“The American Dragon” has arrived in “The Land of the Rising Sun.”
AEW star and Blackpool Combat Club member Bryan Danielson arrived in Japan for his Wrestle Kingdom 18 showdown against “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada.
During a press conference for the big rematch between the two from their previous encounter at AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2, Danielson, who is back for a match in NJPW for the first time since 2004, spoke about the significance of being a star in NJPW.
“I just want to say how grateful I am to be here in Japan, especially New Japan,” Danielson said at the pre-show press conference. “It’s been almost 20 years since my last tour of New Japan.”
Danielson continued, “To be here now, at the Tokyo Dome…when I started professional wrestling, what I really wanted more so than main eventing WrestleMania in WWE, which I did twice, more so than anything, I wanted to be a star in New Japan Pro Wrestling. 20 years after my last tour, I get to wrestle Okada in the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom.”
Check out video of Bryan Danielson at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 pre-show press conference in Japan via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.