Bryan Danielson Gives Scary Insight Into Injury Struggles

Bryan Danielson’s body is close to breaking point as his retirement nears.

One of the biggest stories following AEW in 2024 has been the impending full-time retirement of Bryan Danielson. The American Dragon has made no secret of his desire to step back from the ring, and that played into his feud with Swerve Strickland.

Ahead of their match at All In, Danielson promised to retire if he couldn’t beat Strickland, but on a highly emotional night at Wembley Stadium he walked away with the AEW World Title. In the wake of that win, Danielson said he’ll end his full-time career when he loses the gold.

Meanwhile, Danielson has admitted he’s been struggling with injury for much of the year and revealed in the summer that he needs neck surgery.

Speaking to Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of The Uncrowned, Danielson reflected on his recent match with Kazuchika Okada on Dynamite. During the conversation, the star revealed that he started to lose strength in his legs during the contest, and he’s been having shooting pains down one of his arms.

“Midway through the match, I started losing strength in my legs. There’s a point later in the match where I’m trying to kick him and I can’t turn over my kicks. That’s something that I have the body mechanics to do because I have been doing it for so long, but here I am and I can’t turn my hip over for this kick.

When I got to the back, I went to the trainer right away and they worked on me for like 30 minutes. They said it was stemming from the neck stuff. It’s getting to a point where, physically, we’re seeing the signs. I haven’t been sleeping well because I have been having this shooting pain down my arm.”

Bryan Danielson Will Return To Action At WrestleDream

Despite the struggles, Danielson will be back in action at WrestleDream on October 12th against Jon Moxley. Given that the event will be held in his home state of Washington, many have suggested that it’ll be the perfect place for him to retire.

Moxley earned his shot at Danielson with a win over Darby Allin at Grand Slam.

Should Moxley win, he’ll become the first man to hold the World Championship four times.