bryan danielson
Photo Credit: AEW

Bryan Danielson Is Excited to Return To NJPW, Says It Was Where He Always Wanted To Be

Bryan Danielson looks ahead at his return to NJPW.

On January 4, Bryan Danielson will face Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. This will serve as a rematch of their previous clash at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Wrestle Kingdom 18 will also mark Danielson’s first official NJPW match in nearly 20 years. From 2002 – 2004, Danielson wrestled over 100 matches for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. During this time, Danielson had a run as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion alongside Christopher Daniels (fka Curry Man). Danielson’s last non-cross-promotional NJPW match took place in November 2004 at NJPW Battle Final. There, he and James Gibson (aka Jamie Noble) lost to Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru Tanaka.

During a recent interview with NJPW, Danielson was asked how he feels about his upcoming return to NJPW.

“I’m really excited,” Danielson said. “New Japan, when I started wrestling, that’s where I always wanted to be. Like when I envisioned myself as a professional wrestler, I didn’t envision myself being a big star in the United States. What I really wanted to do was be a big star in Japan. The idea of being able to go wrestle in Japan with the best wrestlers in the world in a wrestling style that I like most, that was really appealing to me.”

“Then I don’t know what happened. I was at training a the Inoki Dojo, and I was going regularly on tours. I went on like eight tours in 2004 for New Japan, and me and Curry Man had won the IWGP Junior [Tag Team] Championships, and then all of a sudden I just stopped getting booked. It was really frustrating, and for a long time, I was like, ‘What do I gotta do to get back to New Japan?’ Then here we are, almost 20 years later. I’m going to Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome.”

RELATED: Tony Khan Believes Bryan Danielson Will Still Make Sporadic Appearances In AEW After His Full-Time Run Ends

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