At 41, Bryan Danielson has well established himself in the professional wrestling business.
With over two decades of experience in the squared circle, many younger talent look to talent like Danielson for advice. Similarly, veteran talent may also turn to the younger generation to grasp a more modern perspective on the sport. Speaking with the media at a Starrcast V scrum, Bryan Danielson stressed the important of this working relationship. In essence, asking questions peers is a two way street between the younger and the more seasoned talent.
“I think it’s always good to ask good questions, regardless—and I try to do that with the younger talent, asking them questions. Because I think that’s equally important,” Danielson admitted. “I’m 41, I’ve been watching wrestling since the 80s. I have a view on wrestling, but the world has changed.”
“I remember when I went to WWE, and even before that, there would be some really old time wrestlers who’d be like, ‘Ah, back in my day kid, I used to just grab an arm and hold it for 20 minutes and the place would be going crazy’–implying that that’s what I should be doing. [But] that wouldn’t work.”
“There are probably some things that I think about wrestling that are no longer true about what wrestling fans want from wrestling,” he continued. “I can only understand that by talking to a Lee Moriarty, or a Dante Martin, and saying like, ‘Hey, what is it about wrestling that you guys love?’
“When I grew up watching wrestling, it wasn’t that people thought it was real. But they reacted to it more like it was real, whereas this generation has an entirely different view on it, where it’s like the whole audience is in on the gig. They all know it’s not real. Can you convince them that some things are real, or can they get into things? Yes, they can. But what is it that they love about wrestling.”
“So I think as important as it is for them to ask questions of veterans, it’s also for somebody like me to ask questions of them to see what resonates with the younger audience.”
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