Tag: Bryan Danielson

Bryan Danielson names ‘difficult’ part of new AEW role

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bryan Danielson is having fun in his new AEW role — but it does have one significant drawback.

After impressing during a guest stint at Forbidden Door 2025, Danielson was added to the AEW Dynamite commentary team on a full-time basis in September. He discussed the commentary role in a new interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, saying it’s been good and fun. The travel has been hard on Danielson’s body, though, due to the neck injury that he is dealing with.

“it’s been interesting, because I wasn’t anticipating being a commentator. I was at home and then they asked me to come in because Taz was getting shoulder surgery and to come in to help out a little bit,” Danielson said. “So the travel has been difficult for me. That’s one of the things I didn’t expect. Because I’ve traveled my entire adult life, right? It’s no big deal, but with my neck as bad as it is, all of a sudden, you take that, it was almost, gosh, it was like eight or nine months where I was only traveling maybe once a month. I’d go to the pay-per-views and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, the weekly travel has been a lot, and it’s just made sleeping hard and that sort of thing.”

Because of his injury, sitting on the plane and having to carry around luggage are difficult for Danielson. He noted that he’s made some adjustments like traveling with a cervical pillow.

“I have a cervical pillow now that I travel with me, just because — and for a while I was just sleeping with one of those hand towels underneath my neck, just so it’s not being pushed up or anything like that, but it’s impossible,” Danielson said. “I live on the West Coast, you know? And then I also live like an hour and a half to two hours from the airport. So it’s impossible for all these cross-country flights to stay in good posture the whole time and all that kind of stuff. And then heaven forbid I fall asleep and I do this and then I wake up and I’m like, oh no, I can’t feel my hand.”

Danielson’s preparation as a commentator is much different than when he was a full-time wrestler. In that previous role, he only really had to focus on what he was doing. Now Danielson needs to have a better understanding of everything that is going on.

“It’s been good and fun,” Danielson said about commentary. “Commentary is a skill. It’s something that you have to learn. I’ve been really lucky and grateful to have Taz and Excalibur and then Tony [Schiavone]. You know, I asked Tony Schiavone to, when he’s not busy backstage — and he’s super busy — if he listens to it and, ‘Can you give me some tips?’ and this sort of thing, because, you know, it’s not something that I’m naturally good at.”

Danielson noted that he’s on the cusp of needing neck surgery but would like to avoid that ever happening. He was doing well physically until the increased travel schedule. When asked about the status of his in-ring career, Danielson told Van Vliet that he hates the word “retired” and hasn’t put a definitive end on his time in the ring. But as far as the caliber of performer he used to be, Danielson said that guy does not exist anymore.

Report: Bryan Danielson got involved in Nixon Newell AEW controversy

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Bryan Danielson’s involvement in the latest Nixon Newell-Miranda Alize AEW controversy has now been revealed.

Miranda Alize and her partner, Nixon Newell, recently walked out of AEW Collision on November 1st, Saturday, upset over the limited time allotted for their scheduled match against Tay Melo and Anna Jay. Soon, multiple reports started doing rounds about it, addressing the ongoing situation and controversy. Now, a latest update has emerged from Fightful Select, informing fans about the involvement of former AEW World Champion and respected pro-wrestling figure, Bryan Danielson.

Fightful Select reported that an AEW source informed them Danielson personally spoke with both women and “wasn’t thrilled about the way the match went,” as it did not align with All Elite Wrestling’s creative direction. It further noted that multiple women in the AEW/ROH locker-room also contacted Fightful and voiced their frustration over the situation, claiming “that they would have loved for even three minutes on Collision.”

Fightful Select further shared that people in AEW believed that the situation would have remained quite if Alize had not posted a cryptic tweet before the show began. The common believe is that even if the situation had concluded smoothly, it was not smooth anymore.

Update: Soon after the original report, an updated story was shared as Newell reached out to Fightful Select and claimed that neither her nor Alize ever met Bryan Danielson. She said, “All false information. We have never met Bryan in person.” Newell was adamant that she always remained respectful about AEW and never spoke a bad word about the Jacksonville-based promotion.

Further update on Nixon Newell’s booking status

The same report from Fightful Select also delved deeper into Nixon Newell’s lack of match bookings. It was noted that the Welsh wrestler had been in a conversation with another promotion, which unfortunately did not end well following certain ‘asks’ from her. However, the specifics of which were not revealed. There was another case earlier this year in which an independent company had booked Nixon Newell to interfere in a match to set up a future tag team bout; however, Nixon left during the show while the talent remained uninformed about it.

In the same update, she also denied the story above mentioned story about her and the independent promotion.

Nikki Bella: WWE peers think it’s ‘so cool’ I get advice from Bryan Danielson

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Having Bryan Danielson as her brother-in-law affords Nikki Bella the luxury of getting advice from one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time.

On a new episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, Bella said her peers in the WWE women’s locker room think it’s “so cool” that she gets advice from Danielson, who gives feedback on her matches and sends her things to study. Bella believes that feedback has helped her improve her intensity in the ring lately.

“Bryan and I already have good conversations, mainly about wrestling, but they’re good conversations,” Bella said. “It was cute because at Raw yesterday, I was talking with some of the girls and we were talking about my match last week and I was like, ‘Yeah, and Bryan and blah, blah.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh my God, how cool. Like, so Bryan gives you advice?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, he gives me feedback.’

“He has sent me stuff to watch. He’ll tell me things to work on. And they’re like, ‘Dude, you’re so lucky.’ And I’m like, ‘I know.’ And I go, ‘And he’s honest.’ That’s why last night, did you notice how I was a little more — I had more intensity going into things.”

Bella returned to WWE this year for an extended run back in the company. So far, her twin sister Brie has not been back with her — with Danielson’s AEW ties being a roadblock preventing that from happening. Danielson departed WWE for AEW in 2021 and is now a commentator for Dynamite, along with helping behind the scenes.

In addition to getting advice from Danielson, Nikki Bella said William Regal is someone in WWE who gives great pointers to talent.

The Bella Twins were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020. With Brie not in WWE at the moment, Nikki is aligned with Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer.

Bryan Danielson ‘infinitely more confident’ about retirement now compared to 2016

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson isn’t ruling out a return to the ring but says he’s “infinitely more confident” in his retirement now than he was in 2016.

Danielson announced his retirement for the first time on the February 8, 2016 episode of WWE Raw. He was cleared to return a little over two years later. His full-time in-ring career came to an end in October 2024 after he lost the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley. During a recent interview with Australia’s Nine Network, Danielson discussed the differences between his retirement now and before.

“I feel infinitely more content, honestly,” Danielson said.

“My life has changed and it’s different when it’s your own decision as opposed to when you’re not allowed to do this thing that you love anymore.”

Danielson says he still have discomfort in his neck, especially when traveling, but overall is not unhappy.

“I would mostly frame it that even though I’m in physical discomfort, I’m pretty happy.”

He continued to say that if he does ever return to the ring, he won’t wrestle at the scale he did before.

“My body physically can’t do some of those things anymore. If I’m going to do it, it can’t be at the scale that I did it before.”

“If I tried to do some of the things I did in my last year with AEW right now, I don’t think I’d be able to go back and hold my kids. Anything that I would do moving forward has to be with that in mind, because that is now my number one priority.“

“Stay healthy, be at home and play with my kids and coach my son’s tee-ball team.”

Danielson also discusses considering retirement after his match agianst Swerve Strickland in Wembley Stadium, AEW’s upcoming shows in Australia and more. The full interview is available here.

Taz comments on Bryan Danielson joining AEW announce team

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Taz is happy to now have Bryan Danielson as a partner on the AEW broadcast team.

Earlier this month, Danielson — a former AEW World Champion and one of the best in-ring competitors of his era — joined the Dynamite commentary team on a full-time basis. He calls the show every week alongside Excalibur and Taz.

Danielson’s addition means AEW now has two analysts/color commentators on the team. When asked about working with Danielson, Taz told Going Ringside that he’s happy to have Danielson in the booth and thinks the dynamic works since they both offer different perspectives.

“I think it’s cool. I mean, I like Bryan, I respect Bryan. I get along great with him,” Taz said about Danielson joining commentary. “He’s got great insight. You know, some people say, ‘Well, wait a minute, Taz is an analyst, so now we have another analyst in Bryan Danielson?’ That’s true, and it’s okay to have two analysts. It happens in mainstream sports all the time…

“It’s okay to have two analysts because we have different perspectives on what you’re seeing, the physicality going down in the ring. So I’m happy that Danielson’s part of the announce team with us, with Excalibur and myself, and I think it’s cool. And so, we’ve just got to build some chemistry together. It takes some time, as a unit, especially a three-person booth can get a little tougher. So we just need a little time to get our sea legs as a unit under us a little bit. And we will, it’ll take a couple of weeks.”

Taz’s appearance on Going Ringside was to promote AEW’s October 7-8 return to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville for Dynamite and Collision. Taz said Jacksonville holds special significance to his family as the place where his son Hook really learned the industry. Before Hook had his first match, Tony Khan wanted him to get experience in a variety of roles behind the scenes.

“During those times, before [Hook] was wrestling, he was on ring crew, he was helping with merchandise, he was doing — what do you call it? — the SIM cards for the photographers, running them back and forth. He was learning the business behind the scenes,” Taz said.

“And even once fans started coming into Daily’s Place as the pandemic loosened up a teeny bit and we were still running in Jacksonville, everybody was wearing masks and everything, so Hook was one of the people that was doing the temperature checks with a mask on.”

Jim Ross addresses Bryan Danielson’s addition to AEW commentary

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jim Ross is confident that Bryan Danielson will thrive in his new full-time role with AEW.

After earning praise for his commentary at Forbidden Door, Danielson joined the AEW Dynamite announce team on a full-time basis last week. He’s now calling the show with Excalibur and Taz.

Ross — perhaps the greatest announcer in wrestling history — addressed the news on the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast, saying he believes Danielson’s intelligence and wrestling knowledge will help him succeed at commentary.

“He’s studious, a student of the game, has a lot of knowledge that he’s more than happy to share, which I think is great. I like the addition of him,” Ross said. “It gets some knowledge out of a talent that has been kind of sequestered into — I don’t want to say oblivion, but Bryan’s a really smart guy and I’ve heard some of his work. I think he does a good job.”

Ross noted that, when doing commentary, you need to reprogram yourself to speak in soundbites. You also need to prepare thoroughly, which has never been an issue for Danielson.

“I have utmost confidence in Bryan Danielson that he’s going to do a tremendous job,” Ross said. “He’s smart, he’s studious, he works as hard at getting ready for a broadcast as he did getting ready for matches. And he’s well known for that. So I think it’s good. I think it’s good for our show and brand. Exposing Bryan Danielson is a smart thing, it’s good product placement if you will. Tony Khan’s got a great vision for things like that, so I’m excited to see where it all heads.”

Danielson wrapped up his full-time in-ring career in October 2024. It remains to be seen when or if he’ll ever compete again.

The 73-year-old Ross signed a new AEW contract last month to continue in his role providing commentary at pay-per-view events. His next assignment is at Forbidden Door in Toronto this Saturday.

Bryan Danielson on AEW Dynamite commentator role, interest in running ROH

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson says he found out about his new AEW commentary role the same way everyone else did.

Starting with the September 10 episode of Dynamite, Danielson will be a full-time member of the broadcast team. During a recent interview with Pario Magazine, Danielson revealed that while he and Tony Khan had discussed the idea previously, he only found out for sure when it was announced on social media.

“I found out the same way everybody else found out on Sunday… they sent me the tweet that Tony Khan sent,” Danielson said.

Danielson was in Australia promoting AEW’s February shows when he learned the news. It was Saturday in the United States, but Sunday in Australia.

“It had been mentioned, but then I found out the same way everybody else found out on Sunday. I got a text message, ‘Hey, man. So, you’re gonna be at Dynamite this week, right?’ And I was like, ‘Huh?’ Then they sent me the tweet that Tony Khan sent out and I was just like, ‘Oh, okay. Yep, I guess so.’“

“Tony and I had talked about the possibility of it but I didn’t know it was a real thing until Sunday.”

Also during the interview, Danielson was asked if he had any interest in potentially running Ring of Honor. Danielson said he would be interested but is not angling for the job.

“That would interest me. I don’t think Tony has interest in that. I think Tony does a really great job of juggling all these plates. He does a pretty great job with it. I’m always open to doing whatever the company needs.”

“I would love to do it. I think Ring of Honor is a really cool product and especially for our younger talent to be able to get them exposure.”

Danielson then praised several matches on the August 29 ROH Death Before Dishonor show.

“I wouldn’t say that my version of it would be any better than Tony Khan’s version. That’s not my thing. I don’t think that, you know what I mean? I’m not here angling for a job to take over Ring of Honor.”

Danielson’s full interview with Pario Magazine is available below:

Bryan Danielson: WWE plays ‘weird games that I don’t understand’ with AEW

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson doesn’t fully understand why WWE is going to great lengths to counterprogram AEW.

While in Australia promoting AEW’s February shows in the country, Danielson spoke with The Kairouz Bros and was asked about WWE running events on the same days that AEW already has a major show scheduled.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious,” Danielson said when asked about WWE counterprogramming AEW.

“I’m just curious what the people who are making these decisions, what they’re thinking? In the sense of like, ‘Oh, okay, this AEW thing, it’s a real danger to our billion-dollar business.’ That can’t be it.”

Danielson then spoke about wrestler pay and compared it to the revenue split between owners and players in major team sports.

“AEW existing and being this challenger brand and being as successful as we’ve been has changed the landscape for wrestling for the wrestlers themselves.”

“Wrestlers are being paid more now than ever. From a sports rights perspective, for example, most major sports in the United States, the players get anywhere between 40 to 50 percent of the revenue and WWE was paying their wrestlers nowhere close to that.”

“Now keep in mind, they’re still not paying anywhere close to that but they do have to pay more because if they don’t, the talent’s going to leave and go to AEW.”

According to Danielson, AEW does pay its wrestlers a percentage of revenue similar to that of American sports leagues.

“AEW does pay that 40 to 50 percent of their revenue to their wrestlers and despite making much less money. I mean, our TV rights deal was incredible, but we’re still the challenger brand catching up on however many years WWE’s had.”

“We’re not at the point of being a threat. it’s just weird. This is one of the things that people who really crave power and a lot of money play these weird games that I don’t understand.”

Danielson continued to talk about the benefits to the wrestling industry from having challenger brands.

“It’s good for the wrestlers both in AEW and in WWE. It’s been good for them. If AEW wouldn’t have started, would Cody Rhodess be where he is right now? No, they have a mega star because AEW exists, right? Would CM Punk ever have come back? Probably not.”

The full interview with Bryan Danielson is available below.

Tony Khan explains decision to add Bryan Danielson to AEW commentary team

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Tony Khan is happy to give fans a more regular opportunity to hear from Bryan Danielson.

Over the weekend, it was announced that Danielson is joining the AEW Dynamite commentary team on a full-time basis. His first night in that new role will be this Wednesday when Dynamite is held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia during the last week of AEW’s residency at the venue.

The announcement of Danielson now being a full-time announcer came after he received high praise for his guest commentary at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025. While appearing on the Battleground Podcast, Tony Khan explained why he thought Danielson was a great fit for that pay-per-view and now the Dynamite broadcast team.

“As we were preparing for Forbidden Door, I thought Bryan would be fantastic on the commentary team for that show,” Khan said. “Knowing the background he has, knowing his insights into pro wrestling, and how prepared he is and how much research he does on pro wrestling worldwide. Knowing the stars competing at Forbidden Door, coming from different promotions — stars from Mexico and Japan and traveling from all over the world to compete at that show in London.

“Also, I think Bryan’s a great star and people want to see Bryan Danielson on television and hear Bryan Danielson on television. And thankfully, he’s got very intelligent, insightful things to say when he does talk. So I really thought Bryan would be a great part of the commentary team, and he did a fantastic job on Forbidden Door. I had talked to him maybe after his promotional tour of Australia was complete about Bryan joining us on Wednesday. And it worked out perfect. He’ll be joining us tomorrow night on Wednesday Night Dynamite as a host, a commentator, providing his really, really valuable insights into pro wrestling.

“I think it’s great anytime we’re able to bring on Bryan Danielson to do anything in AEW, but especially to provide very, very intelligent, insightful commentary on pro wrestling. That’s a great thing in AEW that we have now with Bryan Danielson as a host on Wednesday Night Dynamite starting tomorrow.”

The 44-year-old Danielson ended his full-time career in the ring when he dropped the AEW World Championship 11 months ago. He hasn’t fully closed the book on the idea of competing again in the future, but Danielson is very fulfilled by where his life is right now.

Bryan Danielson details Vince McMahon’s final effort to re-sign him before AEW debut

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson says Vince McMahon made a last-ditch effort to keep him in WWE just before he made his AEW debut.

Danielson debuted in the memorable closing segment of AEW All Out on September 5, 2021. During a recent interview with Nick Stav while in Australia promoting AEW’s February shows in the country, Danielson said that when WWE learned he had yet to sign with AEW just days before All Out, Vince McMahon made one last attempt to keep him.

Danielson said:

“I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before (his AEW debut).”

“When WWE found out that I hadn’t signed yet, they said, is there anything we can do?“

“I called (Vince McMahon) in early August and let him know, ‘Okay, I’ve made my decision and I’m gonna do this.’ Then he had called me one time kind of in the meantime and said, ‘Hey, what if we offered you this instead? That sort of thing.’”

Danielson said that at that point, his mind was made up that he was going to AEW. McMahon then called him again shortly before All Out.

“It was maybe five days before the pay-per-view and he called me. And this is just what I told him, I said ‘Sir, I’ve already agreed to this thing and if I was somebody to go back on this, like, I feel like you have a decent amount of respect for me, would you still respect me? One of the things that you respect about me is I honor my word.’ But it was a great conversation and he said, ‘Dammit, you’re right.'”

Danielson was recently given a new role in AEW. He is now a permanent part of the AEW Dynamite broadcast team. Tony Khan announced the news last week, writing, “Starting this Wednesday, @bryandanielson The American Dragon will join the Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite commentary team full-time! Welcome back Bryan on Dynamite this Wednesday Night.”

Danielson’s full interview with Nick Stav is available below. His comments about McMahon’s final push to sign him come in around the 7:22 mark.

Bryan Danielson joining AEW commentary team full-time

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bryan Danielson has a new full-time role with AEW.

Starting this Wednesday (September 10), Danielson will be a member of the AEW Dynamite commentary team on a full-time basis. He recently did commentary at AEW & NJPW’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view and earned praise for his performance.

The announcement was made on X/Twitter today by Tony Khan, who did not say if it will be a four-man commentary team going forward or if there will be any changes. Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone are the regular broadcast team for Dynamite.

The legendary Danielson wrapped up his full-time career in the ring when he dropped the AEW World Championship in October 2024. He still makes occasional appearances for the promotion and contributes behind the scenes. Danielson, 44, has not fully closed the book on ever competing again, but he feels fulfilled with his career and doesn’t have anything left on his bucket list.

“With the last six months of my wrestling career being in as much pain as I was, that put me in this thing of ‘I think I’m ready to be done,’” he said on a recent media tour to promote AEW’s return to Australia in 2026. “I’m very fulfilled by my career, very fulfilled by my life right now, and I still get to stay involved with professional wrestling which is something I love to this day.”

Wednesday’s Dynamite is taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. It’s the final week of AEW’s residency at the former ECW Arena.

Bryan Danielson reveals if there’s anything left on his wrestling bucket list

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

As his media tour of Australia kicks off for AEW, former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson was asked if there’s anything left on his wrestling bucket list.

His answer was simple: “Nope, not a single thing.”

In the interview seen below, Danielson said he’s been fortunate to have so many incredible moments and that when he was “forced” to retire while in WWE, he wasn’t ready to be done and also didn’t have kids like and wife Brie (Bella) Garcia do now.

“With the last six months of my wrestling career being in as much pain as I was, that put me in this thing of ‘I think I’m ready to be done,'” he said. “I’m very fulfilled by my career, very fulfilled by my life right now, and I still get to stay involved with professional wrestling which is something I love to this day.”

Danielson’s full-time career and lone AEW title reign ended at AEW WrestleDream in October 2024 at the hands of Jon Moxley. While Danielson has recently got physical on AEW and ROH shows (namely All In: Texas), there has been no indication he is returning to the ring as he continues to work backstage and on commentary for AEW.

He said he was asked in another interview if he had any interest in acting to which he replied that his only forms of entertainment are reading and watching wrestling. He said on the plane to Australia, he was watching older wrestling in order to give ideas to younger talent on things that have been lost.

Danielson excitedly spoke about the volume of good wrestling there is to watch out there for younger talent and “I nerd out” on wrestling and watching old matches that he didn’t have access to growing up.

Danielson will continue to promote Grand Slam Australia and House Rules Brisbane in the days ahead.

Bryan Danielson announced for commentary role on AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson is set for AEW Dynamite.

Danielson has been announced as a special guest commentator for today’s show, which will tape this afternoon at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. This comes after Taz announced yesterday he will miss this week’s show and AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday.

AEW wrote:

“Special Guest Commentator Bryan Danielson We haven’t seen or heard from former AEW World Champion @BryanDanielson since All In Texas + tonight he joins the commentator’s desk! Don’t miss Dynamite from Scotland, TONIGHT!”

Danielson was also announced for the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pre-show panel earlier today.

AEW Dynamite, Wednesday, August 20 —

  • Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey
  • Toni Storm and Alex Windsor vs. Mercedes Mone and Athena
  • AEW Tag Team title eliminator tournament finals: FTR vs. Brodido
  • Max Caster open challenge
  • Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley face-to-face
  • Hangman Adam Page speaks
  • Tony Schiavone interviews Adam Copeland and Christian Cage
  • Bryan Danielson to serve as special guest commentator
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1958219441184923899

Bryan Danielson to appear on AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pre-show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bryan Danielson is set to play a role at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025, appearing as part of the pre-show panel.

It was announced today that the Forbidden Door Zero Hour broadcast will be hosted by Renee Paquette, RJ City, Jeff Jarrett & Danielson. The pre-show begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday and will stream live on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and other AEW social media platforms.

Forbidden Door is happening just one day shy of the one-year anniversary of Danielson winning the AEW World Championship from Swerve Strickland at All In 2024. Danielson held the title until retiring as a full-time competitor last October, and it’s unclear if he’ll ever compete in the ring again.

Danielson did get involved physically at All In 2025 last month, where he helped fend off interference by the Death Riders as Hangman Page dethroned Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship.

The O2 Arena in London is hosting Forbidden Door on Sunday. The pay-per-view main card will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 (Sunday, August 24) —

  • AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against MJF
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Athena
  • AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Swerve Strickland
  • TBS Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Alex Windsor, Persephone, and Stardom wrestler to be announced
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) defend against winner of Tag Team title eliminator tournament
  • Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian
  • IWGP World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Nigel McGuinness
  • TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Hiromu Takahashi
  • Lights Out steel cage match: Darby Allin, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

Brie Bella says Bryan Danielson’s AEW status is a roadblock to her WWE return

Posted on by Ian Carey

Brie Bella spoke about a “roadblock” preventing her from returning to WWE during a recent episode of The Nikki & Brie Show.

Earlier this month, TMZ reported that Brie was in discussions with WWE about returning to the company in time for the Evolution PLE. However, Brie later denied those reports, saying WWE had not contacted her, though she now admits she was being a little “cheeky” with those comments.

Brie revealed that her husband Bryan Danielson being with AEW makes some in WWE uncomfortable about her returning.

“When I’ve been on red carpets or in interviews, there’s one question I constantly get asked and it is, ‘When will we see you back in the ring?’ As if I have that power.”

“So I have constantly made the joke, ‘Oh, waiting on the call,’ which in some ways can be true and in some ways I’m just saying something cheeky and sweet so I can get on to the next question.”

Brie continued:

“I know my roadblock is the fact my husband is with the rival company. And for some people, it makes them uncomfortable at WWE thinking I would be there when my husband’s with AEW. And you know what? That’s okay.”

“I’ve kind of looked at that roadblock as people have the right to feel. People feel uncomfortable, they’re uncomfortable. And that’s okay. They have that right. Does it bum me out at times that I wish their feelings were different? Absolutely. But it doesn’t make me angry and it doesn’t make me bitter.”

In a separate interview last week, Danielson noted that Brie wasn’t allowed in the ring to celebrate with him after the main event of WrestleMania 30.

“My sister and my niece got to come into the ring, right? But I was about to marry my wife the following Friday and they wouldn’t let her come down to the ring. They didn’t want her to be in the thing,” Danielson told Sun Sports.

The full episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, featuring Brie’s solo discussion about her “soft girl era,” is available below: