Bryan Danielson says he’s not the same wrestler he used to be.
Danielson had his last match in October 2024 and has since stepped away from active in-ring competition. He’s now a full-time color commentator for AEW Dynamite.
During his recent appearance on the INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Danielson gave an update on his in-ring status. He said that he never considered himself fully retired, but noted that he’s not the same wrestler he once was.
“I hate the ‘R’ Word, because I was forced to retire before. So, I never consider myself fully retired. I think this is how a lot of wrestlers think, ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon.’ But effectively, for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, that guy doesn’t exist anymore.”
Bryan Danielson Would Like To Do Fun Matches, But Fans Might Not Like Them
Bryan Danielson also addressed whether he’d be open to returning to the ring even though he believes he’s not the same wrestler he once was.
He recalled struggling with the entertainment aspect of wrestling during his early career. He credited competing in Butlin’s holiday camps in the UK as helping him improve. Bryan Danielson noted that he’d like to do fun matches like that, but believes that’s not something fans would want to see him do.
“Oh, I mean, I would love to, not on TV, right?” Bryan Danielson continued. “So, for example, I spent a large portion of my early career doing Butlins shows in the UK because I was very bad at performing to an audience, like, being entertaining, right?
“William Regal hooked me up with Brian Dixon, and we’d go over to these Butlins holiday camps. They’re just like, you pay $500 for a weekend, and your whole family can go. It includes food, it includes entertainment. So you see magicians, you see musicians, you can go to the dance hall, and in the afternoon, there’s wrestling.
“So, these people aren’t wrestling fans; they just want to be entertained. William Regal had me go over there. Because, although I naturally picked up the wrestling aspect of it very quickly, I did not pick up the entertainment aspect,” Bryan Danielson said.
“When you look at William Regal’s career, I remember all the great wrestling matches. What I think a lot of fans remember is his comedy skits backstage and how funny he was… That’s all the stuff that you learn from doing these holiday camps. Versus, at that time, I was doing a lot of independent wrestling that was very much geared towards having great matches.
“So, that said, I think I could go have fun matches and have fun doing the fun matches. But that’s not the kind of wrestling fans would want to pay to see Bryan Danielson do.”
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If you use the quotes from this article, please credit INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet and give an H/T to WrestleZone for the transcription.
