As noted, Bryan Danielson appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani this morning and confirmed that his AEW contract is good for three years.
Danielson also revealed that the contract allows him to wrestle in Japan with someone like NJPW, if AEW approves the booking. Danielson confirmed that WWE was also going to allow him to wrestle in Japan if he re-signed with them.
“Obviously, I have to clear it through AEW at first, they have to be my priority,” he said. “Even going to Japan right now is hard with COVID and that stuff. I’m able to do that. To be fair, WWE was going to let me do that as well. With the contract they offered me and when I was talking to them, it was one of my big things of, I want to be able to go and wrestle these guys all over the world and they were going to allow me to do that.”
Danielson had an interesting response when asked if he thinks this AEW deal will be the final pro wrestling contract that he signs.
“I don’t know, I think so,” he said. “When I think about it in my head, right now, I feel invincible. My body feels the best it’s ever felt since I was in my 20s. When I signed this deal, [Brie Bella] and I were thinking it would be my last contract. What I’m kind of hoping is that I’m having so much fun and feeling so good, that by the end of the three years that I’ve worked so and had so many intense matches that my body doesn’t feel great.
“Like, repairable, if I stopped wrestling for six months my I’ll feel as good as new, but I’ll feel like, ‘Okay, now I’m kind of done being a full time wrestler.’ The hard part would be thinking, ‘Man, I still feel good,’ and I want to be a full-time wrestler, but because of age or wanting to be there for my kids, stepping away from being a full-time wrestler then would be a lot more difficult.”
The three year deal puts Danielson under contract to AEW through the summer of 2024, when he will be 43 years old.
Danielson’s WWE contract expired in late April, and he debuted with AEW at the All Out pay-per-view on September 5. He then made his AEW in-ring debut on September 22 at the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT, wrestling AEW World Champion Kenny Omega to a time limit draw.
Danielson will face Rocky Romero in singles action on tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode. He will then wrestle Miro in the finals of the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament at Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view. The winner will earn a future title shot at the winner of the Full Gear main event between Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page.
Stay tuned for more.
(H/T to Fightful for the quotes)
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