In an interview with BBC Sounds Bryan Danielson says he ready to retire if he loses this Sunday at All In.
“I’m at peace with it. You know, my life is just different now. When I was forced to retire. I wasn’t ready. I was forced to retire in 2016 but at that point I’m 35-years-old and well, it didn’t feel right. I also didn’t have anything else to really put my focus and my attention towards. Now I do. Now I have a wonderful family that I’m really excited about spending time with and that sort of thing. It’s a very different place when it’s by choice rather than you’re forced,” he told Paul Franks.
Danielson explained that his family, who will be in attendance at Wembley Stadium for All In, are torn about whether they want him to continue wrestling or not.
“It’ll be the first time my son’s ever seen me wrestle live. My daughter got to see me wrestle live at WrestleMania 35 but she was two-years-old and she doesn’t remember. It’s really exciting! It’s exciting for our family! My wife will be there! My kids will be there! My son he hopes I win but he also wants to see me get beat up a little bit. (laughs) My daughter doesn’t want to see me get beat up but she hopes I lose so that I can come home and then just be a just be a dad,” said Danielson.
According to Danielson things changed for his daughter when she saw what toll the industry can take and have on her father.
“I think the big shift in my daughter came last year when I broke my arm. I wasn’t able to do All In last year because I had broken my arm two months before in a wrestling match against Kazuchika Okada. That whole process was the first time she’d really seen daddy hurt. She did not like that. Then shortly after that, I came back. I was back for like six weeks and I had two fractures in my orbital bone and all this kind of stuff. She’s like not only is daddy away from home he’s having these really weird, horrific injuries and all that kind of stuff. It’s been difficult for her as a child to see that kind of happen to her dad,” he said.
Bryan Danielson will face Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship in a Career versus Championship match at All In on Sunday.
You can listen to the entire BBC Sound interview here.