Bryan Danielson Targeted By Top NJPW Star

A big-name NJPW wrestler feels he has unfinished business with Bryan Danielson.

The great Bryan Danielson has made it clear many times that later in 2024, he plans to stop being a full-time pro wrestler. Danielson signed with AEW in 2021 after spending over a decade in WWE and has spent three years as a full-timer who has yet to win a championship in the company, but he has had many memorable moments.

At the first-ever WrestleDream PPV in the fall of 2023, Danielson faced Zack Sabre Jr. in one of the biggest matches of that show. It was their first match together in 15 years and Bryan picked up the win.

When the Danielson-Sabre rematch happened at past February at NJPW’s The New Beginning in Osaka, Sabre got his win back.

That means their series is tied 1-1 although they did wrestle in 2008 as well, but that was a long time ago and long before they were huge international wrestling stars.

While talking to Sports Illustrated, Sabre remarked on his history with Danielson and also making it clear he wants one more match.

“I’m forever indebted to Bryan for the match he gave me back in 2008 in a little pub in Coventry. Few wrestlers have had the direct and indirect influence on my career as old dragon bollocks. There’s also no one else in the world that I can have those kinds of matches with, so I know that we are not done yet–even with Bryan winding down his schedule.”

“We could wrestle every day of the week and it would never feel like enough. I’d love to take that bout truly around the world. We’ve got a couple of continents we haven’t hit yet. Both in and out of the ring, Bryan is one of a kind.”

Even though Bryan Danielson plans to stop being a full-time wrestler, he has also said he will wrestle on a part-time basis for many more years, so Sabre could get that rematch with Danielson at some point in the future.

Bryan Danielson Facing Former IWGP World Champion In AEW’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament

As for what’s next for the “American Dragon” Danielson, he is one of the eight men in the Men’s AEW Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. Bryan Danielson’s quarterfinal match will be against former IWGP World Champion Shingo Takagi at the AEW Forbidden Door PPV on June 30th.