Bryan Danielson Makes Surprise Wrestling Appearance
Bryan Danielson paid tribute to Dean Rasmussen.
Since losing to Jon Moxley at WrestleDream in October 2024, Bryan Danielson has largely stayed out of the limelight. However, he’s continued to work behind the scenes in AEW, becoming a key part of Tony Khan’s team in the process.
On July 24, AEW and ACTION Wrestling co-produced ACTION DEAN~!!!2 from WaterDance Plaza in Glendale, Arizona, in tribute to Dean Rasmussen, who was a much-loved and respected contributor to the DVDVR website before he sadly passed away in 2023.
During the show, Danielson made a surprise appearance to address the crowd and offer his own tribute to Rasmussen.
“You can see in the way that Hologram wrestles that he loves professional wrestling. And Blue Panther, I’m not even going to say his age, he told me in the back, I’m not going to say it. You know he loves professional wrestling. And this show, Action Dean, is in honor of a man who loved professional wrestling.”
“I was under WWF Developmental. [Crowd Booed] There’s no need to boo that, there’s no need to boo that. Then they fired me. You can boo that.
And because of Dean and the people who wrote about me, some of whom are back there here at the show tonight, they talked about me and they wrote about me and they wrote about independent professional wrestling with a passion and a love that made new fans of independent wrestling, of shows like this.”
Bryan Danielson Effectively Retired
In the lead-up to his last match at WrestleDream, the American Dragon was adamant that he would return to the ring. However, that mindset changed in the weeks and months after the brutal loss to Moxley.
During an interview in April, Brian Danielson admitted his neck is “pretty wrecked,” before revealing he suffered a “pretty bad” neck injury against Will Ospreay at Dynasty earlier in 2024.
As a result of these injuries, Danielson explained that he’s content with never wrestling again, with his life outside of the ring now taking priority.
H/t to F4wonline