As Bryan Danielson prepares for what could very well be his final match as a professional wrestler at All In, going face-to-face with Swerve Strickland in a World Championship versus Career match in the main event, the “American Dragon” has been feeling somewhat nostalgic about his career, and not just because of Tony Khan's excellent retrospective to the tune of “Time of your Life” by Green Day.
And yet, while his retirement has been public knowledge for almost a year now, he isn't the only all-time great wrestler who will be calling it a career in the not-too-distant future, with John Cena, his SummerSlam 2013 opponent, also set to leave his boots in the center of the ring next year.
Asked by Talksports how it feels to see Cena leave wrestling behind, Danielson noted that while some fans hate “The Champ” for being, well, “The Face That Runs the Place,” some of his favorite WWE matches came against the 16-time World Champion.
“There's people that they love him and there's people that they hate him, and the way that they reacted back and forth, to that point, that was my favorite match that I'd had in WWE. It was about two minutes before I got pedigreed and then beaten for the title, but it was a really cool moment in my career,” Danielson explained via Fightful.
“I haven't spoken with him but you also have to understand I hate phones. I have friends, but then I'm really bad at texting, and like I also have, if you were to go to my phone right now, I have 3800 plus unread text messages.”
While Cena and Danielson shared plenty of moments in the WWE and beyond, including some very funny interactions between the duo on Total Bellas, their careers likely went in very different directions, with the former using his good guy persona to transition into acting roles while the latter stayed true to his roots and had arguably the most important run of his professional wrestling career in AEW. Even if their careers went down very different paths and they will be remembered very differently by wrestling fans, the fact that 2026 will feature neither wrestler as an active performer is a tough pill to swallow.
Bryan Danielson vows to end Swerve Strickland at AEW All In
Speaking of what could end up being the “American Dragon's” final match as a professional wrestler, Danielson absolutely went off on Strickland after the current AEW Champion took shots at his health and family on the final stateside Dynamite before All In.
Clearly fired up over how Strickland has handled his business as a “babyface” champion, if fans can even consider him as such anymore, Danielson let it be known that he isn't going to hold back in the main event of Wembley, as he plans to “kick his f**king head in” just like so many other wrestlers before him.
“Here's the thing. As if this wasn't enough, as if it wasn't enough for this to be my last chance to wrestle for the AEW Championship. As if it wasn't enough that if I lose this match, I retire and never wrestle again. As if that wasn't enough, that you hurt Wheeler Yuta. He's like a son to me. As if all of that were not enough, you mentioned my daughter, and you mentioned crippling me in front of my f*cking daughter. Guess what, Swerve? You are not gonna get underdog Bryan Danielson. You are not getting Bryan Danielson, who's gonna fight from behind. You're gonna get the Bryan Danielson that goes out there and kicks people's f**king head in,” Danielson declared via Fightful.
“That's what you've got coming at Wembley Stadium. I don't think you know what you just did, doing that you did to Wheeler and talking about my family. I saw what you did to Hangman [Page], when you broke into his house. Don't you dare do that s**t to me? See, check what happened to the last person that broke into my house. Even for that you just did out there tonight, your fate at Wembley's gonna be sealed, and I'm gonna be the new AEW World Heavyweight Champion.”
Should Danielson get the W at AEW All In? Yes. Does he want to become the AEW World Champion before calling it a career? No, it would appear he does not. So what will happen in the main event of Wembley? Well, in a few short weeks, fans will get to find out firsthand.
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