Bryan Danielson handpicks the future of AEW

Former AEW Champion Bryan Danielson is widely regarded as one of pro wrestling's all-time greats. The 43-year-old veteran has now voiced his endorsement of multiple fan-favorites currently plying their trade in the Tony Khan-led company.

Bryan Danielson has been missing from All Elite programming since he was dethroned for the AEW World Championship by Jon Moxley at WrestleDream 2024. The American Dragon was betrayed and physically destroyed by his ex-BCC teammates after the bout, putting a sombre bow on his decorated full-time career to close out the pay-per-view. Despite not wrestling since, Danielson has continued to work with the Jacksonville-based company backstage.

The Washington-native was recently featured in an interview with Daily Star to promote this year's edition of AEW X NJPW: Forbidden Door, set to air from The O2 in London. Upon being asked to name a male and female up-and-coming All Elite talent viewers should keep their eyes on, Bryan Danielson named former TNT Champion Daniel Garcia from the men's side. He also showered praise on Will Ospreay, noting the latter's skill despite being just 31 years old.

"I mean, that's so hard. That's so hard to say, because the level of talent, and you don't want to leave somebody out. I'm a huge supporter of Daniel Garcia, I think his connection with the audience is really cool and interesting. But I mean.. You can't describe Will Ospreay as an up-and-comer.. I mean, he's only 30, but he's already, if he's not the best wrestler in the world he's one of the best wrestlers in the world," said Danielson. [23:30 - 24:08]

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From the women's division, Danielson picked Willow Nightingale, stating:

"But from the female side.. Okay, if I were coming back as a bad guy, say a masked bad guy, and if I was a woman, who would I wanna wrestle? Willow [Nightingale]. I think Willow is just, she just has a great energy about her, the way she fires up and all that kind of stuff. I think seeing her chase championship gold in AEW is one of the cool things, if we can tell that story well enough I think it'll be super cool." [24:18 - 24:55]

Fans are still hoping for Danielson to step back inside the squared circle one more time, especially in light of his remarks elsewhere in the same interview.

Bryan Danielson opened up on his AEW backstage role

In many of his interviews and press calls, AEW head honcho Tony Khan had alluded to working closely with Bryan Danielson outside of the ring. The 43-year-old was recently even rumored to be involved with the company's creative team.

While speaking to The Daily Star, however, The Dragon downplayed his creative involvement, clarifying that he serves as a consultant for All Elite Wrestling, as well as a member of its disciplinary committee.

"I’m just kind of a consultant for AEW now, but y’know, I do several things there. I’m part of the disciplinary committee like those sort of things," he said. (H/T WrestlePurists on X/Twitter)

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It remains to be seen whether Bryan Danielson will return to television anytime soon.

Please credit Bryan Danielson's interview with The Daily Star and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for quotations from this article.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee