One Step Closer to The End of Wrestling Full-Time, Bryan Danielson Revisits His Past
Fourteen years ago, Bryan Danielson stepped into the ring for a singles match against Shingo Takagi.
This was before Danielson headlined WrestleMania 30 and captured the industry’s attention with his breathtaking work. It was the summer of 2010, and Danielson was only a month removed from getting let go by WWE.
“That was during the time I was fired for WWE after choking Justin Roberts with his tie,” said Danielson. “It was a very important time for me, and I was very, very proud of that match.”
The in-ring performance against Takagi was a masterpiece, as well as a painfully obvious statement that Danielson belonged on the biggest stage in professional wrestling. One month later, he was back with the WWE–where he rewrote wrestling history.
Nearly a decade-and-a-half later, Danielson and Takagi are set to meet for a rematch. The bout takes place this Sunday at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view, and it is also a first-round bout in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament.
Unlike the encounter in 2010, these are no longer two hungry young wrestlers looking to make their mark in the industry. Danielson and Takagi are two of the industry’s most prominent stars, having left indelible marks in, respectively, the continents of North America and Asia.
Despite operating on completely different ends of the globe, both were quickly judged as too small to be headline acts. Yet, repeatedly, both proved all the doubters wrong.
“What really excites me about this is how much we’ve both developed as wrestlers since then 2010,” said Danielson. “If you go through what Shingo has done since leaving DragonGate, he went to NJPW, the biggest company in Japan, he won the IWGP junior championship, and then he moved to heavyweight and won the IWGP heavyweight championship. When he’s wrestling, I’m watching.”
Danielson is in a pivotal stretch. Later this year, he will no longer wrestle a full-time schedule. Exactly how his wrestling future will unfold is yet-to-be-determined, but there is no denying that it will mark the conclusion of one of the most brilliant stretches in pro wrestling history.
Since returning to the ring in 2018 after a two-year retirement, Danielson has exceeded every expectation. He wrestles at a blistering pace, especially in his AEW pay-per-view matches, which was especially evident at the Dynasty pay-per-view in April in his unforgettable bout against Will Ospreay.
For Danielson, 43, there are costs attached to his unrelenting pursuit of perfection.
“My neck isn’t doing so great right now,” said Danielson, who confirmed he is healthy and excited to wrestle on Sunday. “This is my chance to wrestle Shingo again, and Forbidden Door is one of my favorite pay-per-views. That’s because of the uniqueness of it. Five years ago, multiple promotions didn’t work together to put on a super show. Now CMLL and Stardom are involved. This didn’t exist before. I love this show.”
Another element that particularly excites Danielson is that his match is part of the Owen Hart Cup. The winner of the tournament will wrestle for the AEW world title later this summer at Wembley Stadium.
“The thing I love about tournaments is it’s a real sports-like presentation,” said Danielson. “That’s my favorite style to watch and to do. Tournaments are really conducive to that.”
Remarkably, Danielson has not won even once in his last 17 title matches. Those matches include title bouts in WWE, AEW, NXT, and Ring of Honor–and they all have one major commonality: Danielson did not come away with the belt.
Danielson prefers not to be champion at this point in his career, which is a balancing act when so many wrestling fans desperately want to see him have one more title run. But contrary to the beliefs of many, Danielson noted that he is not in charge of those decisions.
“I don’t want to be in that [world champion] position–I don’t feel like that’s my position anymore,” said Danielson. “The quality of wrestling in AEW is so high, it’s really hard to main-event pay-per-views. That’s not something my body can really do anymore. I know there are a percentage of fans who would like that, but I don’t think it’s my place. And here’s the truth: I don’t want anything to do creatively with my own stuff. I also don’t know where people get the notion that I do. It’s very hard in wrestling to be objective about yourself, so I leave that in the hands of other people.
“That was the same thing in WWE, even when I was part of the creative team. The head writer of SmackDown at the time, Ryan Callahan, asked me what I wanted to do, and I remember saying I didn’t want to talk about what I wanted to do. I don’t think you can be objective about that stuff.”
Looking at the Owen Hart Cup brackets, it isn’t hard to envision Danielson winning the tournament. That would put him on a collision course with Swerve Strickland, or, potentially, a rematch against Ospreay–this time in London at Wembley in the main event of All In. That is exactly the type of intrigue and anticipation that Danielson brings to pro wrestling, a realism that will be sorely missed when he steps away.
That leads directly to this Sunday at Forbidden Door, where Danielson takes the next step in his journey by wrestling a rival from his past.
“Shingo does the kind of wrestling I like,” said Danielson. “He hits hard, and he puts a lot of thought into his matches. It’s also the Year of The Dragon, which I think is appropriate with the two of us facing off.”
JUSTIN BARRASSO
Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.