Bryan Danielson details Vince McMahon’s final effort to re-sign him before AEW debut

Bryan Danielson says Vince McMahon made a last-ditch effort to keep him in WWE just before he made his AEW debut.

Danielson debuted in the memorable closing segment of AEW All Out on September 5, 2021. During a recent interview with Nick Stav while in Australia promoting AEW’s February shows in the country, Danielson said that when WWE learned he had yet to sign with AEW just days before All Out, Vince McMahon made one last attempt to keep him.

Danielson said:

“I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before (his AEW debut).”

“When WWE found out that I hadn’t signed yet, they said, is there anything we can do?“

“I called (Vince McMahon) in early August and let him know, ‘Okay, I’ve made my decision and I’m gonna do this.’ Then he had called me one time kind of in the meantime and said, ‘Hey, what if we offered you this instead? That sort of thing.’”

Danielson said that at that point, his mind was made up that he was going to AEW. McMahon then called him again shortly before All Out.

“It was maybe five days before the pay-per-view and he called me. And this is just what I told him, I said ‘Sir, I’ve already agreed to this thing and if I was somebody to go back on this, like, I feel like you have a decent amount of respect for me, would you still respect me? One of the things that you respect about me is I honor my word.’ But it was a great conversation and he said, ‘Dammit, you’re right.'”

Danielson was recently given a new role in AEW. He is now a permanent part of the AEW Dynamite broadcast team. Tony Khan announced the news last week, writing, “Starting this Wednesday, @bryandanielson The American Dragon will join the Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite commentary team full-time! Welcome back Bryan on Dynamite this Wednesday Night.”

Danielson’s full interview with Nick Stav is available below. His comments about McMahon’s final push to sign him come in around the 7:22 mark.