AEW originally planned for a 31-year-old star to dethrone Bryan Danielson and retire him - Reports
A recent report suggested that a top AEW star was expected to defeat Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship and retire him. However, plans had to be changed as per the report.
The star in question is none other than 31-year-old Darby Allin. Darby won the Royal Rampage match recently to earn an AEW World Title shot at the upcoming Dynamite: Grand Slam. Therefore, Darby was expected to challenge the World Champion, Bryan Danielson, at the Grand Slam two weeks from now.
However, Jon Moxley confronted Darby to ask for the world title shot from him, saying Danielson would not wrestle at the Grand Slam after being choked out with a plastic bag at All Out recently. Following Darby's refusal, Mox challenged him to put his title opportunity on the line at the Grand Slam, and Darby accepted.
Meanwhile, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio recently, Dave Meltzer noted that Darby at one point was expected to win the AEW World Title from Bryan Danielson at the Grand Slam and retire Danielson in the process. However, the plans changed, and now the winner between Darby and Mox will face Danielson at the WrestleDream pay-per-view.
Meltzer reported the following:
"The winner between Moxley and Darby is going to wrestle Danielson for the title in Tacoma [at WrestleDream]. Darby was at one point winning that match [against Danielson at Grand Slam], and he’s from the area essentially. Seattle. However, the money match right now is very clearly Moxley." [H/T: WOR]
Bryan Danielson is set for a non-title match at Grand Slam
After his title defense match against Darby Allin got called off, AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson was later challenged by his long-time rival and current commentator, Nigel McGuinness. The match between Nigel and Bryan has been made official by Tony Khan for the Grand Slam.
The match between Danielson and Nigel has been anticipated for a long time. It remains to be seen how they fare against each other in the ring after many years.
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