Bryan Danielson Clears Up Comments On His Future
Having recently made some comments which would indicate his career is winding down, Bryan Danielson has clarified what the future holds.
‘The American Dragon’ Bryan Danielson suffered a serious arm injury during his match with ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door 2. Not only did this keep him out of in-ring competition for over two months, but also will have had an impact with his family life.
Danielson returned ahead of All Out where he went on to face ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks, however recent comments on Collision made it seem like he’s looking to take a step away from active competition, not wanting to be on a full-time schedule when his six-year-old daughter turns seven.
Comparisons To Terry Funk
In a discussion with Sports Illustrated, Bryan Danielson has cleared up his comments, saying that it’s unlikely he’ll step away entirely but the schedule he’d work would be on his own terms in a similar way to wrestling legend Terry Funk.
I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I declare I’m absolutely done. I want the ability to show up when I want to show up. Terry Funk is someone I always admired. He retired a million times, but he loved it so much he couldn’t help but keep doing it. And he did it when he wanted. For me, it might be a couple times a year, or it might be years between matches.
The discussion then turned to more specific dates, and whilst there wouldn’t be one in particular, there’s certainly a timeframe in place.
In my mind, it’s around August of next year. My daughter will say, ‘Daddy, are you going to be done wrestling when I turn seven?’ And I’ll respond, ‘Well, not exactly when you turn seven, but I’ll be on the home stretch.’
However, it would still seem Bryan Danielson has plenty he wants to achieve, including a very specific independent appearance.
I always thought I’d wrestle until the day I die. But it’s not going to be this regular, weekly wrestling. I don’t even know if it’s going to be wrestling at big shows. I’ve always wanted to wrestle for DEFY in Seattle. How easy would it be for me to call the promoter and pop in some weekend? They wouldn’t even need to promote me. I could come in, surprise people, and do my thing.
Danielson will now compete in what many consider to be a technical wrestling dream match, as he faces NJPW Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr at WrestleDream.