8 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW Collision (9 September)

2. Calling His Shot

AEW Collision Big Bill Ricky Starks Bryan Danielson — AEW

If Bryan Danielson is to believed, the American Dragon is in the final year of his career. And if so, what better way to embark on a career-ending run than by lining Bryan up against Zack Sabre Jr.

As Danielson himself noted, he's promised his six-year-old daughter that he'll retire when she turns seven. Calling his shot, the Washington native challenged ZSJ to a match on 1 October in Seattle at the AEW WrestleDream PPV. And just like that, AEW soon made that bout official.

Danielson vs. Sabre has the potential to be a Match of the Year contender, with the two long considered to be the best technical wrestlers on the planet. Of course, this won't be the first match between the pair - Danielson winning a 2008 contest, Sabre getting a win one year later - yet it's been so long since these wizards last locked up, this now feels like a totally fresh and new dream match.

This segment wasn't just about setting up that WrestleDream bout, though, for Bryan was interrupted by Ricky Starks and Big Bill, continuing on this burgeoning rivalry and briefly teasing Absolute as joining the Blackpool Combat Club.

Given what a phenomenal war Danielson and Starks put on at All Out last weekend, the prospect of more to come from them is a mouth-watering one... all while Zack Sabre Jr. awaits Bryan in three weeks.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

See more from Andrew