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Bryan Danielson Connection Could See Released WWE Star In AEW

By John Canton • Published 22nd September 2023
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There is a recently released WWE superstar who could be a good fit for AEW due to his past with Bryan Danielson.

When it comes to having a lot of influence in AEW, Bryan Danielson is a guy that not only wrestles, but also helps with creative ideas for the company.

Recently, Danielson spoke about his friendship with AEW’s CEO & GM Tony Khan noting that they get along really well and talk about wrestling a lot. Khan also that if something ever happened to him to prevent him from working then he would tell his family to have Danielson run AEW in his absence.

One of the names released by WWE on Thursday was Mustafa Ali, who had been with the company for about seven years. Bryan Danielson was with WWE for a lot of Ali’s run with Danielson using the name Daniel Bryan in WWE.

In 2019, Ali received the biggest push of his main roster career on Smackdown. He was scheduled for a major push against the heel WWE Champion Bryan Danielson. However, Ali had an injury, so WWE replaced him with Kofi Kingston, who rode that momentum into KofiMania leading to his WrestleMania 35 victory over Daniel Bryan to become the WWE Champion.

During this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about how Ali could be a possibility for AEW due to his past history with Danielson.

“Mustafa Ali is a strong in-ring talent who talks well, and would be someone I could see ending up in AEW, particularly since Bryan Danielson has been high on him. Danielson had picked Ali to work with for the WWE title on PPV in early 2019 but he was injured by Randy Orton and his spot was taken by Kofi Kingston on the Elimination Chamber show. He did end up recovering and got into a three-way for the title with Danielson and Kevin Owens, where he lost the fall and was never pushed at that level since.”

“His work in NXT of late was strong as a smarmy heel who feuding with Lee and Dominik Mysterio in the North American title picture. His release was apparently because the decision was made that they did not see using him on the main roster, and he was making main roster money. But it was notable they didn’t even wait for his television program to play out, or even wait a week to write him out of the storyline. Ali had requested publicly to be released in January 2022, likely believing he would fit in better elsewhere, whether that be AEW or Japan, but was turned down.”

If Ali wants to sign with WWE, he will have to wait about 90-days on December 20th for the non-compete clause to expire.

Bryan Danielson in action on AEW Collision

The rivalry between Bryan Danielson and Ricky Starks didn’t end at AEW All Out earlier this month when they had a brutal Strap Match at AEW All Out. That’s because there’s another big match coming this Saturday on AEW Collision as well.

At AEW Collision this Saturday, Danielson and Starks will do battle one more time in a Texas Death Match…taking place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It could be a bloody battle just like their Strap Match was.