Bryan Danielson gives update on status of AEW in-ring career
He’s not putting a definitive end on his in-ring career yet, but Bryan Danielson knows he’s no longer capable of being the wrestler he once was.
Danielson had his final match as a full-time wrestler in October 2024 and is now a member of the AEW Dynamite commentary team. It remains to be seen when or if he’ll ever wrestle again, but Danielson has never called himself fully retired. He explained that decision while appearing on a newly released episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
“I hate the [retired] word because I was forced to retire before [in 2016],” Danielson said. “So I never consider myself fully retired. Like — this is how I think and this is how a lot of wrestlers think, ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon or whatever it is.’ But yeah, you know, effectively for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, yeah, that guy doesn’t exist anymore.”
Danielson addressed whether he would still like to return to the ring if he’s not capable of being who he used to be.
“I would love to, not on TV, right?,” Danielson said before describing how much fun he used to have while wrestling at Butlin’s shows in the United Kingdom early in his career. “I think I could go have fun matches and have fun doing the fun matches. But then I don’t think that that’s the TV — that’s not the kind of wrestling fans would want to pay to see Bryan Danielson do.”
Even in his new AEW commentary role, the neck injury Danielson is dealing with causes problems for him. He told Van Vliet that the increased travel schedule calling Dynamite every week is difficult on his body. Danielson is on the cusp of needing neck surgery but would like to avoid that ever having to happen.
“I’d like to never get neck surgery,” Danielson said. “I was actually doing really well until I started traveling more, and then it’s really gone downhill. I had these weird, they’re not even weird, I wouldn’t even say it’s weird. I had these delusions about like, ‘Okay, maybe I could get back and do a little bit of wrestling or whatever it is.’ Now I see that they were delusions. This traveling is like, ‘Okay, yeah, that would not be a good idea.'”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.