Though he may be forever remembered by a segment of the professional wrestling world as the leader of the “Yes! Movement” – not to be confused with the “Yeah! Movement” of 2023 – Bryan Danielson is also widely regarded as one of the greatest technical wrestlers of his or any generation, with the Wrestling Observer literally naming their Best Technical Wrestler award after the “American Dragon.”

A master of locks, holds, submissions, and strikes, even if Zack Sabre Jr. would argue otherwise, the AEW stalwart has taken it upon himself to continue to master his in-ring abilities into his 40s, even if he plans to finish up his full-time professional wrestling career in 2024 by the request of his daughter.

Sitting down for an interview with Sports Nightly, Danielson explained what advice he'd give to you performers just coming up now, especially if they want to follow his technical path.

“So I think I'm of the opinion that when you're younger and learning the craft, you need to wrestle more matches. That's just that's my opinion,” Bryan told Sports Nightly via 411 Mania.

“One of the things that was very helpful for me, because I would go over and I'd wrestle in England… I would go over to England for seven months. There was one point where I wrestled, I think it was like 28 matches in 17 days, or whatever it is, and it was like, it was six months of that, right? I'd go, and I'd wrestled these shows for the Butlins crowds, which were, they're not wrestling fans. They pay for this week-long holiday where they can come, and the entertainment is included, and there just so happens to be wrestling as a part of that. So they're not even wrestling fans, but you're having to entertain them, and that sort of thing through wrestling, and those sorts of things really made me the wrestler that I am today because when I started, I was very good at the technical aspects of wrestling, but what was harder for me was the personality and interacting with the crowd and that sort of thing.”

A true student of the game, Danielson wrestled all over the world before he landed in Ring of Honor and, eventually, WWE, establishing his greatness not through generational athleticism or for his incredible measurables but for his work ethic. If kids in their 20s want to get on his level, the “American Dragon” has a fool-proof method to make anyone better in the ring: Reps. Unfortunately, in 2023, those reps are often coming in front of hundreds of thousands of fans both on TV and online, which is something his generation never had to worry about back in the day.

Bryan Danielson reveals the extra challenges for young wrestlers.

Continuing his conversation with Sports Nightly, Bryan Danielson discusses the extra challenges young wrestlers face in 2023 versus when he was coming up back in the day, namely how easily folks can scrutinize their work on social media.

While getting reps is ultimately the most important thing to becoming a better wrestler, doing so outside of the public eye is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than mastering wrestling on television.

“Nobody comes out of wrestling school the perfect wrestler. There's always stuff that you have to work on. Even if you're the most athletic person in the world, or you're the most charismatic person in the world, you still have things that you need to work on, and you need to be able to work on those things in places where there's not a million people watching you, you know what I mean? I also think in this day of like, if you're on TV, and a lot of our younger talent is on social media all the time. If you're younger and you don't have that much experience, people are gonna rip you apart, no matter how good you are for the stage you are at in your career, right? Look at Daniel Garcia, who I think he's 24, but I could be wrong. Or you look at MJF, he's only 27. You look at these guys, and people will be like, ‘Oh, he's not this,' or ‘he's not that.' Sometimes, people take it personally,” Danielson added.

“In my head, I want to say, ‘You guys are in your 20s, you're doing great, and because social media is such a big thing, and it wasn't when I was 26 and 27, right? Nobody was ripping me apart when I was 26 or 27. In the current day and age, people do that, especially if you're on national TV. So, I think getting a lot of reps is important. I think getting a lot of reps where less people are going to criticize you is also a helpful tool to learn to do this as best as you can.”

While there has, is, and will always be young wrestlers who appear in prominent roles on television in their 20s, as MJF, Rhea Ripley, and El Hijo del Vikingo all hold top titles in their respective promotions despite being under 30, it must be hard to get in the ring with very little experience and have to work through one's growing pains on television in front of hundreds of thousands of fans each week. Then again, pressure can often make diamonds, and for those wrestlers and dozens more, they have not only lived up to expectations but far exceeded them. Danielson must be proud.