Teddy Long says former WWE champion is like The Undertaker of AEW (Exclusive)
WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long recently compared a former WWE champion who was now in AEW to a wrestling icon, as they could both be considered as the locker room leaders of their promotions. The AEW star in question was Bryan Danielson.
During the majority of his time with WWE, many superstars have brought up how The Deadman was the main man in the locker room. He was someone a lot of the talent looked up to and respected.
On the most recent episode of The Wrestling Time Machine hosted by Mac Davis, Teddy Long talked about Bryan Danielson being part of the discipline committee. He believed that he was appointed to that position because he was the locker room leader. For him, it was similar to the case of WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker, who during his time at WWE, had the same role within the locker room.
"Here's what you got to look at. Bryan Danielson, before he made that decision, he was appointed that position. So, it made it legal for him to make that call. But we know Bryan, nice as he is, I'm sure he would do it right. He was like Taker, Taker was the locker room captain. If you had problems, you would go to Undertaker, and Taker would smooth 'em out, or get everything straightened out. So that's kind of what that was, and sometimes, it's better for the talent to deal with the talent."
He reiterated how at times talent within the locker room will always be the first ones to understand one another, so it was best that there should be someone to lead the locker room and directly sort out situations within it.
"Because we understand each other better, than sometimes the writers do, or maybe sometimes better than Vince (McMahon) do. We're with each other each and every day. So talent needs to, you know, talk to the other talent. Like I said, Taker was our guy, we had problems, Taker would come talk to all of us and straighten things out. Bryan is just doing what he was asked to do, you know what I mean, and I think if he made a decision, it was a decision that he and the other guys on the locker room decided on." [3:22-4:22]
Tony Khan says former WWE Superstar Bryan Danielson is a key member of the booking team
AEW President Tony Khan recently talked about his booking team in AEW during the media call ahead of Worlds End.
He revealed that this included several major producers, but a surprising name on the list was Bryan Danielson.
Danielson has loads of experience, having competed for several major promotions including ROH, WWE, and now AEW.
"We have a great group of people, right now in my office, just as an example, yesterday, we had a great group with Bryan Danielson, Will Washington, Jimmy Jacobs, Sonjay Dutt, Sarah Stock, and Dean Malenko, and several others that were in my office throughout the day at various points. Bryan had his match and people were in and out. I think everybody had great points and there were number of other people. But I did come up with a lot of it and we've been on an incredible run of shows." [From 22:18 to 22:59]
At this point, it seems that The American Dragon has become indispensable in AEW, having major roles in and out of the ring. However, with his full-time wrestling career potentially coming to an end, this role could diminish.
How do you feel about Bryan Danielson's major roles in AEW? Let us know in the comments section below.