During the latter stages of his WWE run, Bryan Danielson (FKA Daniel Bryan) joined the company’s creative in a small capacity, where he would often advocate for some lesser used talents such as Drew Gulak to get more time on television.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on The Sessions at Starrcast V, Danielson discussed how his role in WWE creative came about.
“The pandemic was happening. Somebody in one of my segments, it was right before Brie was about to give birth to our son Buddy. It was a month before that, somebody in one of my segments got COVID. They called me and were like, ‘You were in a segment with somebody who got COVID. A bunch of people in the segment got COVID. You might have COVID.’ I tested and didn’t have COVID, but I requested, ‘I don’t think I should come to work, my wife is pregnant and due soon.’ They were fine and great with that. Bruce Prichard called me and said, ‘I know you’re gone, but would you like to be part of the creative team and meetings?’ They were doing them through Zoom. I said ‘Yeah.’ I loved it. I know a lot of people have talked a lot of crap about writers. It’s a thankless job. There are a lot of smart, fun, writers,”
-Bryan Danielson
Danielson highlighted Jennifer Pepperman and Ryan Callahan as two writers he enjoyed working with during his tenure with the WWE creative team, as well as stating that wrestlers are fun to be around as long as you can accept that they’re not wrestlers.
With a number of corporate changes currently taking place behind the scenes in WWE, one long-time member of the creative team that many expect to depart the company is Bruce Pritchard. Danielson had nothing but positive things to say about Pritchard, noting that he enjoyed working with him.
“I loved dealing with Bruce Prichard. Some people talk bad about Bruce, I love Bruce. I really enjoyed it.”
-Bryan Danielson
Bryan’s WWE contract expired at the end of April last year, allowing him to take some time of before he re-emerged as a part of AEW last September.
