Bryan Danielson is thrilled with the way Wheeler Yuta has shined throughout 2022.
Over the course of several weeks, Yuta battled Danielson and Jon Moxley in the formative stages of the Blackpool Combat Club. After his remarkable performances in these matches, Yuta joined the duo, and the BCC was born. Since then, Yuta has continued to grow as part of the group, and he remains featured both in AEW and in Ring of Honor, where he’s the ROH Pure Champion.
During an appearance on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox, Danielson was asked to name what he’s most proud of regarding his AEW career so far. He named the time-limit draw with Hangman Page and went on to commend Yuta’s growth. He called the young star’s match with Jon Moxley his favorite match of the year.
“I’ve also been really proud of, it’s not just my stuff with him, it’s also Mox’s stuff with him., but I’m proud of everything that’s happened with Wheeler Yuta and his performances in those things,” said Danielson. “When we started, we didn’t know that that’s where we were going, right, but I think we’re doing a tag match or something like that, and I did something, and he fired up. In that moment, you’re like, ‘Oh there’s something here. Then we did the singles, and, ‘Oh there’s more here.’ Then it was on Rampage with Mox, and it was beautiful. It was maybe my favorite match I’ve seen this year just because there was a guy that literally like a month before, not many people really knew about him or were talking about him, and he had a whole arena just going nuts.
“You have to think like Rampage is taped after Dynamite, so it’s been a long day for that crowd, right. I’ve been really, really, really proud of all that.”
“The American Dragon” also described how the whole process has been a collaborative effort, and he credited AEW president Tony Khan for giving Yuta a chance and letting him run with it.
“But that’s not proud of what I’ve done,” said Danielson. “It’s been a collective effort, including Tony, because a lot of times it’s not easy to see somebody who doesn’t necessarily have a name or you hadn’t planned on pushing to that degree. Tony just went with it and saw it, and he saw it too. It was like, ‘Dude, this is working, this is working.’ So I was just really proud of Wheeler’s performance, I’m proud of being a part of it, I’m proud to be in a company where you see that and the like okay, yeah, let’s let him run with it. So that and the hour draw are the two things I’m proudest of.”
Danielson has been out with an injury since AEW Double or Nothing, but he will return to the ring on the July 27 episode of AEW Dynamite.
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