Because Bryan Danielson returned to AEW in the opening segment of Collision the day before All Out, he really didn't get a chance to talk much about why he wanted to wrestle Ricky Starks or his feelings for Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, the man he came to the defense of in Chicago.
Fortunately, AEW had a whole hour to fill before All Out at Zero Hour, and they gave Danielson plenty of time to share his feelings on the match and even pay a little tribute to the last man he wrestled in a strap match: the late great Bray Wyatt.
“I was sitting at home watching Collision, and I saw that Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat was gonna be there and I was so excited because I love Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. I loved him as a fan, and then when I came up as a wrestler, when I saw 20 years old, Ricky Steamboat pulled me aside, he was the referee, and he said ‘Bryan, you're incredible, keep it up.' And he encouraged me, and he encouraged me, and every single time after that, he encouraged me; I love that man and you can imagine my disappointment when I'm watching Collision and what I see is Ricky Starks taking a belt and whipping Ricky Steamboat,” Bryan Danielson said on Zero Hour.
“I'm at home, and I'm recovering and there's nothing I can do about it. And then I see that on Wednesday, Ricky Starks is going to challenge Ricky ‘The Dragon' Steamboat to a strap match; a 70+ year old man to a strap match! You think that's okay? See here's the thing, here's the thing, Ricky Starks, the last time I saw in a strap match, it was against somebody I loved and we beat the s**t out of each other. Ricky Starks, I don't love you, I don't even like you, so imagine what I'm going to do to you tonight.”
Now, for fans out of the know – or who don't watch WWE – the match Danielson is referencing took place at the 2020 Royal Rumble, when he strapped up with The Fiend in a match Dave Meltzer awarded four stars. With Wyatt on his mind and a noted history of beating the you-know-what out of performers to help get them over – just ask the Young Bucks – it's safe to say Stroke Daddy is gonna take some punishment in this one, folks.
Bryan Danielson reflects on his broken arm versus Okada ahead of All Out.
When Bryan Danielson broke his arm against Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door, it looked like All In and All Out would be off the board for the “American Dragon.”
And yet, when speaking with his wife on her show, The Nikki & Brie Show, Danielson noted that he doesn't have any regrets about the match, as he enjoyed getting to go the distance against one of the best wrestlers to ever do it.
“He did an elbow drop to me off the top rope. It ended up breaking my arm. I wrestled another ten minutes with a broken arm, which the doctor said made it worse. That said, I find a certain joy in doing things that are hard. Even though it probably caused me a little bit more damage, I got more value out of it that it happened versus if it had not happened. Even though, if I could take it back, I would wish my arm never got broken and that I'd be able to wrestle at All In in Wembley, it's going to be one of the biggest wrestling crowds in history, and I don't get to take part in it because my arm is still healing, Bryan Danielson said on The Nikki & Brie Show via Fightful.
“Despite that, and I wouldn't ask for my arm to be broken if I could do it over again, but because it did happen and I couldn't control it, it almost gave more meaning to how I felt about the match itself. Also, I did a press conference with my broken arm. We didn't know how bad it was at the time. I do this a lot with fasting, and there are a lot of health benefits to fasting, when you put yourself in an uncomfortable position or you do something and it's uncomfortable and you keep doing it, it's not like, ‘yay, I did it.' It's ‘can I do this?' For example, while fasting or wrestling with a broken arm, can I do this and keep a good attitude while being in pain, while being starving? Those are things I think to myself when things are happening. That's one of the matches I really like if I'm looking back on something versus experiencing something in the moment. I enjoyed that match with Okada.”
Would it have been cool to see Danielson work a match at All In? Duh, especially considering just how much trash Nigel McGuiness was talking heading into the show, but hey, at least he's about to go All Out at AEW's first PPV of the month, which is never a bad thing.
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