Original NJPW Plans For Bryan Danielson Revealed

Bryan Danielson is heading to Japan for Wrestle Kingdom but apparently, he was set to be in the country a lot sooner than that.

The former WWE Champion has had a tough 2023 with injury issues causing him to miss months from the ring. Bryan Danielson suffered a broken arm during his Forbidden Door match with Kazuchika Okada in June, but despite that, The American Dragon was still able to tap out the NJPW icon for the win.

Having missed the massive All In show in August, Bryan Danielson returned to the ring at All Out taking CM Punk’s place in a match with Ricky Starks.

Bryan Danielson was in action on the 21st of October edition of Collision where he met Andrade El Idolo, a match that saw Danielson leave with another injury as he suffered a broken orbital bone following an unfortunate clash of heads.

Despite that Danielson teamed with Claudio Castagnoli on the 25th of October edition of Dynamite to defeat Orange Cassidy and Kazuchika Okada. The story told in that match was very much that Danielson suffered the facial injury at the hands of Okada.

Bryan Danielson Injury Meant He Missed NJPW Power Struggle

Doubts had been cast over whether or not Bryan Danielson would be able to compete at Wrestle Kingdom in a return singles match against Okada but those doubts were answered at NJPW Power Struggle. A video played of Danielson issuing a challenge to The Rainmaker for Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th which Okada immediately accepted.

Sports Illustrated has reported that according to multiple sources Bryan Danielson was originally meant to be in Osaka for Power Struggle to challenge Okada but due to his injury, the video was made instead. It remains unknown if Danielson will be back in the ring before his date with Okada in the Tokyo Dome.