5-time WWE Champion says AEW World title match feels like the "biggest" of his career
AEW All In is almost here, and the company is pulling out the stops to promote its heavyweight matchups at Wembley Stadium. Ahead of what might be the last match of his career, former five-time WWE Champion, Bryan Danielson is reflecting on what his challenge for the AEW World title means to him.
Bryan Danielson has enjoyed a highly successful career and has already been inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame, with WWE and AEW inductions likely to come in the future. The American Dragon has claimed that this would be his last year as a full-time talent in the ring, but he recently upped the stakes by putting his career on the line at All In 2024.
Danielson will face Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship at Wembley Stadium on August 25. Speaking to The Sun Sport, he stated that the main event match felt like the biggest of his career.
"This feels to me like the biggest match of my career. I put my career on the line. If I lose, I’m gonna retire. I’m at that stage of my career, if I can’t win the AEW World Championship, then I should probably be kind of done. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. For us, for people of my generation, Wembley is a culturally iconic moment within wrestling," he said.
Danielson then brought up Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog bout at SummerSlam 1992 before discussing how special a venue Wembley Stadium was.
"Just the experience. So many of the historic wrestling buildings I’ve gotten to wrestle in. This year, I actually wrestled in Arena Mexico for the first time, which was awesome. But Wembley Stadium, I’ve never…I spent a bunch of time in the UK. I love wrestling here in the UK, but Wembley Stadium is just this extra special thing," he added. [H/T: WrestleZone]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
Bryan Danielson could stay on with AEW after wrapping up his in-ring career
After more than two decades in the ring, Bryan Danielson is getting ready to hang up his boots. If he loses against Swerve Strickland at All In, he will likely be done for good.
The American Dragon recently revealed that his contract expired on August 1, and he hadn't signed an extension. When Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp asked if other companies had reached out to him regarding his contract status, he noted that he had more than 4,000 unread text messages, although he didn't know how many of them were from other promotions.
Danielson told Fightful that would likely need neck surgery after wrapping up his in-ring tenure, but he wanted to help AEW when he could. Whether the 43-year-old will stay on with a backstage role remains to be seen.