Bryan Danielson is ready to make his dream a reality at this Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 pay-per-view.
At the event the American Dragon will wrestle top NJPW superstar Kazuchika Okada, a man he’s wanted to face for years but was never able due being in WWE and his early retirement from the sport in 2016. Danielson spoke with Sports Illustrated about his showdown with the Rainmaker and how AEW made it a possibility.
I wanted this match for so long without ever thinking it was a possibility. I started watching him while I was in WWE, but there was no place to go work where that match would ever be possible. Then AEW started. That’s why this is so special to me. I wanted it for so long, and it’s now actually going to happen.
Danielson then recalls when Okada became the IWGP World Champion and started having these world renowned classics against the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega. He says that he knew then that Okada was one of the best in the world and now he gets to find out in person on Sunday.
When Okada first won the IWGP championship, he started having all these incredible matches with Tanahashi. He started building this incredible legacy. The Tanahashi matches, the Kenny [Omega] matches, those stand out to me—their 60-minute one was just unbelievable. The matches with Shingo [Takagi], the matches with [Will] Ospreay, the matches with Zack Sabre Jr. When I watch Okada, I’m watching one of the best of all time. Now I get to experience actually being in the ring with him. What’s that like? That’s what I get to find out.
Okada was also featured in the interview and spoke about how he plans on relishing every moment with Danielson. Danielson agreed, adding that they get to wrestle the matchup in front of a hot Toronto crowd.
I feel the exact same way as Okada, but turning it back to myself. I tell myself to enjoy it when it’s happening. It’s better when people love the match, and of course that is important, but when I do things now, I do it because I enjoy it. I’m telling myself to enjoy this moment, one I thought would never happen. Now I can do it in front of a passionate wrestling crowd in Toronto.
The updated card for Forbidden Door 2 can be found here.
