What to Hope for in Bryan Danielson’s Final Countdown

Bryan Danielson dropped a bomb on the wrestling world last week. He announced that he told his daughter that when she turned 7, he would end his career as a full-time wrestler and that his daughter is now 6. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for us to enjoy Danielson’s work, but he followed that with a challenge to Zack Sabre Jr. for AEW WrestleDream.

“Time is running out”

What’s next for the “American Dragon”?

Watch #AEWCollision LIVE on TNT!@bryandanielson pic.twitter.com/fHvjbyLGLW

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) September 10, 2023

Exit the Dragon?

This is a huge match that many have wanted to see for a long time. It leads you to wonder what else would be great to see before he officially retires (again). It sure would be great to see him take on the likes of Will Ospreay or Tetsuya Naito because they would be able to tell an awesome story, however maybe something even bigger could be on the horizon. There are a couple of major titles that come to mind that Danielson has never held.

For one, he has never held the IWGP Heavyweight Title in his career. It is no secret that he loved wrestling in Japan and even wanted to do some more of it before he retired. That was a major sticking point for WWE when he was deciding where to go after his contract ended. Ultimately, AEW was more open to cross-promotional things like this and so he went with them. What a great way to go out holding that prestigious title.

The other, and probably a bit more likely would be the AEW World Heavyweight Title. He is already in AEW and is looked at very highly by Tony Khan. Clearly, Bryan Danielson doesn’t need the title to look at his time in AEW as a success, but it would be a nice way to show some appreciation for all he has done for the company to send him off on a high note.

A couple of things to take note of as well. It seems like this announcement was about being a “full-time” wrestler. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he can’t come back for one-off dream matches in the future. The other thing to realize is that because TK loves him and has already said that he would be comfortable with him being in charge of things if he ever couldn’t run the show anymore. This seems like regardless of what happens, Danielson still probably has a cushy job behind the scenes.

What are your thoughts? Are there any dream matches you want to see before the American Dragon hangs up his boots? What are your hopes for “the final countdown”?

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