Major Update On Bryan Danielson's AEW Future
New details on what lies in the future for the American Dragon.
With Bryan Danielson set to headline AEW All In later today as he challenges for Swerve Strickland's AEW World Championship, there's now somewhat of an update on the American Dragon's AEW status and what could lie in his future.
Of course, Danielson is on the final stretch of this full-time in-ring career right now, with him looking to move to a more limited, part-time schedule in 2025. On top of that, the Blackpool Combat Man has promised to retire completely should he come up short against Swerve at Wembley Stadium.
Recent weeks have seen Bryan state how AEW doctors didn't want him to wrestle until All In, and Fightful Select now reports that is not any sort of work and is instead closer to the truth than some fans initially believed.
This report notes that Danielson's road to All In 2024 had been planned at least since the Spring, and that the company had been aware in the past few months that this run - and even post-All In - would see fewer matches than previously expected. As such, that's why Bryan only wrestled once - against Jeff Jarrett - in the time since the Owen Hart Cup win over Adam Page in early July.
Bryan Danielson has also legitimately been working without a contract for the past three weeks, though he has continued in his role on the AEW disciplinary committee in addition to helping out with creative. Per Fightful, those few weeks have seen Bryan working under the terms of his prior AEW talent deal.
As for the future, AEW sources expect a push to extend the working agreement with Danielson when this current run finishes up, with Tony Khan having a lot of trust in the 43-year-old. Fightful hasn't been made aware of Bryan saying any goodbyes to those in AEW, and he's expected to remain in and around AEW even after his time as an in-ring talent comes to an end. From Danielson's point of view, he's made it clear that he wants to continue contributing to AEW once he's had his neck issues taken care of.
For those wondering about any possible WWE return for the former Daniel Bryan, WWE sources claim they've not reached out to the Washington native but that he's widely loved within the company for his contributions to the business. On that topic, Danielson himself has previously said he could only ever see himself back in WWE should the wrestling industry require him to be there.