Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks in a Strap Match took place at the AEW All Out pay-per-view event from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, but this wasn’t the original match that AEW President Tony Khan had in mind.
Instead, the original planned opponent for Starks was CM Punk, as the two have been feuding as of late. Once Punk got suspended and later fired for his actions at All In, AEW needed a replacement, and they got Danielson, who had been on the sidelines since June with a surgically repaired arm.
Danielson took some questions from the media at the AEW All Out media scrum, where he noted that he got through the match because he was carried by Starks and put over the young star. Danielson also noted how he didn’t do anything with the injured arm.
Danielson was expected to make his return in mid-September but came back earlier.
Fightful Select reports AEW was very confident in their backup plan for Starks, who wasn’t told the opponent until Saturday as Danielson was cleared in the last week. AEW already has an opponent in mind for WrestleDream as well.
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