AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson has offered a honest assessment of his current physical condition, stating that he is “not even close” to being the best wrestler in the world anymore due to severe neck issues. In an interview, he described how his neck injury has affected his in-ring performance and offered advice to other wrestlers, like Will Ospreay, who are dealing with similar issues.
Danielson has been battling neck problems for much of his career, an issue that famously forced him into a temporary retirement in 2016. While he made a comeback, he revealed that the injury had flared up again in recent months, significantly impacting his ability to wrestle at the elite level he is known for. Speaking with the Kairouz Bros, Danielson was asked if he still considers himself the “best wrestler in the world.”
“No. Not even close. Not anymore. In the last, gosh, even when I did that promo, I was not the best wrestler in the world, you know, like there was a point where I stopped being able to do some of the things that I could normally do, because my neck was so bad. So shortly before my last match with Jon Moxley, I wrestled Okada on TV. And I never get tired when I wrestle, ever right? And my legs, because my neck was so bad, my legs started giving out, and I was like, Oh no. What do I do now that my legs aren’t working? …If my body was fully functional, I’d be like, my mind is as good for wrestling as ever, but my body’s not fully functional.”
Given his experience, Danielson offered some advice for other wrestlers dealing with neck injuries, like Will Ospreay. He stressed the importance of prevention and being smart about the moves they do in the ring.
“The big thing is to prevent it before it starts getting bad, you know, and realize. So, for example, Will Ospreay. He can do 10 million amazing things. He doesn’t need to do all of the amazing things. He can pick the amazing things that don’t hurt his neck, right? But he is built very much like me, where you just want to go out there and give everything you’ve got every time out, right?… It was right before I needed neck surgery. So I was having these shooting pains down my arm for months, and they said, eventually you’re going to get neck surgery, but you can keep wrestling until you lose strength in your hand… But before that, you have this Falls Count Anywhere match with Kane and I still did a diving headbutt off a forklift, knowing that my like, but it’s just like you you’re in the moment. You’re in the moment you do these things, right?”
The full interview with Bryan Danielson can be heard on the Kairouz Bros’ platform.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Kairouz Bros with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
