Bryan Danielson Says His Body May No Longer Meet AEW’s In-Ring Expectations

Bryan Danielson isn’t sure if his body can perform at a level that meets the expectations of an AEW show. However, he believes it would be fun to wrestle at a random independent event now and then since the expectations are lower.

Bryan Danielson’s full-time career as a professional wrestler came to an end when he lost the AEW World Title to Jon Moxley at AEW WrestleDream 2024. Originally, Danielson floated the idea of being a part-time performer in AEW, coming out of retirement for sporadic matches on occasion. However, nearly a year after his last match, Danielson is now saying that he isn’t confident his body can perform at an AEW level.

Speaking to the Kairouz Bros, Danielson said it was more likely that AEW fans would see him continue doing commentary, which he is now confirmed to do full-time on AEW Dynamite, than have a match in that setting. However, he does say that from the wrestling perspective, he’s open to occasionally wrestling on a small independent show.

“Actually, from a wrestling perspective, it seems to be more fun to go do an indie show in front of 200 people or something like that. That doesn’t say anything about AEW. It’s just that the expectations for me would be so much less, in the sense that I don’t feel like my body can do what I would be expected to do in AEW, and that’s one of the great things about going to AEW shows, is that there’s so much. It’s action-packed, it’s hard-hitting, it’s great, but I don’t feel confident that I’m able to perform at that level anymore.”

While he’s not confident that he could have a full match in AEW, he’s more than willing to get in the ring and apply Hammerlocks for 45 minutes. He’s just not sure that that’s what people would want to see from him.

Bryan Danielson has also recently said that he believes he checked off everything on his wrestling bucket list. Read those comments here.

Check out the full interview with Danielson embedded below.

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