Bryan Danielson clarifies his status in the world of pro-wrestling.
The American Dragon revealed one week ago on AEW Dynamite that he only plans on competing in AEW for another calendar year as he hopes to be in good enough health to be there for his family, specifically his daughter. This was the same night that he challenged Zack Sabre Jr. to a matchup at the October 1st Wrestle Dream pay-per-view.
Danielson spoke on these topics during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated. He mentions how much he idolized Terry Funk, who retired a number of times but continued to come back due to his love of wrestling. This is a path Danielson would be okay taking.
I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I declare I’m absolutely done. I want the ability to show up when I want to show up. Terry Funk is someone I always admired. He retired a million times, but he loved it so much he couldn’t help but keep doing it. And he did it when he wanted. For me, it might be a couple times a year, or it might be years between matches.
That being said, Danielson is aware of the injuries that he has suffered in 2023 alone, ones that forced him to miss big events like AEW All In. He says that he hopes to work those events next year, but sees the door closing when his daughter turns seven.
I didn’t get a chance to do All In this year. I would like that chance next year. We have a show, WrestleDream, this October 1 in Seattle where I’m wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. If we have another next year in Seattle? Maybe it will be then. My daughter turns seven in May, so it’s a good time to close down the shop.
Elsewhere in the interview, Danielson gave his thoughts on the AEW departure of CM Punk and how difficult it is for the promotion to lose such a valuable member of its roster. You can read about that here.