Bryan Danielson Looking To Break Incredible Losing Streak At AEW All In
Bryan Danielson has come to terms with retirement.
At All In, Bryan Danielson will challenge Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship. Should Danielson lose, he’s promised to retire.
Since the match was made Danielson has been open about his physical struggles, admitting he’ll need neck surgery before the year is over. The American Dragon has been battling his own physical limitations for much of 2024, with reports noting creative plans were changed to get him to All In with everything intact.
On the August 17th edition of Collision, Eddie Kingston tried to fire up his former rival, telling him he was disrespecting the sport.
Bryan Danielson “At Peace” With Retirement
During a new interview with the BBC, Danielson described his match with Strickland as “now or nothing,” before highlighting the fact he’s yet to win championship gold in AEW.
“Yeah, I am. If I wasn’t at peace with it, we wouldn’t have done that, right? [laughs] I also think that I’ve been wrestling for 25 years at this point. To me, it’s now or nothing as far as winning the AEW World Championship. I came in, and I said I was going to kick people’s heads in and win the AEW World Championship. I’ve kicked a lot of people’s heads in, but I haven’t won a single title.”
Danielson went on to reveal that he’s lost his last 19 championship matches going back to his time with WWE. The star added that by contrast to his enforced retirement while with WWE, this time he’s ready to face life outside of the ring.
“I think it was Alex Marvez, he’s our guy that knows all the stats and stuff like that. [He said], I don’t know if you know this, but you’ve lost. Even going back to WWE, I haven’t won a title match in my last 19 attempts. So it’s like, I’m at peace with it. My life is different now.
When I was forced to retire, I wasn’t ready. 2015 was kind of my last match, but I was forced to retire in 2016. At that point, I’m 35 years old and I’m just like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ I also didn’t have anything else to put my attention and focus towards and now I do, I have a wonderful family that I’m excited about spending time with and everything.
So yeah, it’s a very different place when it’s by choice and you’re not forced.”
Danielson last held championship gold in 2019 when he won the SmackDown Tag Team Titles alongside Erick Rowan.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co