Bryan Danielson Is in Familiar Territory And Ready to Lead AEW As Champion

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Bryan Danielson: “I want to be world champion, because being in championship matches is unlike anything else.”

History is repeating itself.

More than eight years after replacing CM Punk at WrestleMania 30—and then proceeding to carry the event and bestow new energy upon WWE—Bryan Danielson is poised to do it all over again in AEW.

Danielson wrestles Chris Jericho Wednesday night on Dynamite. Their match is part of the semifinals of the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions, which will culminate next week with the crowning of a new AEW champion at the “Grand Slam” edition of Dynamite. The world title is vacant after a flurry of activity that included interim champion Jon Moxley defeating Punk on Dynamite last month, then dropping the belt back to Punk in the main event of All Out. Then came Punk’s provocative post-match press conference, followed by a suspension for involvement in a locker room altercation, all of which necessitated a new champion.

AEW CEO Tony Khan, who is also GM and Head of Creative, put together the title tournament. The semifinals also include Moxley against Sammy Guevara on the other side of the bracket, with the winner facing Danielson or Jericho to decide a new champ.

Widely regarded as the greatest wrestler in the world, Danielson has never held the world title in AEW. Though this was not the plan as recently as 10 days ago, his pursuit of the belt has now moved to the forefront of the company. If he is champion, AEW can proudly—and accurately—proclaim that no one is better at the craft than their champion. And it will be a major moment for Danielson, a 23-year wrestling veteran who relishes the chance to perform his brand of magic in wrestling’s most pressure-packed and intense situations.

“For me, it’s not about being the top guy,” said Danielson. “I don’t care about that. And it’s not about leading the locker room. You can be a leader without the title. I like the feeling of big championship matches. Championship matches are my favorite kind of matches to wrestle. It’s a different feeling from anything else.”

Eight years ago, Danielson was anointed the face of WWE at WrestleMania 30. In an event that opened with Steve Austin, The Rock and Hulk Hogan all sharing the same ring, it was Danielson (then performing as Daniel Bryan) who sent the crowd home elated. He was initially slated to wrestle Sheamus, while Punk—a charismatic, immensely talented performer whose unhappiness with WWE had reached its breaking point—was to wrestle Triple H. Neither of those matches occurred or were even formally announced, as Punk did not wrestle beyond January’s Royal Rumble that year. Instead, Danielson’s undeniable popularity and passion catapulted him to a WrestleMania match against Triple H, then to the main event later that night against Randy Orton and Batista.

In AEW, Punk was slated to start a highly anticipated world title run after defeating Moxley for the belt at All Out. It was a fantastic match, and Punk has proven he can still be great in the ring. But Punk has now had two title wins without a single title defense. In addition to the suspension, he is also reportedly dealing with an injury. If he returns to AEW, then a program against Danielson would be a tremendous box office for the company. Yet that is on hold, as the unprofessional post-match press conference, followed by the backstage altercation, has altered the AEW landscape.

Danielson was asked for his opinion on what happened after All Out went off the air.

“Tony made a statement last week on Dynamite,” said Danielson. “I hate to say, ‘Oh, this is what happened’ when I wasn’t in the room.

“I tend to focus on what I can control and focus on the opportunities that present themselves whenever there is any type of disruption—whether it is something like this or even something, for example, like the pandemic. Wrestling in front of nobody was a real opportunity to hone my craft. It became what William Regal likes to call ‘close-up magic.’ We didn’t have the crowd or anything like that, and I learned so much about myself and what worked from a wrestling standpoint. It was no longer theater. It became cinema. There were things you could do there that you couldn’t do in front of a live crowd. It was a lot of fun mentally to try to figure that out.”

Danielson tends not to dwell on the past, rather embracing the present. He sees the world title tournament, and a second match against Jericho in the past two weeks, as a chance to bring wrestling to new heights.

“This is an opportunity to create more excitement,” said Danielson. “I’m pretty pumped about the title tournament. It just lends gravity to all these matches. I’m really excited.”

That excitement is justified, as Danielson and Jericho just combined to work a spectacular bout at All Out. It was built around a basic-yet-beautiful premise: who is the better pro wrestler? After wrestling a clean match, Jericho won through nefarious means, using a low blow for the victory. An added layer to the contest was that the two men—both of whom are legends of the industry—vied for the attention of emerging star Daniel Garcia, who both want to mentor to greatness.

“We’re vying for the soul of Daniel Garcia, so we were each wrestling to impress him,” said Danielson, who raised Garcia’s hand after he won the Ring of Honor Pure championship in the main event of last week’s Dynamite. “Isn’t that cool? It’s not just about us. One of the things I really enjoy about AEW is building up younger talent, and Garcia is a huge part of the story.”

“And I loved that it was just a wrestling match against Chris at All Out. We could have had a lot of bells and whistles, but we really stripped it down. I love stripping down wrestling to just wrestling. That’s also a lot of fun for me. It really felt special, especially considering we’ve been around each other for so long but never had a pay-per-view match.”

Another element to this bout is that Danielson is an integral part of the Blackpool Combat Club, while Jericho is the leader of the aptly named Jericho Appreciation Society. The two factions have a history of animosity, which adds to the story of tonight’s match—as well as their competing interests for Garcia.

This is also a chance to see two legitimately great wrestlers, both operating at an elite level, apply their craft in the ring. It is a setting each knows intimately, and while Danielson and Jericho are opposites in many ways, the two are kindred spirits in the ring.

“One of the things I love about pro wrestling is the different personalities,” said Danielson. “If Chris and I weren’t wrestlers, would we share anything in common? I don’t know, but I know we share a love for this. The reason Chris Jericho wrestles is because he loves it. That’s a shared passion. That’s my connection with Daniel Garcia, too. That love of wrestling brings us all together.

“And this match is going to be completely different. It’s two guys who want to be AEW champion, and will do anything to get it.”

Part of the allure of wrestling is the potential to witness moments of magnitude and enormity. Danielson also captures the spirit of anticipation in an extraordinary manner, yet does so while managing to avoid obsessing over whether he is the best. Instead, he is hyperfocused on meeting his objective in the ring.

“I don’t worry about being the best,” said Danielson. “I try to be the best wrestler I can be, and I try to fulfill the vision of what I would like wrestling to be. This is a joy. I gauge matches on whether I enjoyed them, whether I was in the moment or felt how much fun it was to wrestle in front of thousands of people. A day or two later, that’s when I watch the match and pick it apart and see where I need to improve—but also to be proud of what I did well.

“The idea of being the best, it’s so subjective. To me, that’s focusing on the wrong thing. Wrestling is a mirror to improve yourself. It allows you to get better at public speaking, for example. William Regal talks about a quarter-turn in a headlock. That little tweak makes the headlock infinitely better. I think I could work a 15-minute match exclusively using a hammerlock. That’s a mental challenge, the kind that makes me go deeper with every single thing I do. I love being a lifelong learner, and that makes me enjoy this even more.”

Danielson now shifts his focus and attention to the world title, which will bring out a whole different facet of his work.

“I want to be world champion because being in championship matches is unlike anything else,” said Danielson. “Those matches, they’ve got a different tension. I love the feeling of a big title match. Those are the feelings and emotions I’m chasing.”

The (online) week in wrestling

• MJF is back.

• The Vince McMahon-inspired NXT 2.0 era is about to become a distant memory.

• On the subject of NXT, it no longer competes as a viable alternative to AEW (and it doesn’t even air on the same night). But the 2.0 era did give a platform for Carmelo Hayes to shine. Hayes is on the cusp of becoming one of the most exciting, compelling, enthralling wrestlers in the world. He dropped the North American belt last night to Solo Sikoa, opening up the possibility that he can pursue the NXT title.

• There are new women’s tag team champions in WWE, as Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky won the belts on Raw this Monday. Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez won the tournament but only had a two-week reign with the belts, and though that was short, putting the belts on Kai and Sky is the right call. 

• Whoever created this put together an incredibly creative piece of work. 

• Death Triangle won the vacant trios titles last week on Dynamite. Penta and Fenix are both wildly talented performers, and PAC may be the most underrated star in the industry—I’m really excited to see what they can do with the new titles.

• Let’s add Seth Rollins among those who enjoys The Acclaimed. Will we see their title victory next week at the “Grand Slam” edition of Dynamite? 

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Justin Barrasso can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.