Bryan Danielson: I Tried Not To, But I Could Sleepwalk Through My WWE Matches

Bryan Danielson wanted to be challenged in AEW.

Danielson officially left WWE for AEW when he made his first AEW appearance at All Out. Danielson's contract with WWE expired following his April 30 bout against Roman Reigns and despite being in the main event of WrestleMania 37, Danielson has said he felt an "odd detachment."

The Acclaimed vs. Bullet Club Gold In A Titles For Titles Match, Jericho vs. HOOK Set For AEW Dynasty

In AEW, he saw a challenge.

"There was something exciting about it and a little scary," Danielson told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Show about his decision to sign with AEW. "You get too comfortable at something for too long and there was just something exciting about it. There was also this idea in my mind where, I tried not to and for the most part I didn't, but in my WWE matches, I could go out there and kind of sleepwalk through them if I wanted to. I tried not to. In AEW, you can't because they do so much. I was watching one of their shows and I was like, 'I don't even know if I can wrestle here. These guys are doing so much. I think this might be dangerous for me.' I had mentioned it to Jon Moxley and I said that to him and he said, 'Dude, you're Bryan Danielson, you can do any of this. You don't have to do what these guys are doing, you can create your own thing.'"

Danielson has proven that he can hang with his peers in AEW, making it to the finals of the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament on Full Gear where he will take on Miro.

Elsewhere during the interview, Danielson discussed WWE releasing talent. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.

Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.