Current AEW Star Says He ALMOST Left WWE For ROH In 2018

This wrestler was talking to Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks about ROH.

Bryan Danielson AEW
AEW

Bryan Danielson was tempted to leave WWE behind and join ROH in 2018.

The current AEW star told ITR that his contract had lapsed, so he started chatting to both Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks about potentially inking a deal with Ring Of Honor; according to Bryan, even his non-wrestling fan lawyer advised him to wait it out and see if The Bucks (in particular) stayed put in ROH.

Without them, the lawyer said, that company might not be the best place for Danielson even in the short-term. Of course, Matt and Nick Jackson eventually colluded with Cody and several other friends to help Tony Khan launch AEW.

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That wasn't on the table for Bryan at the time though, so ROH seemed like his best bet.

It's incredible to realise that decisions like this could've changed so much. For example, had Danielson left WWE after all, then there's no way he would've been around to put Kofi Kingston over in that WWE Title bout at WrestleMania 35.

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The then-Daniel Bryan elected to stick around and sign an extension on his WWE deal.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.