Bryan Danielson vows to fight The Elite until the wheels fall off in defense of AEW

After watching FTR take a beating at the hands of Lance Archer and The Righteous as part of a hit put out by The Elite on Collision, Bryan Danielson was upset, so much so that he decided to request a camera crew in order to cut a scathing promo on Jack Perry, Kazuchika Okada, and the Young Bucks ahead of their match at Double or Nothing.

The results? *Chef's kiss* cinema.

“Somebody paid a price to take out FTR, to take out me before Anarchy In The Arena. We know exactly who it is. No, I hurt my neck real bad. Then I'm wrestling Will Ospreay. I go to give him a Frankensteiner off the top rope. I've never had this happen to me. Dude lands right on his feet. I go straight down on my head, and then later in the match, right before he pins me, he hits me with a storm driver. I got shooting pains down my arm. I'm at home, and I have to go get MRIs. I have a compression of the nerve root at C6, C7, and C7, T1. I've got this shooting pain that's running down my arm that won't go away. The doctor is telling me that pretty soon I'm going to have to have surgery. The only way I can hold out, the only way that I can hold out is if I can keep the strength in my right hand. Right now it's still there. I have the shooting pain, but I've still got the strength. So I plan on staying at home, recovering, doing physical therapy,” Bryan Danielson revealed in an AEW digital exclusive segment via 411 Mania.

“I'm watching Dynamite, and I see the Young Bucks, and the Elite, pile drive Tony Khan. The guy who started this company. The guy who, if he weren't here, this company wouldn't even exist. I watched that, and I was angry, mad as h*ll. Then I watched the next week, as they took out Kenny Omega. hospitalized him when he's already sick, when he's already hurt. You were supposed to change the world together. Together. That's how I know you guys say you're good Christian boys, but you guys are evil. Because who turns their back on their best friend like that? That's when I realized I can't stay at home anymore. I can't rehab anymore.

“I have to come back, and I have to fight. I have to fight for AEW because I love this place. You guys say you want to change the world. You won't even show up on a Saturday. They only want to work one day a week, and they want to run this place. Anybody, oh, heaven forbid, anybody stand up to them. Heaven forbid anybody stand up and say what I just said, that they're lazy, that they only want to work one day a week. Then they put a price on our heads. Go ahead. Put a price on my head. I've had a lot of people a lot stronger than you, a lot more powerful than you put prices on my head. I'm still… Here. Anarchy in the arena. You guys better come for a fight. I'm gonna tell you exactly what I'm gonna do. Young Bucks, Jack Perry, even Okada, I'm gonna spit in your face. Cause I used to respect you, and I don't respect you anymore.”

Gosh, it's such a shame the “American Dragon” is gearing up to retire from full-time wrestling this fall, as he truly is one of the very best in the business today. Then again, considering how often he gets injured at this stage of his career, maybe it's for the best that Danielson is going to become more of a special feature than a weekly television wrestler, as it doesn't seem like his body can take even AEW's weekly workload anymore.

Bryan Danielson appreciates Darby Allin for coming to AEW's defense.

Speaking of Bryan Danielson's Team AEW at Double or Nothing, the group found their fourth and final member on the last edition of Dynamite, where, as Eddie Kingston was ruled out due to injury, Darby Allin returned a few weeks early from a broken foot in order to fortify the promotion's ranks alongside the “American Dragon” and FTR.

Discussing Allin's return in a special promo after Dynamite, Danielson celebrated the former TNT Champion for his contributions to the promotion, declaring him one of the new faces of Washington wrestling.

“It's great to be home. You guys have given me some incredible moments in my career. You guys are the reason I main-evented WrestleMania. The very last show that my dad came to before he passed away, you guys made him feel like his son was a star,” Bryan Danielson told fans in Washington via Fightful. “When I was forced to retire, you guys were there with him. You guys laughed with me, you guys cheered for me, you guys cried with me. For that, I will always be grateful. Then this past October, at WrestleDream, you guys came and were the best crowd I've ever seen for a technical wrestling match. That warmed my heart. So I feel like, for a long time, I have been your Washington state guy. But ladies and gentlemen, I've seen somebody who's done things that I could never even dream of. I think, when I'm gone, you guys have a new Washington state guy. I'm gonna be in the crowd chanting ‘Darby' with you guys because this guy [points to Darby], he's the f**king man.”

Should AEW have picked someone who is healthy enough to wrestle in Las Vegas this weekend, as opposed to a certified wildman who will all but certainly leave the show more injured than when he entered the arena? Potentially so but considering Darby Allin's, well, Darby Allin, it's hard to imagine he would want it any other way.