“I signed Daniel Bryan his first contract,” says AEW legend
Bryan Danielson started his wrestling career in 1999 and apparently, an AEW legend signed him his first contract. The veteran in question here is Jim Ross.
Bryan is an ex-WWE star and worked under the ring name Daniel Bryan in the Stamford-based company. He was associated with the company for more than a decade. He left the promotion after his contract ended in 2021. The same year, The American Dragon joined Tony Khan's All Elite Wrestling.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross revealed that he signed The American Dragon his first wrestling contract. He added that Bryan along with others was sent to train under Shawn Michaels in the latter's school, the Texas Wrestling Academy (TWA) in San Antonio, Texas.
"I signed Daniel Bryan his first contract. He and a handful of others, we sent to Shawn Michaels School in San Antonio. That's where he got his first training. But I signed him for not much money. He didn't have any money and he wasn't making any money. So I signed him and we got him to a place where he could afford to live in San Antonio... So I signed him 25 years ago and that's a lot of miles and a lot of bumps and we all know how hard he works," JR said. [From 10:58 to 11:47]
Check out the video below:
Bryan Danielson addressed his AEW future
Bryan Danielson beat Swerve Strickland and became the AEW World Champion at All In. But he had already announced that he would retire as a full-time wrestler this year. This made the fans worry that he might relinquish his newly won belt and hang up his pro wrestling boots on Dynamite last night.
On this week's edition of Dynamite, however, the former WWE star announced that he is ready to retire but just not yet. His contract with AEW has ended but he will continue his reign as the champion and retire only after he loses the belt.
While using any quotes from this article, please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.