As noted, Bryan Danielson recently spoke with Sports Illustrated for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
In addition to the highlights we previously published from the interview, “The American Dragon” also spoke about his thoughts on his Strap Match with Ricky Starks at AEW ALL OUT, how proud he is of Big Bill, and his injury from the Kazuchika Okada match at The Forbidden Door II being the worst of his career.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On Ricky Starks and how good their strap match was at AEW All Out: “He’s been on the cusp for so long. I think why he hasn’t crossed over that barrier is because he needs the opportunities where he can cross that line to go from upper mid-card to the main event. He’s had opportunities, but we haven’t been great with the follow-through. In his promos, you can see the frustration, and it’s a very real frustration. I can understand that frustration, I’ve been there. He lets his heart bleed out on the screen, which is really important. He’s great at that, too. Look at what Ricky did in that strap match. I loved the physicality. That’s one of the things that draws me to pro wrestling, the idea that it’s physical. I like being in physical matches. I wasn’t sure if he would enjoy being in that physical of a match. But that’s one of the interesting things about being in the ring with somebody. Although it’s entertainment, there’s a lot you don’t know. A lot of the interactions and the fire-ups, those are very real. It was really fun for me to see his reactions to some of the things I was doing, and he was able to see my reactions, too. Those were visceral reactions, and I was very pleased with it.”
On how proud he is of Big Bill: “I was very proud of the work we did together in 2018, and he’s only got better since. I’m really impressed with him. His wrestling has gotten really, really great since 2018, but there are also steps he’s made in his personal life. Seeing him as the human he is now, I’m so proud of him. He’s done great work in life. I’m excited to see him and Mox on Dynamite.”
On getting injured in his match with Kazuchika Okada at The Forbidden Door 2 and how he was super proud of being able to not only finish the match, but come away with the victory: “Hindsight? I think I had more fun because of it. During the match, I turned to the referee and said, ‘I think I fractured my arm.’ I’m in the ring with someone whose English isn’t his first language, and we didn’t even know for sure what it was to communicate. Even after the match when I was in the press conference, I didn’t realize how bad the break was. This is where you look at what is really satisfaction. Satisfaction and pleasure are not the same thing. Satisfaction comes from doing something hard and accomplishing it. So the satisfaction came from doing the hard thing and seeing it through to completion.”
On the broken arm he suffered during the Okada bout being the single worst injury of his career: “Although I talk about the satisfaction of completing the match against Okada with the broken arm, it’s actually the singular worst injury I’ve had,” admitted Danielson. “My neck injury was worse, but that was the result of years of abuse on my neck. It’s the same with the concussions. No single concussion was worse than the break of my arm. And because of that, it put me at a point where I couldn’t be there for my kids the way I wanted.”
On his Iron Man match with MJF from earlier in the year and how he seems to sustain injuries in every big match he has recently had, a sign that he thinks his in-ring days are close to ending: “There is the realization that over the past year, I’m getting hurt after every big match I have. That’s a sign. I love wrestling, but I do not want to wrestle at the expense of my long-term health. I did the Iron Man match with Max, and then I didn’t wrestle again until Anarchy in the Arena, and even that was a lot of smoke and mirrors. Then I wrestle Okada and I break my arm. The injuries are starting to pile up. At what point is that worth the risk? Especially when my kids want and need me at home.”
Check out the complete Bryan Danielson interview at SI.com.
