Dragons represent different things from culture to culture. No definition is absolute.
In the West, dragons are often viewed negatively, often associated with base level evil in some religious traditions. They’re something to be defeated and courageously overcome.
In Chinese culture dragons have a positive association, representing good luck, strength; and are usually associated with the Yang–embodying rain, water and synergy with nature. They have also been a tool to symbolize political power.
Eastern traditions lean more toward spirituality than in the West, viewing dragons as symbols of prosperity, good fortune and an overall positive force in a person’s individual development.
Some cultures believe it embodies evil, others prosperity and personal growth. They’re something to be feared, and equally so, revered. They are untamed chaos, and a guide toward inner peace. And in either case they come in many physical forms. The same is true in wrestling.
Just Who the “F” is the “American Dragon”?
I never saw much of Danielson before his arrival in WWE, so most of what I knew was either hearsay or from clips or matches I found online. Eventually, now knowing more about him and his style, you see flashes of what he was in his later WWE work even if it was never quite the same in the sports entertainment arena. For his longtime fans, AEW gave us one last glimpse of Danielson in his “final form.” Looking back now, I’d even say the last three years have served as a reminder of what he represents, and above all who the ____ he is.
What’s as important as the final moments leading to the end of Danielson’s career is the path he took and how we got to this point. Really, up to a point it’s pretty innocuous.
He built his career off classics, wars and technical displays in ROH and around the world before ever setting foot in a WWE ring. Even then, once he arrived it took some time to find his footing as a pro wrestler under Vince McMahon’s watch. He had some sparse title reigns, some shockingly short world title ones at that, and to punctuate it all some near-wins he was simply screwed out of.
Then the “Yes movement” happened. This was the culmination of all the support and goodwill he earned over time from both inside and outside the company. The people chose him as their own, and that has not let up for over 10 years. “Yes” became his and our rallying call right up until his retirement a few years back that at the time ended the career of one of the most important wrestlers of the 21st century. “Yes!” he was beloved, and “No,” no one was ready to say goodbye to him just yet.
There was a point where Danielson was just a fearsome wrestler most people loved, yet we hadn’t really, truly seen the person behind the character and moniker yet. We got our first real glimpse of that the day he retired in the middle of a WWE ring in 2016 after quite some time away from active competition.
The fans cheered without hesitation, thunderously chanted his name as the rafters rumbled with their voices, and he smiled in appreciation of it all because he loved wrestling, loved the fans, and appreciated that he meant so much to so many. And for as much as that crowd booed his announcement then, they and we all understood why he needed to step away. And as he did, he taught us all a lesson in selflessness as he put his health and family first:
“But if there’s one thing, I’ve been through all of these complex emotions in this little bit. I’ve been angry, I’ve been sad, I’ve been frustrated, I’ve been all of that. But today when I woke up this morning I felt nothing but gratitude. I have gotten to do what I love for nearly 16 years. I am grateful. I am grateful, because of wrestling I got to meet the most wonderful woman in the world who’s beautiful, she’s smart and she completes me in a way that I didn’t even think was possible. And that’s because of wrestling. I am grateful. Now tomorrow morning I start a new life, a life where I am no longer a wrestler.”
He left the ring that night to a chorus of “Yes” chants, and that was it.
Selflessness. Putting what’s important first. That’s part of what makes him tick, and is at least in part as we stand mere hours away from his encounter with Swerve Strickland why he’s stepping away again.
Selflessness. His love for his family, putting what matters first.
He taught us another lesson when he returned in 2018.
“A little over two years ago when I was forced to retire it was one of the hardest days of my life. But I focused on one thing: being grateful. And I kept on focusing on trying to be grateful. So there were times where I was depressed about not being able to do what I love to do, and I focused on being grateful. And there were times where I was angry and I was mad that I couldn’t do what I loved to do, and I focused on being grateful. And I have a lot to be grateful for. I have amazing family. I have amazing friends. I have the best fans in the world. And I also have an amazing, beautiful wife. And when I was depressed, and I was angry and I was trying to be grateful she saw that all I wanted to do was get back in the ring, she came to me and said ‘it’s wonderful that you’re grateful, but you need to fight. And you need to fight for your dreams.”
As he went on, discussing how he went to see and was cleared by specialist after specialist, he said one very poignant thing:
“When you fight for your dreams, your dreams fight for you. Because every hard thing seems impossible until it becomes real. And over the last two months I asked WWE to look at my case and they sent me to the best neurologists all over the country. And all of these neurologists, all of these specialists, every doctor I’ve seen has said the same thing and it is this…
You are cleared.
There was a time when getting cleared seemed impossible, but now it is real.”
There’s something to be taken away from him in both instances. On the one hand, appreciate what you have in your life, and two, when it comes to what matters most to you, you need to work hard and fight for it. It sounds so simple yet it’s the crux of the person away from the camera. That helps define his story.
Be grateful for everything you have, and fight hard for what you love.
Since that night we’ve see Danielson do exactly that in both WWE and AEW, from North America to the heart of Japan under the NJPW banner. More importantly, for better and worse, he wrestled every match from that day through his final run his way. While the result has been the same and the wear and tear of wrestling has caught up with him, I think there’s comfort in the road that led him and us here on the cusp of his career’s end. There’s merit in the result because of the journey to this point and in that there’s solace, happiness, peace and sadness all at the same time. But within that, we should be grateful he chose to fight. That Bree pushed him to fight, and that this time he can go out on his own terms with his head held high. Bryan Danielson should be proud of that, and we should be proud of him.
This all still leaves the question of who he is unanswered. Who is this grateful, fighting, gentle, loving vegan lifestyling-living man who loves kicking people’s heads in as much as he loves his family?
He’s someone who did what was right, both by himself and for others. He put family first, himself second, and wrestling front and centre when those were taken care of. He fought hard for what he believed in, and didn’t relent even when he probably wanted to. He blazed his own path and left the wrestling landscape scorched with his imprint and revolutionized wrestling as an artform as a smaller competitor. He reinvented himself. He lived his dreams and gave us moments we will never forget.
When you look back at the definitions different cultures have of dragons, when you really break them and him down side by side, he is the best parts of those mythologies.
In technical wrestling, he has been the final boss archetype for some time and has an award named after him to prove it. Even more than that, he is a source of strength and calmness and a symbol of what can be accomplished when we apply ourselves. He approached his career with ferocity and conviction, but also treated his opponents with respect and it was reciprocated. He was one with wrestling and it was one with him, almost like Donnie Yen’s Chirrut in Star Wars Rogue One.
(He is one with the Force, and the Force is one with him. I think that makes him a Wrestling Jedi? A Jedi Dragon who’s a wrestler?)
Otherworldly Jedi dragoness aside, Bryan Danielson has been 1 of 1 because of who he is, how he carried himself, how he applied himself, and more than that, for believing in himself enough to fight for everything. Even more so, this is true because he believes enough in life without wrestling to stop for his health and family once again. And more importantly than that, to do so without regret, without resentment, and without being told “no, you can’t.”
“Yes” has taken on a whole other meaning with Bryan Danielson in recent years. “Yes” to being grateful, and “yes” to fighting for your dreams. “Yes” to fighting for your wrestling legacy, but also “yes” to fighting for the legacy his children will walk as they live by his example. Within every moment of his career, his heart has been the centrepiece. It’s what drove him to fight for what was important to him, and today it very likely will be the reason he leaves with a smile on his face.
I think that’s more than worth being grateful for.
I think that’s what defines him as the “American Dragon.”
