Bryan Danielson Opens Up On His Friendship With Tony Khan

Bryan Danielson has discussed the close friendship that he has with AEW’s Tony Khan.

It was about two years ago when Bryan Danielson decided to move on from WWE after being there for over 11 years and he signed with AEW.

Since joining AEW, Danielson has wrestled some of the biggest names in AEW like the World Champion MJF, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega among others. Earlier this month at AEW All Out, Danielson had an incredible Strap Match with Ricky Starks, which took place two months after Bryan suffered a broken arm in a dream match with Kazuchika Okada.

Bryan Danielson is also part of the Blackpool Combat Club group with Moxley, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta. The group has been heelish of late, but Bryan is usually in a babyface role, especially when on his own.

While Danielson is one of the best wrestlers in AEW and still one of the best in the world, Bryan is also a part of the creative process in AEW. Tony Khan, who is AEW’s Owner & CEO, even said recently that if something ever happened to him then he would tell his family to have Danielson run AEW in his absence. That’s how much Tony thinks of him.

Bryan Danielson gets along very well with Tony Khan

A big difference between working for WWE and working for AEW is that in WWE, Bryan had a close relationship with Vince McMahon, who Bryan said was like a father figure to him. However, in AEW, the 42-year-old Danielson is two years older than Tony Khan meaning that the two men grew up as wrestling fans in the same era. They like a lot of the same things.

As Bryan Danielson told Sports Illustrated, even if he wasn’t a part of AEW he would still be friends with Tony Khan.

“Even if I never wrestled in AEW again, I feel like me and Tony will still talk. We get along so well. Both of us relate to the world through wrestling. We’ll be talking about something in the world, then he’ll bring up a reference that so few people know, but I’ll know. I enjoy being around him, I enjoy his company. To me, that’s friendship.

“We’ve connected and we’ve developed loyalty. He’s someone who has been there for me in hard times, and I want to be there for him, too. That’s a friendship outside the lens of making a wrestling show.”

The next time AEW heads to pay-per-view is for WrestleDream on October 1st in Seattle, which is in Danielson’s home state of Washington. Danielson will be in action against Zack Sabre Jr. in what is being as billed as a dream match by AEW.