Bryan Danielson looks ahead to his AEW World Championship match.
On August 25, Bryan Danielson will challenge Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship at AEW All In, which emanates from Wembley Stadium in London, England. During a recent interview with Gorilla Position, Danielson further analyzed the opportunity that lay before him, describing it as bucket list item of his.
“Yes, [it’s a bucket list item]. I’m part of a generation of wrestlers, and some of the younger guys might not think of it like this, but we idolized that ’92 [WWE] SummerSlam. At that point, you have to think I’m 11 years old. You see British Bulldog and Bret Hart in the main event and it’s this all-time classic. That’s just etched in your brain,” Danielson said. “I watched that match as a teenager probably 30, 40 times, so it’s kind of iconic even in the United States as far as Wembley Stadium. That moment is iconic.”
Retiring For Good?
Should Danielson defeat Strickland at Wembley Stadium, he will claim his overall first championship in five years, and also his first title under the banner of AEW. Should Danielson lose, however, he plans to permanently hang up his wrestling boots.
“I’m really walking back this idea of wrestling forever. I just don’t think I can do it,” Danielson said. “Our doctors have said ‘Okay we clear you to wrestle like this kind of wrestling,’ and I can’t stop myself from doing this kind of wrestling. So I always thought like I’d be able to go out there and just do a sunset flip, pull my pants down, then people are pointing like ‘Your butt’s out! Your butt’s out!’ and I’m like ‘No!’ and you’re walking around with your butt out for five minutes or whatever it is. I thought I’d be very comfortable doing stuff like that.”
“It turns out, that’s not what I want, the stuff that I think I want to do. Now, I found so many other things now that fulfill me. There’s the family aspect of it, but there’s also even within the realm of wrestling helping younger talent, helping with creative, some of those kinds of things. I’ve really enjoyed that. I guess I don’t really crave and I never really craved being in the spotlight. I think the idea of exiting out of that sounds really, really nice.”
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