Bryan Danielson has restated that his full-time career will be over once he loses the AEW World Title, but added even a part-time future after that is in doubt.
Danielson sat down with Shawn Garrett of KIRO 7 Seattle on Friday to cover a range of issues.
The 43-year-old talked about the impending need for neck surgery and stated that, while he would like to continue to wrestle in some capacity after his title run, he did not know if it would be possible. He said:
The idea is that whenever I lose this title, whether it’s sometime down the road or whether it’s tomorrow against Jon Moxley, that’ll be it for me as a full-time wrestler. The reality is right now I need neck surgery and that’s coming sooner rather than later. So there’s going to be a point where this is untenable for me. And after the neck surgery, we’ll see where we’re at.
Will I ever wrestle again once I lose the title? I don’t know. You know, my, my heart says “yes”, because I love wrestling, but I put my body through a lot to get to this success that I’ve had. And at some point you you have to — what is it? — know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.
Danielson also touched on his memories of coming to Seattle and Tacoma to watch wrestling, wanting to emulate Dean Malenko, and wrestlers he still would love to face in the ring.
Okay, so for example, I have yet to wrestle Darby Allin, who’s from this area, right? I would love to wrestle Darby Allin. I haven’t wrestled Orange Cassidy in AEW. I would love to wrestle Orange Cassidy. Ricochet just came to AEW, I haven’t wrestled Ricochet. I’d love to wrestle Ricochet.
I’m from a generation who got sick of people saying, okay, this is my retirement, and then they come back. So that’s why I say, okay, if I lose, this will be the end of my full-time career, because there’s all these things. I still love wrestling. There’s all these things that if I think too much about them, I get super excited.
Today is @AEW #WrestleDream at the Tacoma Dome! The following thread is an interview I did with AEW champ @bryandanielson yesterday. We talked about his past, regrets, cardio, and whether, if he loses tonight, he will retire or end his full-time career. pic.twitter.com/biAFoMOJOG
— Shawn Garrett (@ShawnGarrett) October 12, 2024
