Bryan Danielson Says He Has Been Avoiding Neck Surgery, AEW Travel Made Him Realise An In Ring Return Is A Bad Idea

Bryan Danielson says he’s trying to avoid more neck surgery.

At WrestleDream 2024, the full-time career of Bryan Danielson​ came to an end, and he’s since become commonplace behind the commentary desk every Wednesday on Dynamite. Though, while his history with neck injuries and concussions can’t be overstated, many fans remain hopeful that we’ll see ‘The American Dragon’ wrestle again in future. Now, it seems as if an in-ring return for Danielson is extremely unlikely.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Bryan Danielson discussed thinking of wrestling again, revealing that beginning to travel with AEW again has made him realise competing again wouldn’t be a good idea.

“I’d like to avoid surgery as much as possible, and so my last neck surgery was really like, I never fully recovered from it. In the sense of getting back the strength gains and the mobility and all that sort of thing. And so I’d really like to avoid it as much as possible. I was actually doing really well until I started traveling more, and then it’s really gone downhill… I had these delusions about like, ‘Okay, maybe I could get back and do a little bit of wrestling’ or whatever it is. Now I see that they were delusions. This traveling is like, okay, this is not, that would not be a good idea.”

-Bryan Danielson

Danielson would go on to clarify that he isn’t fully retired, but, if he was to wrestle again, he doesn’t think he’d be able to be the performer he used to be.​

“I never consider myself fully retired, and this is how I think a lot of wrestlers think — ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon.’ But effectively for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, that guy doesn’t exist anymore.”

-Bryan Danielson

Danielson became a full-time commentator for AEW Dynamite on September 10 after fans enjoyed his guest appearances around the Forbidden Door pay-per-view. Viewers have enjoyed the star’s analytical takes on matchups and he’s been able to add a fresh dynamic to the announce team.

While he hasn’t competed in a match since his loss to Jon Moxley almost 14 months ago, whether Danielson ever steps into the ring again remains to be seen.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Bryan Danielson’s in-ring future as soon as we hear more.

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