AEW's Bryan Danielson Stills Wants To Compete In NJPW G1 Climax

The American Dragon still harbours ambitions to be a part of the G1 Climax.

by Andrew Pollard
Bryan Danielson
AEW.com

During his recent appearance on Throwing Down with Renee & Miesha, AEW's Bryan Danielson has reiterated his desire to one day compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling's famed G1 Climax tournament.

The belief is that WWE was actually prepared to allow Danielson to compete in the G1 as part of their final negotiations with the Yes! Man to remain with Vince McMahon's sports entertainment juggernaut last year. Regardless of that, Bryan would ultimately let his WWE deal expire and become a free agent shortly after WrestleMania 37, and he'd finally arrive in AEW last September at the promotion's All Out PPV.

In terms of his ambitions to still be a part of New Japan's annual G1 tourney, Danielson told Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate (via Wrestling Inc.):

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"I don't have that [bucket list]. I really wanna do a G1, right, for New Japan. Other than that, I don't really have that, in a sense of, 'Oh, I wanna do this or I wanna do that'. When I was forced to retire, what it really made me think is, I don't wanna take any of this for granted. I don't want to go out there and just go through the motions."

For those not familiar with the G1 Climax, it's a tournament held by New Japan Pro Wrestling every August. These days, the tourney lasts for four weeks, with competitors split into two groups of ten. Squaring off against each other member of their group in singles action, wrestlers are awarded two points for a win, and one point for a time limit draw.

The winners of each block - as in the wrestlers with the most points - then face off one-on-one to decide the G1 winner, with that winner earning a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Title. For those wondering, Kazuchika Okada won last year's G1 - the third time he'd won the tournament - and would end up dethroning Shingo Takagi as IWGP Heavyweight Champion on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, before the defeating Will Ospreay on the second night of this year's Wrestle Kingdom.

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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.