The Promise Vince McMahon Made Bryan Danielson To Stay In WWE
Vince McMahon did all he could to keep Bryan Danielson in WWE.
On April 30th, 2021, Bryan Danielson wrestled his final match in WWE, losing out to Roman Reigns on SmackDown. It quickly came to light that the star’s contract expired that night and he eventually moved to AEW.
However, that doesn’t mean WWE and then-boss Vince McMahon didn’t try to keep him. For years there’s been a rumour that McMahon offered to let Danielson compete in NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament if he stayed.
Speaking in a new interview with Inside The Ropes, Danielson confirmed that there is more than a little bit of truth to the speculation.
“So, I don’t know for sure if he would’ve let me. The last conversation we had where I told him I was gonna go to AEW. I told him, once I make my decision, I’ll tell you. It was around August of that year, my contract expired the last day of April in 2021.
It was early August is when I finally decided and called him and told him. He kind of asked me why and I said, well, this that and the other, one of the things I want to do is I want to work with New Japan and do the G1. He did say in that moment, I don’t know if it would have actually ever come to fruition, ‘I’d let you do that’ or whatever it is. So, yeah. I think maybe.”
When asked whether McMahon even knew what the G1 Climax was, Danielson admitted he wasn’t sure, but confirmed he made several pitches to make WWE versions of the famous tournament.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. He definitely knows what New Japan is and all of that kind of stuff. I had told him of my desire to do the G1 before cause I kept pitching G1 style tournaments in WWE. I said, I’d really like to be able to do this thing, so yeah.”
Bryan Danielson Betrayed At AEW All Out
At AEW All In, Bryan Danielson ended the night on top of the world, but just two weeks later at All Out, he ended the night broken and betrayed.
After retaining the World Championship with a win over Jack Perry, Danielson was attacked by his former BCC teammates Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley. The assault ended with the star being choked out with a plastic bag by Moxley.
H/t to Fightful