AEW star explains his sudden retirement - "I felt like it would’ve been difficult for Tony"

AEW is a young company with a roster full of rising stars. The company also features a strong mix of experienced veterans and legends, and unfortunately, that means we will be seeing more stars retire from active competition. One Hall of Fame grappler is opening up on what was expected from Tony Khan in the planning of his own retirement.

Christopher Daniels recently wrapped up his in-ring career after wrestling for more than 30 years. The current AEW Head of Talent Relations found success with WCW, ROH, TNA, PWG, NJPW, and other promotions, and has been with Tony Khan since launch. The 54-year-old lost a brutal Texas Death Match to Adam Page a few weeks back, then retired on Dynamite. Daniels recently revealed inside details on his retirement while speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho.

The Fallen Angel did not think AEW should put such a spotlight on his retirement because his in-ring work with the company was limited. Despite being an AEW Original, Daniels wrestled under 100 matches for the Jacksonville-based promotion. He name-dropped the popular sitcom 'Friends' and the barista in the series, Gunther, in explaining his stance.

"I felt like it would’ve been difficult for Tony because I wasn’t that major of an in-ring figure for this company. I think it’s weird for Tony to all of the sudden have all this pomp and circumstance. It would be like if we were watching Friends and we said, hey everybody, make sure to watch the final episode with Gunther. You’re like, okay, but we’ve never really focused on Gunther before," Christopher Daniels said. [H/T to Fightful]

Daniels held numerous titles in the indies and around the world, as well as the ROH World Championship, ROH World Television Championship, and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship once each. The inaugural ROH World Tag Team Champion also held those titles on four occasions. He's also a three-time TNA X Division Champion, and eight-time TNA/NWA World Tag Team Champion.

Christopher Daniels acknowledges AEW in-ring run

Christopher Daniels arguably found his biggest success in ROH and TNA. He was a familiar name by the time he joined AEW in their inaugural year.

Discussing the end of his career, The Fallen Angel noted to Chris Jericho that he was trying to be humble, but acknowledged his success in TNA. Daniels reiterated how his retirement should not have been such a big deal in the All Elite scene.

"I’m trying to be humble but also I recognize that I’ve done some stuff. If this were TNA, yeah, okay, because I’ve got this backlog of stuff that I did for TNA. If this were just ROH, same thing, I did a lot of stuff there. I did have some good matches in AEW, but you can’t really say, 'Oh, your best work was in AEW.' I started when I was 49 years old. I recognize my prime was a little bit before. I still did my best, I still had good matches, but I feel like it would’ve been sort of false for Tony to be like, hey, everybody focus on this guy," Christopher Daniels said. [H/T to Fightful]

Daniels has been inducted into three wrestling Hall of Fames. He was honored by ECWA's Hall of Fame in 2001, then by his hometown supporters at the Southern California Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2020, and the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2023.