. I don’t care if there are 20,000 people like at Arthur Ashe Stadium or if there are 85 people, and I’ve wrestled in front of less than a 100 people many times, the people still pay their money to see the show and you want to give them a great show. It’s hard for people like me to pull back. Really, it’s about doing a less number of matches per year and focusing on the quality of those matches and making sure I give the live crowd something they are happy they paid their money to see.”
Danielson is currently participating in an AEW World Heavyweight Championship tournament. He has advanced to the second round thanks to his victory over Dustin Rhodes. He will be meeting Eddie Kingston next.
Daniel Garcia admits that he admires Bryan Danielson.
Danielson made his AEW debut at the All Out PPV back in September. Since that time, Danielson has competed in some highly-praised matches with the likes of Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Nick Jackson, Bobby Fish, and Dustin Rhodes.
“He’s maybe my favorite wrestler of all time. At least top three. He’s somebody who I’ve studied for years, even before I knew that I was studying wrestling, just by watching him. I would pick up little nuances that he does. I feel like our wrestling styles aren’t as similar as some people like to say they are, but I feel like our, the little things that we do, are a lot more similar than a lot of people would like to notice.”
A feud between Garcia and Danielson certainly isn’t far-fetched. Garcia had been going after AEW’s top stars before he even signed a contract. Daniel Garcia has already mixed it up with CM Punk, Jon Moxley, and Darby Allin.
Garcia has created his own faction with 2point0. The trio has been known to attack their rivals from behind. Garcia has yet to pick up a signature win but now that he’s got himself an AEW contract, that might change soon. Of course, Garcia is only 23 years old so there isn’t a rush.
Bryan Danielson thinks highly of his match with Kenny Omega.
On the AEW Grand Slam edition of Dynamite, Danielson and Omega shared the ring in a non-title match. The highly-anticipated showdown took place inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The match went to a 30-minute time limit draw and has been widely praised.
Bryan Danielson Gives Match With Kenny Omega A High Mark
Danielson spoke to Jim Varsallone after the match and rated his epic clash with Omega.
“I wasn’t worried if we knocked it out of the park or hit a grand slam, I worry about, ‘Did I enjoy what I just did?’ And as far as my enjoyment, that’s a 10/10 as far as you look at, ‘Okay, well which matches did you enjoy the most?’ If you rank everything on a scale of 1 to 10, that was a 10/10 enjoyment for me in the sense that there are only a handful of matches that are even comparable.”
The American Dragon Is Back
Bryan Danielson has certainly been working a more aggressive style in AEW than he had been in WWE. Danielson has said that he felt Vince McMahon was overprotective of him at times. When speaking to Sports Illustrated, Danielson recalled McMahon being upset at him after taking an errant German suplex from Drew Gulak during a PPV.
Danielson’s in-ring style now reminds old-school fans of how Bryan used to wrestle in his days with ROH and on the indie scene. Many agree that “The American Dragon” is in his true form now. That notion was solidified when Danielson collided with Minoru Suzuki on the Buy-In show for the Oct. 15 episode of Rampage.
Danielson has secured a spot in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament. The brackets have been revealed and Danielson’s opening round match will be against Dustin Rhodes.
Bryan Danielson has confirmed that WWE had talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling earlier this year.
Back in May, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter broke the news that WWE and NJPW were negotiating for a working relationship. It later came out that Bryan Danielson’s desire to wrestle for NJPW while under WWE contract was the genesis for the unexpected outreach.
During a recent appearance on the Kliq podcast, Danielson explained what he knows about how it all unfolded.
“I don’t know how far along the talks went and I don’t know even if I was the start of them, for sure, but one of the things when I was talking to them when WWE was trying to re-sign me was, I said, ‘I want to be able to work in Japan.’”
Bryan continued, “They were trying to come up with an agreement to where I would be able to go and do that. It was definitely something that was talked about. I don’t know where it went or anything, all I know is now it seems like AEW has a really great relationship with New Japan. So, I feel like it couldn’t have gone that well.”
WWE x NJPW
The initial report in May stated that Nick Khan was in talks with New Japan. WWE was looking for an exclusive talent-sharing deal.
“In what could end up being among the biggest wrestling stories of the year, or a non-story, depending on the end result, Nick Khan has been in talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling about WWE being the exclusive American partner with the promotion,” Dave Meltzer wrote.
More information about that report is available in the link below:
Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki will clash this Friday night on the Rampage Buy-In show. AEW announced yesterday that from 9PM until the start of Rampage at 10PM, AEW’s YouTube channel will run live from the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Both Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki have released statements about the upcoming match.
“In 2004, I wrestled Minoru Suzuki 1 on 1. He beat the sh*t out of me. Showed me what violence and sadism inside a wrestling ring looks like. Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about violence myself. And sadism. Excited to show Mr. Suzuki what I’ve learned,” Danielson Tweeted.
In 2004, I wrestled Minoru Suzuki 1 on 1. He beat the sh*t out of me. Showed me what violence and sadism inside a wrestling ring looks like. Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about violence myself. And sadism. Excited to show Mr. Suzuki what I’ve learned #DANIELSONvsSUZUKIhttps://t.co/HOCbVJ8W3S
“When I was drinking coffee in the city, I got a call and decided in a hurry. The wind of Minoru Suzuki will blow to Miami,” a translation of his Tweet reads.
Suzuki and “The American Dragon” met on July 20th, 2004 at NJPW Summer Struggle. Suzuki defeated Danielson in 13 minutes and 38 seconds. They had been on opposing sides of several tag matches leading up to the event. After their singles match, however, Suzuki and Danielson teamed together 4 times from July to October. They went 2-2 when teaming together. Their last match was a loss to Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shinsuke Nakamura on October 20th, 2004.
AEW will be airing a “Buy In” show on its official YouTube channel beginning at 9PM est before Rampage this Friday night. The show will go head-to-head with Smackdown which will be airing from 8PM est to 10:30PM est this week. AEW is notifying various media outlets about this today.
“We’re going to do what we normally do what we do for a PPV, you know how we do the preshow the Buy In? Rampage is a huge event on Friday night so we’re going to have a Buy-In live on YouTube Friday night live from the Knight Center,” Khan said on WFAN Sports Radio today.
Khan then announced that Bryan Danielson and Bobby Fish will both wrestle on the YouTube show. Daniel Bryan will face Minoru Suzuki and Fish will take on Lee Moriarty. Fish and Danielson will wrestle each other the following night on Saturday Night Dynamite.
If I’m not sweating it, you shouldn’t be either. This is what sports are about, set a goal & try your best. We’ve got a great #AEWRampage card Friday + big Dynamite matches Saturday. I expect to do well, but regardless of next Friday’s stats, it’ll be a great weekend for the fans
Matches announced for this Friday’s live Rampage from Miami include:
CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal
The Bunny vs. Ruby Soho
The Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & Junior dos Santos (w/Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal) vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara)
The following night, AEW will be back in Miami for a special Saturday night episode of Dynamite. Here are the matches scheduled for that show:
Malakai Black vs. Dante Martin
AAA World Tag Team Championships The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) (c) vs. TBD (w/Andrade El Idolo)
Bryan Danielson admits there was a time when he thought The Rock was going to steal his thunder.
WWE fans had enough of Danielson, who was known as Daniel Bryan, being treated as an afterthought. The night after losing the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania back in 2012, Bryan received a huge ovation and for the first time, fans chanted “YES!” in unison.
Fans even chanted “YES!” during one of The Rock’s promos. Speaking to The Miami Herald, Bryan Danielson admitted he was worried that The Rock would take it and run with it as if the catchphrase was his own.
“It was a pretty cool moment. It was interesting because I wasn’t on Raw that night, I was just on the dark match. There was a funny moment where The Rock was out there doing a promo and everybody starts chanting ‘Yes!’ for Daniel Bryan and I said, ‘Oh no,’ because the Rock is so quick-witted. I said, ‘He’s for sure going to turn this around and it’ll become his thing. I’m not gonna have it.’ He came back and said, ‘Hey man, you’re super over out there.’ ‘Oh, yeah, it was really nice.’ He could’ve easily turned it around into a Rock thing and he didn’t, that was very kind of him.”
The fans continued to force their hand and eventually, Danielson got his big moment at WrestleMania 30. He defeated Batista and Randy Orton to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
On February 8, 2016 Bryan Danielson, then known as Daniel Bryan, announced his retirement. The next day on ESPN, Bryan revealed that he’d had 10 documented concussions during his career. Bryan recently spoke with WDEL in Delaware about his time away from wrestling. He revealed that lying to WWE about his medical status played a role in him having to step away from the ring.
“One of the reasons I was forced to retire was not because of the concussions, but because I lied about that,” Danielson said. “You have to understand from WWE’s point of view, I had been wrestling for them for six years, but then all of a sudden they opened this Pandora’s box about lying about his medical history, and now we can’t trust him.”
Danielson would be cleared to return in March of 2018. This followed him visiting with several independent neurosurgeons, neurologists, and concussion experts.
“A lot of that was building the trust back, but they were also legitimately looking after my health. Going to see doctor after doctor, and doing everything that I could to improve brain function to show above and beyond that my brain was healthy.”
Everyone wants to live in a fairy tale, but don’t forget there are dragons in those stories. #AEWDynamite
Bryan’s first match back in 2018 was at WrestleMania 34. He teamed with Shane McMahon and defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. In November of 2018, he defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship for a 4th time. He’d hold the title for 145 days before losing it to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35.
Caught up with AEW's @bryandanielson, whose career has some Delaware roots, ahead of their return to Philadelphia's Liacouras Center on Wednesday night for AEW Dynamite. #NetDEhttps://t.co/f6PBvVMDS0
Will Ospreay is fed up with people like CM Punk, Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson and others dropping his name.
The self-proclaimed “real” IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is gearing up for a clash against Alex Zayne. That match will take place at NJPW Showdown, a 2-night event taking place October 16th & 17th from Philadelphia’s historic 2300 Arena.
Ospreay spoke to SEScoops correspondent Samira this week about his preparation for that event, why he can’t stand American wrestling fans, and much more.
When asked who he wants to wrestle in the months ahead, ‘Big Match Billy’ named Kazuchika Okada as the only person he cares about from Japan. “The guy’s been ducking me for a while now,” he said.
However, there are several other people on his radar. Ospreay tells SEScoops that he’d “love” to wrestle CM Punk, as well as some of the other AEW stars who have called him out in recent months.
Ospreay Ready to Embarrass AEW’s Top Stars
CM Punk named Will Ospreay as someone he’d like to work with during a March 2020 appearance on the Swing & Mrs. Podcast. Punk is now an active competitor for AEW, bringing this potential dream match one step closer to reality.
“I would still love that match with CM Punk,” he began. “He’s the one that called me out. He said, ‘I want to wrestle Will Ospreay.’ So with that, Bryan Danielson, he said ‘I want to wrestle Will Ospreay’ and I get it. Kenny Omega wants to wrestle Will Ospreay. Take a ticket and I’ll get to you when I get to you guys. They called me out. Sammy Guevara, he’s another one that called me out.”
He continued, “There’s a list that goes on and on and on. They all call me out and there’s a reason why. Because when Big Match Billy is in town, their stock goes up. Everyone that wrestles me – and you can’t deny it – every single person that wrestles me ups their game because they know they’re going to be in the ring with one of the best wrestlers in the world right now. So, I completely understand it.”
These Guys Don’t Want Me To Show Up
Ospreay continued railing against Punk, Danielson, and Omega.
“If you guys really want it that bad, you know what to do. You just gotta call my number and I’ll show up. I’ll show up. But 9 times out of 10, these guys don’t want me to show up. Because A, I’ll embarrass them. I’ll embarrass them.”
“Guys like Bryan Danielson made a living being one of the best wrestlers in the world. But if I showed up, he would not last in the ring with me. Kenny Omega was THE guy in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He left. I took over. Nobody could compete with me in 2019. If I got in the ring with him, I’d embarrass him.”
Best in the World
CM Punk
“CM Punk called me out when he wasn’t a wrestler. So in that case, he was keeping an eye on me the entire time, looking at me and thinking I’m a challenge – and damn right, I’m a challenge. I’m THE challenge. So, if those guys want it, I’m ready. But, you guys hit me up. I didn’t hit none of you guys up.”
Ospreay took offense to the notion that CM Punk could still be considered the best in the world. “Is he though? He says he’s the best wrestler in the world. When was he saying that, 2011? Was he the best in the world, or was he the best of the bad bunch? Maybe you were the best at that time. Are you the best now? No. You’re nowhere near Will Ospreay’s level. So step up, brother. I’m ready for you.”
Bryan Danielson believes AEW is all in on the wrestling aspect of the business.
Danielson made the jump from WWE to AEW at the All Out PPV on Sept. 5. Since that time, Danielson has had two matches and is gearing up for his third on the Oct. 6 episode of Dynamite. Danielson has gone to a 30-minute draw with AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and defeated Nick Jackson on Rampage.
Speaking to 6ABC, Bryan Danielson laid out the big difference between AEW and WWE.
“This is one of the things that drew me to AEW and why I kind of wanted to come to AEW is that AEW is like a wrestling-first company. It’s a wrestling company for wrestling fans. If you’re a wrestling fan, and sometimes WWE is more just based on general entertainment. They wanna reach as many casual viewers as possible. Where I think AEW is like, ‘hey if you love wrestling, here’s this. But also, even if you’re not a wrestling fan we’re putting on wrestling and the wrestling itself is gonna bring you in.
“I think that’s one of the really unique things about AEW. If you were to do a comparison of the two, like just watching the shows, you’ll see that there’s a lot more wrestling in the two hours of Dynamite than there is even in a three-hour Raw. And sometimes there’s more wrestling on an AEW Dynamite show than there is on Raw and SmackDown combined. So that’s one of the things that drew me to it because as a fan, when I was in high school everyone loved The Rock and Steve Austin. They were my least favorite people cause all they did was talk. So I like the wrestler wrestlers, ya know?”
AEW has been able to snag some big names as of late including Danielson, CM Punk, and Adam Cole. AEW head honcho Tony Khan has said that a big roster is a good problem to have and that he does all he can to ensure that everyone gets the spotlight.
One thing’s for sure, AEW has had no issue getting Danielson on TV.
If you use the quotes in this article for your website, please drop a h/t to SEScoops with a link back to this article.
AEW has announced a singles match for Bryan Danielson and a hair vs. hair bout among others for this Friday’s episode of Rampage. After their match on last week’s episode of Dynamite ended in a time limit draw, Danielson tried to get a rematch with the AEW champion Kenny Omega on this Wednesday’s episode of the show.
However, when Omega continued to deny a rematch to the former WWE star, Danielson offered to face any of the other members of the Elite on Rampage. The company later announced that Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks has accepted this challenge. He will be facing the former world champion in a singles match on Friday.
A triple threat match among Jade Cargill, Thunder Rosa, and Nyla Rose was also announced for Rampage during the night. Though this isn’t all. The promotion has previously confirmed that Orange Cassidy will be facing TH2’s Jack Evans in a hair vs. hair match at this Friday’s episode of the show.
AEW has announced a number of exciting matches for next week’s episode of Dynamite as well. The bouts announced for the show include a #1 contenders ladder match and more. You can check out the card for Dynamite here.
It looks like Bryan Danielson is in for a big match on the Oct. 1 edition of AEW Rampage.
Tension has been brewing between Danielson and The Elite. It’s been this way ever since “The American Dragon” made his AEW debut at the conclusion of the All Out PPV on Sept. 5. It led to a non-title match between Danielson and AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega.
Danielson vs. Omega took place on the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite. It was held inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The two went to a 30-minute draw. After the match, The Elite attacked Bryan Danielson before Christian Cage and Jurassic Express made the save.
There have been rumblings about a big match being set for the upcoming Rampage episode. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio got fans buzzing with the following tweet.
Evidently there is a big match being taped tomorrow unannounced for Rampage on Friday.
After butting heads with the WWE writers for over a decade, Bryan Danielson was pleasantly surprised with the creative approach in AEW. The former WWE star recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated. Among other things, he talked about the difference in the creative process of the two companies.
Detailing his reaction to his first encounter with the AEW creatives, Bryan admitted that he was a little blown away. According to him, no one told him what he was doing and they asked Danielson what he wanted to do instead:
“I was actually a little bit blown away, my first time I had to talk or anything was in Cincinnati, and I was like, so what are we doing? ‘I don’t know, what do you want to do?’ Wait, what?”
Bryan Danielson On AEW’s Approach Compared To WWE
Bryan Danielson continued his explanation mentioning how he was never handed a sheet of paper. He described that people in AEW have a collective approach where they sit down and figure out what the plan for him is:
“Last week in Newark, it was the same thing. I was never handed a sheet of paper. I was never told what we’re doing. We kind of sit down and decide what we’re doing, And I was just like, oh. And then there’s this overarching fear for me a little bit because some people don’t like working with the writers.”
The former world champion made his AEW debut during the All Out PPV from Chicago on September 5. He made his first Dynamite appearance on September 8 from Cincinnati, Ohio. Danielson also talked about the WWE creative process in detail and discussed being part of the creative himself during his finishing months. You can check out his comments at this link.
Bryan Danielson has shared his thoughts on the fanboy wars between AEW and WWE fans.
Danielson is one of the major names that signed with AEW. He had been with WWE since 2010 and even competed in the main event of WrestleMania earlier this year. Danielson says that while leaving WWE was a difficult decision to make, he made the jump because he felt AEW provided an exciting challenge.
Of course, fans on both sides constantly argue on social media over which product is better. Danielson addressed this during an interview with Sports Illustrated.
“After I got a little promo and I said, ‘I love where I worked before,’ that got a huge chorus of boos. But it’s true. I think that also speaks to it’s not just a wrestling culture thing. I think there’s also a tribalism in our country right now. The narrative of being on one side or the other, and I think most people are actually very rational and will enjoy both sides, but I think the harder edges, and those are the people who tend to speak out more.”
Danielson went on to say that social media brings out the worst in fanboys from both companies. Bryan Danielson has been all class since his WWE departure. He even penned a “Thank You” letter to WWE chairman Vince McMahon. He also admitted that he enjoyed working with WWE writers.
On the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite in New York City, Danielson made his in-ring debut for AEW. He went 30 minutes with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega in a draw. After the match, Danielson expressed gratitude to the fans and AEW.
