Bryan Danielson Explains Why He Doesn't Do Many Shows Outside Of AEW

Lee South/AEW

As previously highlighted by former AEW Women's Champion Saraya, one of the perks of signing with All Elite Wrestling is the built-in freedom to explore outside opportunities, both in and outside of the wrestling world. For Bryan Danielson, though, this option, specifically competing on independent wrestling shows, has been invoked rather sparingly. During an interview with "Casual Conversations With The Classic," Danielson explained the reasoning behind this.

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"It's hard for me to do independent shows right now just with how my schedule is and being a dad of two kids. I place being a father as more important than my wrestling," Danielsons said. "So when you keep track of your priorities, it's like okay, I'm already gone X amount of time. Do I want to be gone more time so I can do this independent show that's essentially just fun for me? [My wife] Brie, I don't want to say she got upset at me, but she was questioning me like, 'Wait a second, are you doing Arena Mexico just for fun?' I said 'Yeah,' but it's also like that's extra time [away from home]."

"She didn't give me [any flack] because she knew that it's something that I've always wanted to do — wrestle in Arena Mexico," Danielson continued. "But doing independent shows, also from a [AEW President] Tony Khan perspective, if I get hurt doing an independent show, it messes up a lot of stuff."

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As Danielson alluded to, his most recent non-AEW wrestling appearances took form at a pair of shows under the banner of CMLL, the first of which occurred on March 29. For this occasion, Danielson teamed with Matt Sydal and his Blackpool Combat Club stablemates Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli for an eight-man tag match against Blue Panther, Mistico, Volador Jr., and Ultimo Guerrero. Six days later, Danielson returned to the Arena Mexico to defeat Panther in a singles submission match.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Casual Conversations with The Classic" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.