Bryan Danielson Reveals WWE Tried to Re-Sign Him Days Before His AEW Debut

Overview

• Bryan Danielson revealed WWE offered him a deal days before his AEW debut.
• He honored his word to AEW despite Vince McMahon’s last-minute push.
• Danielson now returns to AEW as a full-time commentator on Dynamite.

Former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson made his debut with the promotion at the All Out event in 2021. The WWE offered him a deal a few days before he was supposed to make his official debut with the Tony Khan-owned company.

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Danielson revealed this during a Nick Stav that he had not signed the dotted lines two or three days before his debut. This gave WWE a chance to offer him a deal about five days before All Out. “I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before that. When WWE found out I hadn’t signed yet, they said, ‘Is there anything we can do?”

During the conversation, Danielson revealed that he had already informed Vince McMahon of his decision to leave the promotion. However, McMahon decided to make another offer a few days before his AEW debut, but Danielson decided to honour the verbal agreement he had already made with AEW.

“Sir, I already agreed to this thing. If I were to go back on this, I feel you have a decent amount of respect for me. One of the things you respect me for is that I honor my word,“ Danielson described the conversation that he had with McMahon.

Bryan Danielson to return to AEW as a full-time commentator

AEW’s owner, Tony Khan, took to X to reveal that Danielson will return to the promotion in a new role as a full-time commentator from the upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday in Philadelphia. The Dynamite commentary team currently includes Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz.

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It is not clear if Danielson will be the fourth person on the panel or if he will replace any one of them. If any of the three existing commentators is replaced, they will become exclusive to AEW Collision on Saturdays.

Danielson retired as a full-time wrestler in October last year during the AEW WrestleDream when he was dethroned of the World Championship belt and was viciously attacked by Jon Moxley. He answered Max Caster’s open challenge and defeated him. His recent appearance happened at AEW All In in July when he helped Hangman Page beat Moxley for the world title.