If Bryan Danielson ever hops back into a ring again, it sounds like he’d prefer it to happen on an independent show.
The former AEW World Champion was recently in Australia as part of a press tour for AEW’s two events in the country set for early 2026. During an interview with the Kairouz Bros, Danielson was asked what the future is for him as a wrestler.
Danielson, who hasn’t wrestled a full-length match since October 2024, when he dropped his title to Jon Moxley, seems more inclined to work at a smaller independent show instead of on an AEW card.
The reason for wanting a smaller stage, he explained, was the belief that he could not live up to the AEW in-ring standard anymore.
“From a wrestling perspective, it seems to be more fun to go and do an indie show in front of 200 people, or something like that,” Danielson explained. “And that doesn’t say anything about AEW, it’s just that the expectations for me would be so much less, in the sense of like, okay, I don’t feel like my body can do what I’d be expected to do in AEW. And that’s one of the great things about going to AEW shows, is 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.”
Danielson has made sporadic appearances on AEW programming since the end of his title reign. In June, he wrestled an eight-second dark match against Max Caster in front of his home state supporters in Washington. At All In: Texas, Danielson made a run-in during the event’s main event.
It was announced earlier this week that Danielson isn’t fully disappearing from the product anytime soon, as AEW’s Tony Khan unveiled that he has become a permanent part of Dynamite’s commentary squad.
Danielson hinted at this during the interview in Australia.
“I don’t know how much you’ll see of me in the ring,” he told the Kairouz Bros. “But, maybe doing some more commentary stuff.”
Danielson has previously avoided saying that he’s never going to wrestle again, but has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be as active as he once was: “It’s not no chance [I’ll return], but it’s risk versus reward at this point,” he said in April.
