Bryan Danielson recently spoke with Sports Illustrated to promote this Sunday’s AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 premium live event from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
During the discussion, “The American Dragon” spoke about how long he’s wanted his match against Kazuchika Okada.
Featured below are some of the highlights.
On how long he’s wanted the Okada match: “I wanted this match for so long without ever thinking it was a possibility. I started watching him while I was in WWE, but there was no place to go work where that match would ever be possible. Then AEW started. That’s why this is so special to me. I wanted it for so long, and it’s now actually going to happen.”
On how he’s always known Okada is one of the best but now he gets to find out first-hand at The Forbidden Door 2: “When Okada first won the IWGP championship, he started having all these incredible matches with Tanahashi. He started building this incredible legacy. The Tanahashi matches, the Kenny [Omega] matches, those stand out to me—their 60-minute one was just unbelievable. The matches with Shingo [Takagi], the matches with [Will] Ospreay, the matches with Zack Sabre Jr. When I watch Okada, I’m watching one of the best of all time. Now I get to experience actually being in the ring with him. What’s that like? That’s what I get to find out.”
Check out the complete interview at SI.com.
