AEW superstar Bryan Danielson recently spoke with TV Insider to hype his world title match with Adam Page at Winter Is Coming, where the American Dragon spoke about a number of different topics, including his thoughts on how WWE reacted when AEW began, and what his goals are for 2022. Highlights from the interview are below.
Thinks WWE overreacted when AEW started:
I don’t ever focus on if something didn’t happen that already happened. But I think this is a natural reaction to what has gone on. What we do know is people who were paid regular contracts will not have them anymore. For WWE, I think there was an overreaction when AEW started. Even when Ring of Honor got real hot with Cody and the Young Bucks. WWE felt they needed to sign up all the talent. They realized, “our business is fine.” AEW is catching up. They’ve done incredible for a company that has been around for less than three years. WWE is still making a billion dollars, so they don’t need to hoard all these talents.
Thinks the independent circuit getting bigger can lead to a healthier industry:
The Young Bucks, I give a lot of credit to their YouTube show, which brought a lot of people to independent wrestling. There is the same chance again where independent wrestling can become bigger. If independent shows can draw bigger names and people, we just have a healthier industry. Although, the hard part is the lost guaranteed jobs. Corporate America baffles me oftentimes.
What goals he has in 2022:
If I can get a group together, I’m thinking of a younger talent or two, and that develops into stories within that. Look at Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho. By Sammy joining the Inner Circle, he’d become a bigger star. He then stepped up to the plate and hit home runs. That’s how you build young stars. A guy that comes to mind for me is Daniel Garcia. The one show my wife and I couldn’t stop watching was Game of Thrones. It just made you come back every week. Helping AEW, I want to help that need for viewers to come back every week. I think they’ve already created the best wrestling product in the United States than we’ve seen in years. Helping to get more fans watching and give the feeling like it’s must-see television every week. Those are my over-arching goals, not only for this year, but the three years I’m here.