Travelling for AEW has made Bryan Danielson realise he was deluded to think he could wrestle again.
Ahead of his last match at WrestleDream in 2024, Bryan Danielson made sure to let fans know he wasn’t finishing up for good, but rather retiring as a “full-time” wrestler. However, since that bout, there has been little indication that The American Dragon will ever get in the ring again.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Danielson addressed his current status. While he will never consider himself fully retired, he admitted that he will never be the same wrestler he was.
“I hate the [retired] word because I was forced to retire before [in 2016]. So I never consider myself fully retired. Like — this is how I think and this is how a lot of wrestlers think, ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon or whatever it is.’ But yeah, you know, effectively for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, yeah, that guy doesn’t exist anymore.”
In August 2025, Danielson made the surprise transition to commentary for AEW Dynamite. The role has become full-time for the former World Heavyweight Champion, meaning he has to travel to the show every week. The pain the travel causes has made him realise that his hopes of getting back in the ring were “delusions.”
“I’d like to never get neck surgery. I was actually doing really well until I started traveling more, and then it’s really gone downhill. I had these weird, they’re not even weird, I wouldn’t even say it’s weird. I had these delusions about like, ‘Okay, maybe I could get back and do a little bit of wrestling or whatever it is.’ Now I see that they were delusions. This traveling is like, ‘Okay, yeah, that would not be a good idea.’”
Bryan Danielson Leaves Door Open For “Fun” Matches, But Not On TV
While he doesn’t think he will ever be the wrestler he was, Bryan Danielson has left the door open for “fun” matches, but he doesn’t think they would be the types of bout fans would want to see on TV.
“I would love to, not on TV, right? I think I could go have fun matches and have fun doing the fun matches. But then I don’t think that that’s the TV — that’s not the kind of wrestling fans would want to pay to see Bryan Danielson do.”
While Danielson is unlikely to make a serious return to the ring, in the same interview he revealed that his wife, Brie Bella is interested in making a comeback, but only if she is able to tag with her sister, Nikki.
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.
