Danielson is focused on the current generation.
Next up on the docket for Bryan Danielson is a one-on-one match with Will Ospreay at AEW Dynasty come April 21st.
It is coming up on three years since Danielson arrived to All Elite Wrestling and he’s stated in prior media appearances that he’s not seeking out a title run in the company. He reiterated that while sitting alongside Britt Baker and AEW President Tony Khan at an SXSW 2024 panel.
Danielson stated that he wants to elevate the current and future generation of wrestlers. When it comes to people saying he should be champion, he feels the crop of champions they’ve had are great, citing Hangman Adam Page and MJF. Danielson said it’s too easy to have the stars of the past as the top guy.
I don’t use the ‘r-word’. I already had to do that once and I don’t wanna do it again. I wanna leave it open to be able to wrestle when I’m 75 if I so choose. When I came to AEW, CM Punk had just debuted several weeks before and he had talked about wanting to help the younger talent, all that kind of stuff and I watched his interview and I was like, ‘That’s what I was gonna say.’ So then, when they asked me about it, ‘What’s your goals here in AEW?’ I was like, ‘Ah, I’m gonna come in here and kick everybody’s heads in. I don’t care about pushing younger guys to the top, all that kind of stuff. I’m just gonna stomp them in the face and show them that I’m the best.’ But that’s actually not the reality as somebody who’s 42 years old and who has two kids. One of the things that I loved about AEW and just the idea of it is just that it made the pro wrestling industry healthier and so when I look at that, how do I make this industry that I’ve loved since I was a child — how do I make it healthier? And the idea is to pass on the stardom that I’ve been given to try to pass that on to the younger wrestlers… I’ve had some people ask me or say things to me like, ‘Oh Bryan, you should be champion or you should’ve been champion’ or you should’ve this or you should’ve that and the reality is to me, no, the champions that we’ve had have been great. Hangman (Adam Page) was a great champion, MJF was a great champion and it elevated these younger people to where now these people are stars and you put Hangman on TV now and he draws a rating. You put MJF on TV, he draws a rating. It would be easy to just take stars of the past and make them your champion and make them your top guy. That’s the easy way. It’s much harder to take somebody like MJF who hadn’t been on national television and turn him into a star that draws ratings… That was my bigger goal is to transfer stardom from one generation to another.
After Danielson scored a win over Shane Taylor on the 3/9 Collision, he was confronted by Will Ospreay to make the AEW Dynasty match official.
Danielson’s latest title opportunity came at Revolution where he unsuccessfully challenging Eddie Kingston for the Continental Crown Championship.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit SXSW 2024 with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcription.
