Star last seen competing in AEW ring nearly 490 days ago makes shocking debut
Despite being one of the most popular figures on the roster, an AEW star has not been in action in the company for almost 490 days. The talent in question, Danhausen, has been competing in the independent circuit and recently made a massive debut, as per his announcement on social media.
Danhausen signed on with All Elite Wrestling shortly after debuting at Dynamite: Beach Break in early 2022. Despite his popularity among viewers - which the grappler earned through his unique gimmick and wrestling style - the face-painted star's singles career did not quite take off in the Tony Khan-led promotion. He shared a brief albeit entertaining alliance with HOOK and eventually became a part of Best Friends, tagging with Orange Cassidy.
Danhausen last wrestled on All Elite television towards the end of 2023, teaming with OC, HOOK, and Trent Beretta to defeat 2point0, Alex Reynolds, and Evil Uno of The Dark Order in a multi-person bout on AEW Rampage. The "Very Nice, very Evil" star worked on the indies throughout 2024, and late last month, he competed in multiple shows organized by World Series Wrestling in Australia, in what he has claimed on X/Twitter was his debut in the Land Down Under.
"Thank you Australian Fanhausens, thank you @WSWWrestlingAUS for the first time ever Australian debut. 4 of the best shows Danhausen has ever been a part of," wrote Danhausen.
Check out the tweet below:
Danhausen's last All Elite Wrestling appearance proper took place during the Zero-Hour pre-show of Worlds End 2023, in a Battle Royal for a shot at the TNT Title. However, he also showed up unexpectedly at ROH: Final Battle 2024 to thwart the schemes of the MxM Collection.
Danhausen on keeping up his ring shape during AEW absence
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet earlier this year, Danhausen discussed not being featured on AEW programming throughout 2024.
The 34-year-old also elaborated on his preference for being booked to wrestle once every week to maintain his in-ring conditioning, stating:
"Because I don’t know if non-wrestlers might not know this wrestling hurts, but it also hurts less if you do it more. So your body gets callous to it I guess. So if you’re wrestling once every couple months, or once every other month, or whatever it is, it sucks every single time... So I’d prefer to wrestle at least once a week, whether it be a dark match or whatever, just let me go out there for the crowd, do something. So that way, if you need before TV, I’m fine, I’m ready to go. Then it’s not like, oh sh*t I haven’t wrestled in three months, all of a sudden, I have to wrestle. I’m not in ring shape anymore," said Danhausen.
It remains to be seen when Danhausen's AEW hiatus will end.