WWE and AEW have traded several top talents over the years, with many pointing to talent acquisitions as the real war between the two wrestling promotions. New details are being revealed on how a major WWE name tried to keep one of the greatest wrestlers from joining AEW.
Bryan Danielson has been semi-retired for almost one year now. The former Daniel Bryan of WWE had his first retirement while with the Stamford-based promotion due to a severe neck injury, while the recent AEW retirement came as the 44-year-old father-of-two wanted to focus more on health and family moving forward. Tony Khan recently announced a big update on Bryan’s status.
The American Dragon shockingly debuted for AEW at All Out III on September 5, 2021. Just four months after losing a 27-minute Universal Championship vs. SmackDown Career match to Roman Reigns, Danielson arrived in AEW by confronting The Elite, who had just welcomed Adam Cole to the group after the former WWE NXT Champion also debuted at the same pay-per-view.
WWE officials pushed hard for Danielson to sign a new deal in the last week that he was under contract, but the former ROH World Champion had already decided to join Tony Khan’s promotion. Speaking to Nick Stav for a new interview on YouTube, Bryan revealed that he didn’t actually ink his AEW deal until two or three days before All Out, adding that he believes Cole didn’t sign until the day of the show, but may have agreed to show up before that.
Danielson recalled WWE asking what they could do to get him back after learning he still had not signed with Khan. The 9-time WWE champion also looked back on talks he had with Vince McMahon, and how their relationship was.
“When WWE found out that I hadn’t signed, they actually said, ‘Is there anything we can do to make you…’ Because I called Vince in early August and let him… because, you know, I was going back-and-forth, I wasn’t sure. I had called Vince, because he and I had a really good relationship, and I called him in early August and let him know I made my decision and I’m going to do this, right? Then he had called me one time, kind of in the meantime, and said, ‘Hey, what if we offered you this instead?’ Right? You know, that sort of thing,” Bryan Danielson said.
Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Bryan Danielson’s Comments On Joining AEW
Vince McMahon tried to get Bryan Danielson to stay with WWE, but the 12-time Slammy Award winner was looking forward to working for Tony Khan in AEW. In continuing the new interview with Nick Stav, Danielson was asked if his mind was already made up when he had the calls with the WWE co-founder.
Danielson revealed how McMahon was persistent, but one question caused The Genetic Jackhammer to accept what was happening. The current AEW creative team member remembered this as a great conversation.
“Yeah, it was, and when he called me… I hadn’t signed my contract yet, 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 do this thing, and if I was somebody to go back on this… I feel like you have a decent amount of respect for me, would you still respect me if I like… one of the things you respect about me is that I honor my word, right?’ And so… but it was a great conversation, and he said, ‘Damn it! You’re right!’ Right?,” Bryan Danielson said.
Danielson has made it clear he’s happy with AEW, and sees himself working with the company into the future, when asked about a potential WWE return. Bryan’s wife, Brie Bella, is still rumored to join her sister Nikki Bella in WWE soon for an on-screen reunion of the Hall of Famers.