Former WWE Champion Bryan Danielson says he thinks WWE went overboard when faced with the looming threat of a new upstart wrestling company in the form of AEW.
When AEW was announced on New Year’s Day 2019, it changed the landscape of the wrestling business forever. While the core group of The Elite formed the basis of the company, Chris Jericho and Jim Ross brought name value while acts such as SCU and Best Friends began filling out the roster.
Over in WWE things began to shift at pace with rumours of massive contracts being handed out in the hopes of keeping as many stars away from AEW as possible. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson have since gone on record to say that they had agreed with The Young Bucks to become All Elite and debut on the premiere episode of Dynamite until they were handed new six-figure deals to stay put in WWE.
Almost three years on from the inception of AEW, things look very different. A plethora of WWE Superstars have made the jump to AEW including Bryan Danielson, Malakai Black, Miro, Matt Hardy, and Ruby Soho. While WWE has slashed the numbers on their roster several times in 2021 amounting to 80 stars being released in one year.
Speaking to TV Insider Bryan Danielson has stated his belief that WWE overreacted in their attempts to horde talent when AEW began and even before:
“For WWE, I think there was an overreaction when AEW started. Even when Ring of Honor got real hot with Cody and the Young Bucks, WWE felt they needed to sign up all the talent.”
“They realized, ‘our business is fine.’ AEW is catching up. They’ve done incredible for a company that has been around for less than three years. WWE is still making a billion dollars, so they don’t need to hoard all these talents.”
Bryan Danielson will attempt to become just the third man in history to have held the WWE and AEW Championships when he challenges AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page at Winter Is Coming.
h/t Wrestling Inc.