During the latest Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, Meltzer discussed the CM Punk and Bryan Danielson rumors. Meltzer said that there has been no confirmation given to him but there are a lot of signs that point to both men being close to signing a deal and it’s possible that they have indeed signed deals.
Meltzer said, “I think everyone kind of knows that unless something falls apart, they are both coming in because if these deals were not close, if not already done – and there are signs that both are done but I cannot confirm because no one in that company will confirm it but there are moves that I know of that are being made that would only be made if CM Punk was coming in. With Danielson, I can’t say that I know of any moves that are being made that would confirm Danielson is coming in that I know of but I also know that Danielson was most likely, 90 percent or better, going to the company with the relationship with New Japan. Obviously, [WWE President] Nick Khan did not get the deal done.”
Meltzer said that WWE talked with New Japan Pro Wrestling for other reasons than just Danielson but Danielson’s name was included in those talks. WWE hoped that working out a deal with New Japan would be the thing that kept Danielson on board but they also wanted to work out a deal for NXT.
As previously noted, people in WWE believe that Punk is AEW-bound and WWE sent out a memo to let their partners know that Daniel Bryan is no longer with them. He will not be part of WWE 2K22, which strongly indicates that he is not returning.
Meltzer listed names like Tomohiro Ishii, Zack Sabre Jr, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, and Will Ospreay as some of the names that Danielson would be interested in having matches with.
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