AEW Superstar Bryan Danielson was recently a guest on WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM/660AM New Yorkās Moose & Maggie and discussed his decision to sign with AEW, the āthank youā message he wrote to WWE.
Check out the highlights below.
"There are a lot of very complicated decisions that arenāt great sound bites, but AEW seems like a lot of fun, and there are a lot of matches like the one I have tomorrow that I looked at and wanted to have."
"I just felt like I needed to say thank you to WWE publicly, because not only the people within WWE, but the WWE fan base, some of them may have felt a little betrayed,ā he said. āThere is a level of tribalism in wrestling, and I wanted to transcend that, because I had many incredible moments, and I wasnāt able to say goodbye to a lot of people that I love behind the scenes, good people you form great relationships with from spending so much time with them ā like the catering people who specifically made vegan meals for me for years and years! The hard thing was my loyalty to Vince McMahon; I love him and heās done so much for me and my family, and that was the hard thing."
"A lot of people think in terms of two options ā but I couldāve done an independent schedule, or not come back to wrestling at all for a bit. But, I wanted to take the summer off because my daughter started preschool. Her whole life, Iāve left almost every week, but me being home every night, she loved it and I loved it. Now, when I FaceTime her, sheās like, āDaddy, I miss your cuddles, mama doesnāt cuddle me like you do!ā and that kind of stuff. That was part of the idea of maybe stepping away until my son starts preschool, but then you wonder if Iām missing years of my productive career, and I might not be the same at 45 as I am at 40."
"Kenny and I have wrestled before, a long time ago, and he wasnāt were heās at now. I watch all sorts of wrestling, and Iāve watched what he did in Japan and it was awesome. He was doing some of the best wrestling in the world, and when I came to AEW I said āthis is the match I want.ā Doing it at Arthur Ashe Stadium feels like it could be a huge momentum shift for AEW."
"I think weāll work really well together, but even if I didnāt come to AEW, Punk wouldāve been successful there, and hereās how I know: I first met him an at independent show in New Jersey years ago, and he fractured his skull that night, but his passion for wrestling was easy to see. Iād see him in WWE and it just wasnāt the same guy. Now I see him in AEW and heās so happy, and you see an energy about him that bleeds through again."
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On his thoughts on competition:Ā āIām sure thereās competition, especially at a higher business level, and eventually, it will go the other way where someone who feels underutilized in AEW will go to WWE and show what they can do, but of course, if I see someone do something incredible in WWE, Iām going to want to do something better!ā
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