WWE Gave Bryan Danielson Permission To Work NJPW G1 Climax

WWE went hard to keep the former Daniel Bryan.

by Andrew Pollard
Bryan Danielson AEW Rampage
AEW

With Bryan Danielson having stated his eagerness to wrestling in Japan and Mexico now that he is no longer with WWE, there's now word that WWE was prepared to allow Bryan to work some dates for New Japan Pro Wrestling should he remain with the company.

As per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Vince McMahon gave Danielson permission to compete in this year's G1 Climax tournament as part of a deal to stay with WWE.

This, in addition to the offer of a lighter schedule, were part of WWE's big play to keep the Yes! Man in the fold, although the former Daniel Bryan instead eventually opted to depart WWE and sign with AEW.

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In terms of what AEW put on the table for Danielson, it's believed that they offered the same amount of money as WWE, limited dates, and also allowed Bryan the option to work with other companies should he so wish.

In the time since his AEW arrival at last weekend's All Out PPV, Bryan has had nothing but praise for Vince McMahon and for his time in WWE. As for AEW, the multiple-time World Champion has simply said how the chance to come to AEW was just too good an opportunity to ignore.

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Senior Writer
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.