By his own admission Bryan Danielson has shared the ring with some of the best professional wrestlers in history.
Danielson himself is also widely regarded as one of the finest performers of his generation. Since signing with All Elite Wrestling in September 2021, Danielson has been open about his desire to work with as many people as possible and put on great matches over winning championship gold. This quest led him to a match against Konosuke Takeshita on the January 11th episode of Dynamite.
Bryan Danielson Claims AEW Star Is Heading For Greatness
To the delight of fans in attendance the bout was 15 minutes of spectacularly hard-hitting action with both men bringing the best out of each other. In the end it was Danielson who scored the win as Takeshita passed out while trapped in the Regal Stretch.
In a clip posted to AEW’s Japanese Twitter account (Transcription via Wrestling Observer Newsletter) Danielson broke down the match and paid tribute to his opponent. Not only did Danielson say that Takeshita is special, he added that when all is said and done he may be remembered as one of the best ever.
“Tonight I finally got the chance to wrestle Takeshita and I was really looking forward to it. I had heard a lot of people who had wrestled all over the world when they wrestled Takeshita they said, ‘oh man, that guy’s great’ and I got to feel it.’ There’s one thing to watch somebody, and I watch him, and you see for how young he is, he’s in his twenties, he looks so good, it looks like he hits so hard but I want to feel it.
That’s one of the things I love about wrestling, is feeling it out there. When we got out there and he hit me with the first forearm, I felt it, I felt it, this guy is special. I’ve been in the ring with some of the best wrestlers in the world, some of the best wrestlers of all time, and I think, by the end, we’re going to be talking about Takeshita in the same way.”
Konosuke Takeshita officially signed with AEW back in November and has already battled with former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.