Bryan Danielson recalls Vince McMahon calling him before his AEW debut.
At All Out 2021, Bryan Danielson made his stunning AEW debut. Following on from Adam Cole’s arrival moments earlier, both men got fans buzzing by choosing to become ‘All Elite’ after their WWE contracts had expired. Now, ‘The American Dragon’ has recalled how his All Elite Wrestling debut came to be, including how WWE made a last-ditch attempt to keep him onboard.
Speaking to Nick Stav, Bryan Danielson recalled Vince McMahon calling him to see if there was anything they could do to stop him from crossing over to AEW.
“I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before that. ‘Always the plan,’ was Tony (Khan) thinking it? Did he have it in the back of his mind? I want to say Adam Cole didn’t sign until that day. Maybe he agreed to come, but you never know what’s going to happen. When WWE found out I hadn’t signed yet, they said, ‘Is there anything we can do?’ I called Vince (McMahon) in early August because I was going back and forth. I called Vince in early August and let him know, ‘I made my decision. I’m going to do this.’ He called me one time in the meantime and said, ‘What if we offered you this instead.’ I hadn’t signed my contract yet, it was maybe five days before the pay-per-view, and he called me. I told him, ‘Sir, I already agreed to this thing. If I were to go back on this, I feel you have a decent amount of respect for me. One of the things you respect me for is that I honor my word.’ It was a great conversation. He said, ‘Damnit, you’re right,’”
-Bryan Danielson
Danielson went on to spend over three years as an active competitor for AEW until his full-time in-ring career came to a close in October 2024. Still, he remains active in the industry and will begin a full-time role as a commentator on Dynamite this Wednesday.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Bryan Danielson as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
