Well, it finally happened. Bryan Danielson’s full-time wrestling career is over. In the main event of AEW WrestleDream,
Danielson’s 49-day AEW World Championship run came to a crashing end as he was choked out in the middle of the ring by his former Blackpool Combat Club brother, Jon Moxley, marking the end of Danielson’s only world title run in AEW and his full-time career since he said he would retire once he lost the title.
With Danielson’s full-time career ending on that fateful Saturday night and reports coming out that he will have to get multiple surgeries and that he is currently a free agent wrestling without a contract, now is a better time than ever to discuss the man’s career, what gravitated me and plenty of fans alike towards him, and what his retirement means for the wrestling landscape as a whole.
Bryan Danielson has legitimately been working for a number of weeks without a contract and is effectively a free agent.
People close to him expect him to get neck surgery relatively soon as opposed to signing or wrestling elsewhere.
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— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 13, 2024
How Were You Introduced to Bryan Danielson?
I was introduced to Bryan Danielson in a way I still find amusing. I became a wrestling fan in January 2015, and the first pay-per-view (then still called that) I watched was the 2015 Royal Rumble. For those familiar with wrestling, you’ll understand why this is funny. For those who aren’t, let me explain.
The 2015 Royal Rumble is widely regarded as one of the worst in WWE history, mainly due to the treatment of Danielson, who was still wrestling as Daniel Bryan.
After his long-awaited WWE Championship win in 2014 was cut short due to injury, fans were excited when he was announced for the Rumble. Many hoped he would win and avenge his brief title reign at WrestleMania 31.
But that didn’t happen. To the crowd’s dismay, Bryan was eliminated early, and Roman Reigns won instead. Even The Rock, who came to celebrate with Reigns, was met with a chorus of boos.
As an 11-year-old, I didn’t fully understand why the crowd was upset. Still, I enjoyed seeing Bryan, or “Goat Boy,” as I called him, win the Intercontinental Championship in the opening ladder match at ‘Mania 31.
However, I only watched Bryan wrestle four more matches before his first retirement in 2016. His retirement announcement came nearly a year after his last match, which confused me.
Later, I read reports that Bryan had been medically cleared to wrestle by everyone except WWE doctors. Other than rewatching old matches on WWE Network and YouTube, I thought that would be the last time I saw Daniel Bryan in action—until 2018.
I became a true Daniel Bryan fan during his fourth WWE Title run in late 2018 and early 2019. It was strange to boo someone I had once cheered for, but I loved his heel run as the “Planet’s Champion.”
He embraced a persona that mocked fans for their environmental negligence, even introducing an eco-friendly championship belt made of hemp.
At times, the segments bordered on parody, with one of my personal favorites being when he stood outside concession stands and mocked WWE fans for their consumerism.
The character was great, but his matches were even better, especially against AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, and Mustafa Ali. At that point, I was 14, and every time Bryan stepped into the ring, I knew I was about to witness a wrestling masterclass.
However, what stands out most from Bryan’s WWE tenure is his role in “KofiMania.” Knowing now that Bryan lobbied for Kofi Kingston to have his moment at WrestleMania makes their storyline even more special. When Bryan called Kofi a “B+ player,” it felt deeply symbolic because Bryan himself was once labeled the same before he broke through WWE’s glass ceiling with fan support.
Watching Bryan help give Kofi that same opportunity was one of the most rewarding moments I’ve experienced as a wrestling fan, and watching Kofi defeat Bryan at WrestleMania 35 remains a highlight of my fandom.
As Bryan’s second WWE run progressed, I remained captivated by his matches against the likes of The Fiend, Drew Gulak, Edge, and Roman Reigns—his last WWE opponent.
But it was during his AEW run that I truly fell in love with Bryan Danielson as both a wrestler and a personality.
His double debut with Adam Cole at AEW All Out 2021 was unforgettable, and it immediately opened the door for dream matches. One of those dreams came true immediately when Danielson had a 30-minute time-limit draw against Kenny Omega at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam.
More followed, including his incredible matches with Adam Page and Daniel Garcia. The highlight, though, was his 60-minute Iron Man match against MJF at AEW Revolution 2023, which I was lucky enough to attend.
Watching Danielson put on one of the best matches of his career while also giving MJF a career-defining performance left me convinced: I had just witnessed the greatest professional wrestler of all time.
However, it never came to me that it would have to end at some point. Despite my first three years watching wrestling consisting of only a handful of Bryan Danielson matches, I always considered him someone who could wrestle forever.
In my eyes, Bryan Danielson was the LeBron James of wrestling: an ageless wonder who kept getting better with time and never gave you a chance to think about retirement because of how incredible he still was in his old age.
However, the day had to come, and it’s pretty safe to say that on the night of AEW WrestleDream, my heart felt ripped out of my chest.
Watching one of my favorite wrestlers get choked out in the middle of the ring, the stunned silence that followed, and the eventual post-match beatdown harkened back to the days when I thought wrestling was real.
I hated Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta for what they did to Danielson so much that I questioned whether I liked them as characters anymore.
Isn’t it poetic? Bryan Danielson, one of the last professional wrestlers who can make you feel everything he does, ends his full-time career breaking the hearts of thousands of fans while making you feel so many emotions, not one of them being happiness.
Why Did You Love Bryan Danielson?
It’s a good time to discuss what made Bryan Danielson so special. In Vince McMahon’s eyes, Danielson wasn’t the type of performer who deserved a top spot in WWE.
But fans knew better. Their overwhelming support made his talent undeniable and catapulted him to the top in a way the industry had never seen before.
Let’s start with his wrestling. In a world where great wrestlers come and go, you could argue that Danielson is the greatest of all time. From his early days in Ring of Honor, he showed a fire and drive to outwrestle anyone—even on his worst days.
He could do it all: hard-hitting matches with Takeshi Morishima, technical showcases against his biggest rival, Nigel McGuinness, and even a safer, more restrained style in WWE matches against the likes of The Miz.
There were no holes in Danielson’s game; somehow, he kept improving with every passing year.
Few wrestlers excel at multiple aspects of the craft, and even fewer can claim to be the best in the world across those areas. It helped that Danielson had such a diverse training background.
He learned from the best: Shawn Michaels, Antonio Inoki, Rudy Gonzalez, WWE’s system, and most famously, William Regal. Regal likely helped Danielson hone his incredible technical wrestling style, leading him to become one of the greatest technical wrestlers ever.
Danielson’s rise coincided with a period of significant change in wrestling, and he played a big role in shaping that evolution. His mix of Japanese-style wrestling, indie influences, and smooth transitions between submissions set him apart.
He was fast-paced yet always safe, making him a unique figure in the wrestling world.
During a time when the independent scene was filled with high-flyers and hardcore wrestlers, Danielson stood out—and rose to the top by doing what he knew best: wrestling his style.
What impressed me most about Bryan Danielson is his longevity. When I discovered his Ring of Honor work, I compared his matches from the 2000s to his more recent performances in WWE and AEW.
Remarkably, Danielson hadn’t regressed at all. Despite taking nearly three years off due to retirement and injuries, his wrestling ability remained just as sharp. Watching a 2005 Danielson match leaves you just as awestruck as watching a 2024 bout.
Beyond his wrestling, Danielson’s personality and presentation drew fans in. From his early Ring of Honor days—when he made his entrance serenaded by Europe’s “The Final Countdown“—to his unforgettable “Yes!” and “No!” chants in WWE, he had a unique ability to turn anything into gold.
His work in Team Hell No, with Kane and their anger management sessions, is a prime example. Few wrestlers could declare, “I’m the Tag Team Champions!” at the top of their lungs in a diner and not be laughed out of the arena.
Bryan Danielson may very well be the greatest wrestler of all time, but he was also an incredible entertainer who always gave the people what they wanted.
The End?
It has to be said that Bryan Danielson’s in-ring career is not exactly over. With his loss to Jon Moxley at WrestleDream, Danielson is expected to take a lot of time off to get surgeries and has been working without a contract these past few months.
Danielson clarified that only his full-time career would end once he lost the belt. Still, given the state of his body and the surgeries he needs, it may be a while until we see the American Dragon back on our screens and even longer until we see him wrestle another match.
Our last memory of Bryan Danielson in a wrestling ring is bleak.
Losing his title via submission in front of his hometown Washington crowd before getting beaten down by his former friends Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and, shockingly, even his former protege Wheeler Yuta as the babyfaces of AEW rushed in vain to make the save for their hero, Bryan Danielson did not get the storybook ending that many thought he deserved.
However, maybe this was what he wanted. Danielson knew he had little time left and wanted to give Moxley the title on his way ‘out.’ Additionally, it is very Bryan Danielson-like to have the bleakest possible ending to put others over as a threat.
In the eyes of Bryan Danielson, getting choked out by a plastic bag by your former protege is a great way to go out because it makes people mourn for you so much more and builds up the next crop of professional wrestlers to avenge your loss.
In an industry of politickers and selfish wrestlers who only want to benefit themselves in the business and have no interest in helping others, Bryan Danielson is the last of a dying breed of genuinely unselfish performers and sharp eyes for the business.
He’ll make you cry watching him fail before you smile through your tears, knowing that’s exactly what he wanted. There has never been, and will never be, another Bryan Danielson for as long as professional wrestling exists.
With so many incredible matches on video and his greatness being documented over the past two decades, how hilariously ironic is it that Bryan Danielson’s last moments as a full-time wrestler were so graphic and violent that AEW’s social media team could not even post them? There truly could not be a more poetic ending.
Due to its graphic nature, AEW will not be posting the post-match attack on Bryan Danielson.
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 13, 2024
Happy Trails, Bryan Danielson. Thank you for everything, and we will eagerly be awaiting your return if and when that happens.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube.
