"It breaks my heart" - Adam Cole comments on former WWE Champion's absence from AEW

A former WWE Champion retired from the ring last year. Adam Cole has now commented on the latter's retirement.

Bryan Danielson is one of the best technical wrestlers of all time. Despite being an excellent in-ring performer, Danielson's career has been plagued by neck issues. Towards the end of 2023, the American Dragon announced that he was stepping away from the ring as a full-time performer the following year. Many fans thought that All In 2024 would be his last match for the company since his contract was about to expire.

However, after winning the AEW World Championship from Swerve Strickland, he continued to wrestle for a few more months. He even stated that when he lost the title, he would step away from the ring for good. Danielson ultimately lost the world title to his former stablemate Jon Moxley at Wrestle Dream 2024. Since then, he has not been seen in the ring for AEW. However, he has been involved in other activities for the company, such as press meets and promoting this year's All In event.

During an appearance on the In The Kliq podcast, Adam Cole commented on Bryan Danielson's retirement and what it meant for the world of professional wrestling. He noted that it's high time the American Dragon put himself over the company and the business and looked after his health which is a top priority:

"I, in every sense of the word, want Bryan to do what's best for Bryan because Bryan has always done what's best for the company and what's best for everybody else. Bryan is one of the most unselfish, wonderful, and talented wrestlers I have ever met. He is an amazing human being. It breaks my heart to know that I'm not going to be able to see Bryan wrestle full time because again, he is one of the absolute best to ever do this. Of course, that is sad."

He further added that he wanted Danielson to be the best version of himself since he gave his life to professional wrestling:

"However, when it comes to Bryan's health and when it comes to Bryan being the best version of him, that's what I want for him. He gave his entire life to professional wrestling, and he's going to be missed, but that respect and love will never go away. I think the world of Bryan Danielson," said Adam Cole. [11:40 - 12:25]

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Adam Cole addressed his controversial moment with Malakai Black

On the November 6 episode of Dynamite, Adam Cole faced off against Malakai Black. After winning the match, Adam Cole and Black hugged in the ring. When Black walked towards the back, he stopped for a moment and glanced back towards the ring. This sparked a lot of speculation online that Black was perhaps leaving AEW. However, the former leader of the House of Black denied those rumors. Black would go on to wrestle a few more matches for AEW before eventually leaving the promotion.

During the same podcast episode, Adam Cole was asked whether he knew if Black was leaving the company when they shared that moment in the ring. The former WWE star replied that he had no idea what Black's position was with AEW. He also noted that they shared that moment out of respect they had for each other as wrestlers:

“No, no. I really didn’t (know what was happening with Malakai Black & AEW when we had our moment on Dynamite). So, again, I do have a history of working with Malakai. Just an unbelievable opponent, an unbelievable guy to step in there with and we’ve shared a lot of really, really cool moments together. So for me, all it was was this personal moment between two guys who have a lot of respect for each other. I don’t know anything about — or didn’t know anything about what his plans were or anything like that. For me, it was just a cool moment with a friend after getting to work together for a long time.” [H/T Inside The Ropes]

It will be interesting to see whether Bryan Danielson will return to AEW in an onscreen role in the future.