Ex-WWE & AEW World Champion Confirms Retirement At 44

A former WWE World Champion has confirmed that they are effectively retired.

Bryan Danielson, who is currently signed to AEW, last wrestled at 2024’s WrestleDream pay-per-view, where he lost his world title to Jon Moxley.

Danielson subsequently said that he had competed in his final match, but was determined to turn things around.

He had previously revealed suffering a bad neck injury during a match against Will Ospreay, which put him in a dire spot leading up to the WrestleDream match.

Of late, he has taken up a commentary role in AEW.

Danielson gave fans a glimmer of hope by returning and competing in a dark match on Collision in June against Max Caster, which he won in 8 seconds.

Appearing on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight, the AEW star revealed that the chance of him making a full-time return is slim and that he was on the brink of undergoing neck surgery.

So I have degeneration throughout my entire neck from C1 to T2. I’m on the cusp of needing surgery. I’d really like to avoid it as much as possible. I’d like to never get neck surgery. I was actually doing really well until I started traveling more for commentary, and now it’s really gone downhill.

I had these delusions of, ‘Okay, maybe I can get back and do a little bit of wrestling.’ Now I see that they really are delusions, because this traveling is like… this is not a good idea.

AEW’s Bryan Danielson Confirms He’s Effectively Retired

The host of the show asked Bryan Danielson if he considered himself retired. The 44-year-old did not beat around the bush, confirming that he was effectively retired.

I hate the r‑word because I was forced to retire before. I never consider myself fully retired. I think… this is how a lot of wrestlers think: ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon.’

But yeah—effectively, for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, yeah, that guy doesn’t exist anymore. [H/T: Ringside News]