AEW commentator and former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson was notably absent from the broadcast booth during the WrestleDream pay-per-view event. During the post-show media scrum, AEW President Tony Khan addressed Danielson’s absence, explaining the multiple factors that led to him missing the show.
Family Commitment and Main Event Conflict
Tony Khan confirmed that Danielson had a prior family engagement that conflicted with the event. However, Khan also elaborated that the nature of the main event, pitting Danielson’s Blackpool Combat Club stablemate Jon Moxley against Darby Allin in an “I Quit” match, played a role in the decision.
“He’ll be back,” Khan began. “To be honest, there was a couple of things. I think it made sense, given what was happening with the main event. I think it would have been really, really hard for Bryan to restrain himself and now knowing what Jon had planned, I also think it would have been really hard for Bryan to sit there at the desk while Darby is in that position.”
Protecting Danielson’s Position
Khan stated that allowing Danielson to attend his family commitment also served to protect him from a potentially compromising situation at the commentary desk. “Since Bryan had a family commitment, I told him, ‘Hey, if you have a family thing tonight, it’s probably the night to go to your family commitment. Because I don’t wanna put you in a position where you might be risking your job if you get up from the desk and interfere in this match,” Khan explained.
He felt the decision worked out best for everyone involved. “So it’s worked out for everybody because Bryan was able to be with his family as planned and we had, I think, one of our very best pay-per-views tonight and Bryan didn’t have to risk his job by being in that position at the desk where he’s in a no-man’s land, right?”.
The main event saw Darby Allin defeat Jon Moxley, with interference and the return of Sting playing a factor. Bryan Danielson is expected to return to his commentary duties on future episodes of AEW Dynamite and pay-per-views.
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