Bryan Danielson, known in WWE as Daniel Bryan, has revealed how a conversation with a WWE Executive led to him stopping the use of “Yes!” chants in AEW.
The chant became synonymous with Danielson during his time in WWE. Its popularity was even utilised by the company in the lead-up to WrestleMania 30 when, in-storyline, the audience ‘hijacked’ the show by occupying the ring alongside Danielson until Triple H agreed to a match at WrestleMania with the winner going on to be inserted into the main event. This was a major turning point for Bryan’s career and led to a fairytale ending for the ‘American Dragon’ as he defeated Triple H and went on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’.
Danielson debuted for AEW at All Out on September 5th, helping Christian Cage and Jurassic Express fight off The Elite following the main event between Cage and Kenny Omega.
In an interview on ‘Wrasslin with Brandon Walker‘, Danielson has opened up on the conversation he had with WWE’s Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Distribution, Kevin Dunn, where he was “politely” asked to respect the company’s intellectual property, something he is trying his best to do.
“I’m not doing it myself [‘Yes!’ chants] because I respect WWE’s intellectual property. I don’t think anything legally, they haven’t threatened anything legally. So I had a great conversation with Kevin Dunn with WWE before I debuted with AEW. I was very upfront with WWE about, ‘Okay, I want to let you guys know I’m leaving. This is my debut date’ and all that kind of stuff. They asked me, politely, to respect their intellectual property, even some of the things that couldn’t be legally enforced. I’m trying my best to do that.”
Bryan Danielson will have his first match in AEW at Grand Slam on September 22nd. It will be something of a dream match for many fans as the ‘American Dragon’ will take on the ‘Best Bout Machine’ and AEW World Champion Kenny Omega for the first time in a non-title bout.
H/T to F4Wonline for the above transcription