"Oh my gosh, am I going to have to do that?" - Bryan Danielson opens up on first impressions of AEW
Top AEW star Bryan Danielson has opened up about his first impressions of the company. The former WWE Champion questioned himself as to whether or not he could hang with the intensity and danger of All Elite Wrestling.
The American Dragon made his debut at the All Out pay-per-view in an unforgettable moment. The wrestling community was instantly salivating at the thought of the dream matches Danielson could have in AEW.
Speaking with Renee Paquette on the latest episode of "Throwing Down w/ Renee & Miesha," Danielson was asked if he had a moment where he knew he wanted to join AEW.
Here's what Bryan had to say about his thought process heading into AEW last September:
“There wasn’t one specific moment, there was the fact that I had to make a choice eventually," said Danielson. "To be fair, both options would have been really fun and so but I was looking like we only get this one life, and so I wanted to go explore. I think when I was watching AEW; it really kind of scared me, in the sense of could I hang with some of the stuff these guys are doing? I know I’m good enough as a wrestler, but in the sense of fast-paced, the action, there’s more and more daredevil moves.” [5:21-6:14]
Bryan Danielson highlighted one particular move from a match between Cody Rhodes and Penta El Zero Miedo that made him question whether he could compete with some of the wrestlers in AEW.
“I was watching one thing that really demoralised me, that made me think like ‘oh I’m not going to go to AEW,’ which was Cody [Rhodes] wrestled Penta," said Danielson. "And then all of a sudden Cody, he’s doing a top rope frankensteiner, where they are both standing on the top rope and I was like ‘am I going to have to do that?’ I was like ‘I don’t think I can I’m 40.’ There’s something so appealing about that, living your life on the boundaries of what you can do and what you know you can do.” [6:17-7:05]
Bryan Danielson has hung with the best AEW has to offer
It's safe to say that Bryan Danielson has established himself as one of the best wrestlers, not just in AEW, but in the entire world since he joined the promotion. He has had classic matches with the likes of Kenny Omega, Eddie Kingston and Minoru Suzuki. The renowned star even challenged for the AEW World Championship against Hangman Page on two separate occasions.
Time will tell how the rest of Danielson's run in AEW goes, but there's no doubt that he'll win some gold at some point.
Do you think Bryan Danielson has done well in AEW? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit Throwing Down w/Renee and Miesha and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.