Former WWE Champion confirms he's ready for retirement - "I'd rather be at home"
Another former WWE Champion is preparing for the end of his in-ring career. The wrestling legend continues to make telling remarks on his status and future, which are picking up as AEW gets closer to one of its biggest events ever.
Bryan Danielson has made it clear that his in-ring career is winding down. The 25-year industry veteran returned to the WWE ring after being forced to retire due to a neck injury and then joined AEW in September 2021. He has worked in the ring and behind the scenes ever since. Despite worsening neck issues, the upcoming All In event will see Danielson put his career on the line against World Champion Swerve Strickland.
The American Dragon joined his wife Brie Garcia in co-hosting The Nikki & Brie Show this week. When discussing his match at All In, Danielson said he's ready for the potential retirement, and "kind of ready to be done." When the former Brie Bella of WWE asked why her husband is ready to be done, the 43-year-old reiterated the desire to spend time with family.
"I’d rather be at home. I don’t wanna miss out. There’s this small portion of our kids lives where they actually want us there, right? I see it with my friends and my sister and all of that kind of stuff. All of the sudden, Birdie, she’s seven now, she’s going to turn into a teenager and she’s gonna have other things. Now, she wants daddy there all the time and so it’s like, I wanna be there for that," Bryan Danielson said.
Danielson also touched on his health issues and revealed that he likely will need to undergo neck surgery before 2024 is over. The ROH Hall of Famer said it's becoming a lot easier to imagine life without wrestling.
"Also, my body is broken down. I’m probably going to have to have neck surgery before the end of the year. I’ve got all of those kind of things. This pro wrestling thing, it’s been incredible and it’s hard to imagine my life without it for the past 25 years but it’s a lot easier to imagine my life going forward without me wrestling. It’s hard for me to imagine me keeping doing this, especially with the last year," Bryan Danielson said. [H/T to Fightful]
Danielson recalled his various injuries, from WWE and AEW, including how he "hurt [his] neck really bad" in April, and said he felt invincible when he first joined AEW but now he's realizing that maybe he's not so invincible after all. The 12-time Slammy Award winner does not want people to feel bad for him because he has a blessed life, one that is fun and that he loves after 25 years, but he now has more important things.
Former WWE Champion Bryan Danielson set for AEW Dynamite
Bryan Danielson was on Friday's AEW Rampage for his latest commentary gig, done during Wheeler Yuta vs. Rocky Romero.
The American Dragon cheered his Blackpool Combat Club partner on as he defeated Romero, while AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland watched from backstage. This came days after the former NXT Superstar challenged Yuta to a non-title match on this week's Dynamite, adding that he wants Danielson at ringside so he can see just how dangerous he is.
Swerve interrupted Danielson and Yuta to issue the challenge after last Wednesday's Anything Goes main event of Dynamite, which saw Danielson defeat WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett. Strickland said he also wanted a warm-up match for the Career vs. Title bout at All In, so he called Yuta out.